This face and name may look familiar to HCBU readers. This week’s campus celebrity hails from the College of Engineering, specifically the computer and electrical chamber. Senior and robotics enthusiast Kanav Dhir and his classmates Alex Wong and Deven Dayal created a web application called Bzzy, which tracks the “busyness” of places, including the FitRec, GSU, dining halls (Warren, West & Bay State), and study hotspots. The team released the app to the BU community last month and they are already working towards expanding the product to the Greater Boston area.
Co-Creator Kanav Dhir has a lot more to share than the web app launch. From being an intern at iRobot, a Terrier Hockey season pass holder to orchestrating a BU career fair for just startup companies, Dhir has many tricks up his BU garb.
Get to know your fellow Terrier!
1. Hometown?
I was born in New Delhi, India but I grew up in Long Island (Plainview, New York).
2. What have you enjoyed at BU over the course of four years?
This is probably a common answer but the city of Boston has definitely been a highlight in my time at BU. BU is a great university and offers an excellent academic experience and a ton of extra curricular opportunities. For me, being in the heart of Boston is really what has been most enjoyable. Being able to choose my balance of city/campus life, and having the option to explore the city both socially and professionally has been great.
3. The process of choosing your major? Biggest influence?
As a senior in high school while I was applying to colleges I knew I wanted to pursue engineering. I spent all four years in high school on our FIRST Robotics team and even led the team my senior year. Through this program I got the opportunity to take a problem, design a solution, and execute all within a six-week window. This is where my passion for engineering was born. I love problem solving and the addition of engineering constraints (like time and cost) added another interesting dimension to it.
4. Interests outside of school?
I would say I have three main interests outside of school:
Startups/entrepreneurship: I spend a lot of my free time researching startups and building my network within the Boston startup community. I am very passionate about entrepreneurship and love talking with founders and investors about their experience. I am a member on the Dorm Room Fund investment team and that gives me the opportunity to meet with and learn about a lot of the students working on startups here in Boston.
BU Hockey: I am a huge BU Ice Hockey fan. I am a season pass holder and go to every home game and as many close away games as possible. We have a lot more to cheer about this year, so I’m looking forward to see how the season plays out. Go Terriers!
Mentoring HS Robotics: Like I mentioned before, FIRST robotics played a huge roll in inspiring me to study engineering. Boston University Academy, the high school affiliated with BU and located next to the GSU, has the FIRST robotics team and I have been mentoring them since my freshman year. During the competition season (January 2015 – March 2015), I join the team for countless hours a week to help them design, build and program a competitive robot. I really enjoy mentoring the team and plan on doing it as long as I can, its a way for me to stay in touch with the Robotics program and also a way to give back and inspire more students to pursue engineering.
5. What’s the coolest innovation in your opinion?
I might be a little biased here as I interned for them, but I think smart lighting is one of the coolest technologies being worked on and ByteLight is a local BU alum founded startup doing some very cool things with it. They are working on creating indoor location based services using LED’s and Bluetooth Low Energy. I also actively follow news in the self-driving car space and I am excited to see how that develops. My bets are on Tesla getting to fully self driving vehicles first
6. Where do you hope to see yourself in five years?
In five years I would really like to see myself working with a couple of my friends on a company spun off from of one of the projects that we are working on together. That is the goal, but more generally I do see myself working within a small team of people working hard to bring a new and innovative product to market. I would like to stay as far away from a desk job as possible. I like working under pressure and in a lean and agile environment while interacting with people. Also I would love to have had a dog for a couple of years at that points, just need to do something about these allergies.
If you are interested in purchasing a Roomba vacuum or need an escort to the next men’s hockey game, Kanav Dhir is your guy!