Rajdeep Sah, sophomore computer information sciences and mathematics major, discovered his passion for computers and softwares after identifying and reporting bugs to Meta and Google during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“The Google bug was well recognized and I invested a lot of time in that. In the end, that bug didn’t have any monetary value but they sent me a thank you mail. I was really proud of myself,” Sah said.
The Google bug allowed users to create a Google account using anyone’s phone number by bypassing the verification process. The Meta bug involved the Instagram platform, where it was possible to send messages to private accounts without following the user or being followed by them.
Sah applied for an internship at the United Methodist Church through LinkedIn and later met the team at an on-campus career fair. They recognized Sah from the application, which led to a formal interview being scheduled.
Sah’s work was to make the database of all the churches managed by the Methodist Church. The Methodist Church looks over churches in Kansas and Nebraska, which makes a total of 714 churches. Sah made the database and interpreted data for the board in a way that made new decision making easier.
Sah became the first Nepali student studying computer science at Washburn to earn an internship as a freshman.
“The primary thing I learned from my internship is the U.S. work ethics and how real corporations work. I got introduced to the board member, that was a good experience for me. I was able to make a lot of network from that,” Sah said.
Sah works as a CIS tutor at the computer department currently and his first job on campus was math tutoring, which he was able to secure within two weeks of coming to college. He also helped the math department with his past job as office assistant, which was also a fun experience for him.
“Structured programming was the first computer class that I had to take and it was hard for me. So, my professor, Dr J., told me I could get some help from Rajdeep in CIS mini lab,” said Pratikshya Khadka, freshman mathematics major.
Khadka shares that Sah is a great guy and he explains everything in detailed form. Since she is new to computer science, he uses simple basic language, which makes her concepts clear.
Sah was selected by the mathematics department to participate in the Kansas Mathematical Association of America.
“It is like a mathematics competition and I represented Washburn university. That was one of the big achievements,” Sah said.
Apart from studies, Sah is doing campus research on how artificial intelligence is changing the education system and its benefits. Sah is also working on making a game alongside Gaspar Porta, associate professor of mathematics and statistics.
“Rajdeep has always been amongst the top students in every class he’s taken with me. He is a very inquisitive and curious student. He thinks about things beyond what is necessary and really likes to absorb information in a very specific encompassing way,” Porta said.
Porta believes Sah will become someone who is good at coding and a very valuable person at whatever job he’s in. Porta finds Sah a very affable human being who is going to have a wonderful circle around him.
“Recently during Spring Break, I attended a Kappa Mu Epsilon national convention. There were a lot of students who presented their research work. It was a great experience for me because I was on the judging panel,” Sah said.
Despite being a full time student and working 20 hours weekly on campus, Sah feels he still has a lot of time to study by himself and to give time to his friends and family.
“I would love to be able to start my own company in five years and also do some research,” Sah said.
Currently, Sah is preparing for the Central Plain Region 2025 Conference by Consortium for Computer Sciences in College April 4 and 5 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Edited by Stuti Khadka and Jeremy Ford.
