Image: By Danielle Hamann UGA School of Computing and Franklin Residential College alumnus Sudhan Chitgopkar (BS Computer Science `23, AB International Affairs `23), a Forward Deployed Engineer for Palantir who served as commencement speaker for the School of Computing in 2023, truly embodies the Franklin Spark—ambitious, curious, creative, innovative and one of tomorrow’s leaders. Chitgopkar has fond memories of his time in UGA’s first residential community. At the FRC, Chitgopkar found a strong, determined community of individuals that he says shaped some of his favorite times at UGA. “I was a part of the Franklin Residential College all four years of college,” said Chitgopkar. “I have wonderful memories there from our yearly trips to Sapelo Island and baking fresh cookies every Sunday for cookie night. My favorite times were the ones spent in Rutherford Hall and on Myers Quad.” “Through the FRC’s wonderful academic, social and service events, I found some of my first friends at UGA and a way to engage with new topics that I didn’t get exposure to in specific courses. Staying in the FRC for all four years was easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” he said. At UGA, Chitgopkar had the unique opportunity to give a TEDx talk on mathematic visualization and generative art. After the TEDx talk, Chitgopkar was awarded a grant to pursue even greater research and creation of his art. “I got a grant through professor Mark Callahan and the wonderful folks at the UGA Arts Collaborative to buy a robotic pen-plotter to physically reproduce some of my art,” said Chitgopkar. “Working with my grant-mentor, Lucas Eytchison, I held an exhibition of the work called the Generative Garden. The idea was that the gallery would be almost an extension of the TEDx talk–an opportunity for people to engage with math through the lens of nature and art to help spark an interest in the role math plays in the world around us.” As a computer science major, Chitgopkar was heavily involved in the opportunities the School of Computing had to offer. Chitgopkar was a part of UGA’s Small Satellite Research Lab, UGAHacks and created his own computer science club, SolveUGA, which focused on solving interesting computer science and algorithms questions. “Creating and having SolveUGA was a highlight of my senior year,” said Chitgopkar “I made lots of new friends through the group and felt like I was able to add something lasting to the computer science community at Georgia.” In addition to his studies, Chitgopkar took his education to the real-world and participated in two internships. Chitgopkar spent his summers with both Southern Company and Amazon. “I spent a few years working on threat management and intelligence at Southern Company. There, I was the primary lead on a case tracing an advanced persistent cybersecurity threat,” said Chitgopkar. “I also spent a summer at Amazon as a Software Engineer Intern where I worked on the core data-store that runs amazon.com and helped automate protocols that manage the high traffic that occurs during days like Christmas and Prime Day, which helps keep amazon.com running.” Professors at UGA in Franklin helped shape Chitgopkar’s time and he accounts some of his favorite memories to the faculty. “Some of my favorite memories at UGA come from Dr. Iliev’s office, where he and I would spend many Thursday or Friday afternoons talking about math, music, art, computer science and teaching over a coffee or some cheesecake,” said Chitgopkar. “Similarly, some of my favorite memories from senior year are from working with Dr. Barnes on computer science problems, whiteboarding ideas or just chatting about football.” When reflecting on Chitgopkar’s time at UGA, he sees the long-lasting positive impacts that Franklin provided for him. “UGA and Franklin helped show me that I had the potential to make an impact in the world, and gave me a guide to do that,” said Chitgopkar. With professors that believed in me, encouraged me to do bigger things and gave me opportunities to do them, I helped discover what I was interested in and how to pursue those things wholly.” When asked what advice he would give to current students, he highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary learning, broadening horizons and exploring a variety of activities. “I think it’s important to keep an open mind and try lots of different experiences, classes and fields,” said Chitgopkar. “I learned just as much about math through my projects in Lamar Dodd School of Art as I did in the math department! I learned just as much about sustainability and earth-consciousness as a model for the Fashion Design Student Association as I did during the few classes I took in Warnell School of Forestry! UGA is such a wonderful place because in a single campus, we have world-renowned experts in everything from physics and studio art to political science and agriculture.”
