Innovation in Blockchain Technology
Siddharth Gargava, a driven and accomplished individual, embarked on a new chapter in his career by pursuing a Master’s degree in Information Systems at Northeastern University in Boston. With two and a half years of prior software engineering experience at Deloitte, Gargava sought to challenge himself and elevate his expertise by enrolling in one of the world’s top engineering schools.
Northeastern University’s emphasis on innovation and integration of emerging technologies within their curriculum captivated Gargava. The Information Systems program, led by faculty members with extensive industry experience, aligned perfectly with his desire to stay abreast of current industry practices. As Gargava delved into research papers written by faculty in areas such as machine learning, cryptography, cyber-security, and program synthesis, he realized that Northeastern was a global leader in these domains. The co-op program offered by the university, ranked # 1 by US News and World Report, further solidified his decision to study at Northeastern.
Gargava’s enrollment at Northeastern not only provided him with advanced knowledge but also played a crucial role in securing his co-op placement at HPE. The university’s comprehensive support system assisted him in various aspects of the co-op search, from technical interview preparation to resume drafting and organizing recruiting events. Gargava credits his teacher, Laura Meyer, for her constant guidance and invaluable tips and tricks for a successful co-op search. The in-depth coursework at Northeastern, focusing on application development, database design, and server-side programming, equipped him with the necessary skills to secure the internship opportunity at HPE.
Joining HPE as a Software Engineering Intern, Gargava is responsible for writing backend software to enhance the company’s storage infrastructure and containerized services. This role demands a strong skill set in backend development with languages like Java and Python, as well as proficiency in algorithmic design and a deep understanding of data structures. Gargava’s expertise in encryption and cryptographic systems further contributed to his success in securing this opportunity.
Currently, Gargava is engaged in two significant projects. The first involves the development of a custom data migration framework designed to optimize deployment resources for migrating data between two versions of the same application in cloud platforms. This project entails coding a web application with Java-based APIs, implementing a React-based frontend, and utilizing SQL for session management. Siddharth hopes that his project will improve feature onboarding efficiency and potentially be incorporated into several large-scale open-source projects.
In addition, Gargava is building a secure file storage system that utilizes the Shamir Secret Sharing algorithm for data protection. This system aims to allow users to securely store sensitive files by distributing and encrypting them across multiple servers.
At Northeastern University, Gargava is pursuing the Information Systems ram with a focus on developing decentralized, concurrent backend solutions. He has taken up courses in Application Development, Web Design, Database, and Cloud Computing, honing his skills in these areas.
One of the highlights of Siddharth’s academic journey was his participation in the ETH Boston Hackathon, one of the world’s largest Web3 Hackathons. His team developed an end-to-end credit score verification system app called “zKredit.” This innovative solution simplified the credit card application process by employing Zero Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) technology, a largely unexplored sub-domain of blockchain. Gargava and his team built the smart contract-based solution over the MINA protocol, implementing the snarkyJS library on Typescript. Their unique implementation of blockchain impressed the panel and earned them victory! The “zKredit” solution has the potential to eliminate financial data breaches and revolutionize lending economics.
The inspiration behind Gargava’s project at the hackathon stemmed from the common problem faced by international students when trying to secure a credit card. “Special gratitude to my Northeastern professor, Dr. Suhabe Bugrara, for igniting my passion in this technology and providing conceptual foundation on cryptography and smart-contracts,” says Gargava.
Gargava’s experience as a Master’s student in Information Systems at Northeastern has positioned him perfectly to revolutionize the tech industry with decentralized applications and democratize services around the globe. “I’m very excited about the future — and I can honestly say that my decision to enroll at Northeastern’s Information Systems program has changed my life,” concludes Gargava.