Student in International Masters
Masoom Tulsiani is an EPITA student and he has just finished his International Masters in Software Engineering. His startup Tiller Systems has been selected for Startup 42 Batch 3. Along with 3 students from ESSEC & HEC they are building a cloud based point of sale solution for mobile and web applications for restaurant owners.
He wants to share his experience at EPITA and his feedback.
1. Your academic background, prior professional work experience.
I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Information Technology Engineering from Shah & Anchor Engineering College, Mumbai in 2012. While studying my under grad course, I founded a Web development agency in Mumbai and worked on ecommerce websites and innovative location based apps. In 2012, I was awarded with the 1st finalist award at Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, India.
2. Your reason for choosing EPITA and the masters program.
Studying a master’s program abroad makes you more multi-dimensional and the knowledge acquired gives you an edge over other Under-Grad applicants. The opportunity to study in a city like Paris and study specialized modules of Mobile application development attracted me to the EPITA International Graduate program. Morever, 6 months Internship opportunity in a French company was lucrative for my profile and provided an edge while comparing with other master programs in Europe.
3. Your specialization in this masters program and why this specialization?
I opted for the software engineering specialization to gain more expertise in web & mobile programming and eventually become a full stack developer. EPITA offered me subjects like Human Machine Interaction(User Experience), PHP & iOS Programming which syncs with my future goal of becoming a Full Stack Developer and User Interface Designer.
4. You current internship
I got an Internship offer from BNP Paribas, one of the companies participating at the speed dating e vent at EPITA. My role was to utilize a PHP Framework Symfony2 and develop a financial reporting application for fraudulent transactions. Because of the domain of Financial security, I gained valuable exposure to AML(Anti-Money Laundering) Systems, business intelligence and Message Filtering systems.
Working in one of Europe’s leading bank and understanding the French working culture was one of the most important skills gained which I hope will help me in my business.
5. Your new adventure launching a startup. Why? What is the topic? The team? Why select Startup42?
My passion for web programming and designing in school ignited the underlying passion for a startup. Traditional points of sale solutions are often expensive and do not offer an integrated web based reporting. We at Tiller Systems are building an integrated cloud based point of sale solution for restaurants on iPad & Web Platform. The founding team consists of students from ESSEC, HEC & EPITA. I as the Co-founder & CTO handle the technology side of the company and utilizing my User Experience(UX) & Web application development expertise. The challenge is to build the infrastructure on the cloud and setup an agile framework for development.
Startup42 is a 4 month accelerator program which gives us an open working space and access to mentors who help us build and refine the prototype. Because we are also incubated in ESSEC Ventures, it was important for us to be a part of a Tech accelerator after refining our business plan. This also gives us physical proximity of hiring developer students from a code driven school like EPITA.
6. Your feedback involving the school, the program, teachers, environment, Paris, French culture etc.
EPITA Master program is tailored to boost your CV. Industries Speed Dating & career forums attract the biggest French companies. The perception of EPITA as a programming school makes it easier for finding Internships & Jobs. Programs like cross border interaction and extra-curricular integration camps help you to blend with the French students. One of the most interesting things in EPITA is the 24/7 machine room which is available for students to work on their programming projects.
Paris is growing as a multi-cultural hub where Design intersects technology. It is one of the best cities for a startup. There is lot of startup buzz recently with events like HackerX, API Days and other developer hackathons and conferences. However, there can be many hindrance in terms of the language barrier and French startups laws.