ACM SIGCHI
Building the Foundation
I led the establishment of the first student chapter of ACM SIGCHI in India at IIT Kanpur. Before this, campus had numerous technical clubs, but none focused specifically on the science of Product Design and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
The journey began with founding the LearningHCI group and eventually evolved into an official ACM chapter under the guidance of our incredible faculty advisors. From navigating departmental bureaucracies and securing funding to hosting researchers like Neha Kumar (Chair of SIGCHI) and initiating pro-bono projects like Unmute Tech and JalJeevan Mission, building this community from the ground up taught me invaluable lessons in leadership, resilience, and “first principles” thinking.