Since childhood, Lakshya Vaibhav Datta, 28, was fascinated by space exploration. An alumnus of UPES, Dehradun, Lakshya finished his Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and worked with a professor on a research project for which he had designed the software.

Lakshya also got proof-of-concept for the control systems for the satellite, published two academic books on satellites and space debris, taught seminar courses to masters and PhD students and led international space research teams.

“I wanted to build technologies that would help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. All of this helped me realise a few core characteristics about myself – the ability to connect dots, understand systems at a high level, and find the answers,” says Lakshya, who got fascinated by his research in the Master’s course in Space Engineering programme at the Technical University, Berlin.

The university website highlighted the academic environment that allows students to acquire deep focus on satellites. “I knew then that this was the programme for me; it was the only programme I applied to, and got accepted,” says Lakshya.

Life in Berlin

His course was primarily focused on satellite subsystem design and focused a lot on the math-heavy control systems needed to keep satellites pointing towards the earth and stop them from tumbling out of control.

Sharing his experience of campus life, Lakshya says, “Campus life at TU Berlin is pretty fun. There’s always some student event taking place; the library is huge and loaded with books that we had only heard of earlier. The food in the campus mess was really good too.”

Course affordability

“My course was affordable, which was approximately 15,000 Euros for four semesters. The fee has increased since I graduated, but not by a lot. All English courses at TU have a tuition fee, while courses taught in the German language are free-of-cost” says Lakshya.

Besides tuition fees, a student needs to pay the house rent and monthly travel tickets, which are concessional for students’ food, internet and mobile phone bills.

The student housing rebate helped him save money. Lakshya advises aspirants to apply for student housing as soon as they get the acceptance letter, as the waitlists can be as long as two semesters.

Battling the cultural shock

Language and loneliness were the main problems that Lakshya faced while living in Germany. Even though he had learnt conversational German for eight months before joining the Master’s programme and could hold basic conversations in the language, a discussion in German was difficult.

Lakshya found two domains of advantages while studying in Germany – academic and personal. Academically, international exposure can help build a network that potentially changes the trajectory of one’s entire life. On the personal level, one learns to live by themselves, says Lakshya.

Work experience

Lakshya currently works as the Head of Carbon Analytics at dClimate Inc. (a blockchain climate data firm in New York), where he is building a product from scratch, which is capable of measuring the carbon absorbed by forests using satellite-driven AI models and helping countries protect their forest resources. “My work has primarily been focused on my research work,” says Lakshya who graduated from UPES in 2015. At TU, his course was taught in English, but Lakshya acquired fluency in German (B1) to work in Germany. So, one would want to make sure that they are covering all the bases and putting their best foot forward.

Advice to aspirants

“As someone who has studied in Germany, my advice to aspirants would be to focus on learning the language before moving there. It would be helpful if they also had a plan for the future and networked as hard as they possibly could. An internship in a German company will help find a better job,” says Lakshya who stresses that studying in an overseas destination is more about the country than the university.

“You’re changing everything about your life and trying to build something new from scratch. I would suggest using the time in your university to understand how you can fit into the new culture and pave a path for yourself once you graduate.” he adds.