TCS Ignite Open Lab

TCSIgniteOpenChallenge

"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass

TCS Ignite Open Lab

Cover Page:

The paintings in the Ignite cave ecosystem are a homage to cave temples of the early Pallava Kings. Specifically, these paintings depict the story of twinned temples of Kailasanatha of Kanchipuram and Tiruninravur. The Tiruninravur temple is the earliest known example of the realization of a virtual architecture. In the Ignite cave zone, trainees work with state-of-the-art image processing algorithms to separate reflected from natural images. Ruminating Calf by J.P. Ignite, TCS

The Artist J Prabhakar, known as J.P., is a Chennai based artist who specializes in pen-and-ink line drawings. With no formal education in art, J.P. is entirely self-schooled. Although his work is focused exclusively on the sacred arts and his themes tend to be temples, monuments and sculptures, he innovates constantly in terms of technique, technology, materials, form and content. His pursuit of excellence is a constant source of inspiration.

TCS Ignite Open Lab

Are you a problem solver?

Are you a creative person?

Do you have a passion for R & D?

Are you ready for the TCS Ignite Open Challenge?

Its all about you and the decisions you make

It is about collaborative learning, team work, creativity, efficiency, computational thinking, learnability, and leadership. Team up with your peers and friends and get set for the challenge that could shape your future.

Your submissions will give you an opportunity to demonstrate 21st century skills such as ability to communicate and collaborate, ability to leverage technology such as the computer, internet, audio-visual media to solve problems critical thinking and analytical ability analysis of problems innovation and entrepreneurial mindset ability to learn

Open Challenge will consist of two distinct phases: Open Lab and Open Test which will be followed by interviews. All the eligible final year students are welcome to participate in the TCS Ignite Open Challenge.

TCS Ignite Open Lab

Contents
OpenLab.......................................................................................................................................... 5 WhatisOpenLab?....................................................................................................................... 5 CanIparticipateintheOpenLab? .............................................................................................. 6 WhatarethechallengesinOpenLab?WhichonesshouldIattempt? ...................................... 6 WhenmustIcompletethesechallenges? .................................................................................. 7 HowcanIprepareforthechallenge? ......................................................................................... 7 CanIworkinteams? ................................................................................................................... 7 Howlongdoesthechallengetake?............................................................................................. 8 Whatarethedeliverablestobecompleted?.............................................................................. 8 Whataretheattributesthatthechallengeevaluates? .............................................................. 9 WhatifIhavequeriesaboutOpenLab? ................................................................................... 10 OpenTest ...................................................................................................................................... 11 WhatisOpenTest? ................................................................................................................... 11 Whoshouldtakethetest? ........................................................................................................ 11 WhenandwherecanItakethetest? ....................................................................................... 11 HowcanIprepareforthetest? ................................................................................................ 11 Whatisthetestquestionpattern? ........................................................................................... 11 Whatisthetestduration?......................................................................................................... 12 CanIusecalculators? ................................................................................................................ 12 Doesthetesthaveanegativescoringforincorrectanswers? ................................................. 12 WhatifIhavequeriesaboutOpenTest?.................................................................................. 12

TCS Ignite Open Lab

OpenLab
WhatisOpenLab?

Open Lab is a set of project-based challenges handpicked to examine a variety of attributes that will be relevant to your career in the IT industry. These include creativity, abstraction, problem posing, problem solving, algorithmic thinking, software engineering aptitude and team skills.

Open Lab Challenges Problem Categories Problem Solving

The challenges in this section will require an ability to understand the problem statement, identify critical aspects, arrive at a solution and communicate the solution clearly. To be successful in the software industry some attributes that are necessary are understanding requirements, clarity in specifications, a critical eye for defects, programming ability, ability to learn and so on. The ability to improvise, think out of the box, experiment, exhibit curiosity and motivation are some important ingredients of creativity. The questions in this section are designed to uncover creative instincts in applicants in various areas. This could be visual arts, UI design, creativity in writing, ability to create unique and interesting questions that would engage a persons interest etc.

Software Engineering

Creativity

Algorithmic Thinking

Algorithms are well defined and effective instructions for solving problems. Algorithmic thinking is hence a much needed skill in the field of computer science. Teams are expected to analyse problems and provide an approach to solve it in a step-by-step manner.

Research and Development

Some of the best and brightest Ignite trainees have opted to work in the innovation labs of TCS and pursue a career in research and development. Most of them are named inventors in patent applications. This section is designed for candidates with a passion for research. Teams are expected to analyse an article of their choice and provide a critique. They will also describe ideas to help extend research.

TCS Ignite Open Lab

CanIparticipateintheOpenLab?

If you are a final year science graduate seeking to join the TCS Ignite SASTRA University MCA Program, you can participate in the Open Lab. i.e. the challenge is open to graduates pursuing BSc Maths/ Statistics/ Physics/Chemistry/ Computer Science/ IT or BCA/BCS degrees.
WhatarethechallengesinOpenLab?WhichonesshouldIattempt?

Open Lab consists of a series of challenges staged across multiple phases. These can be viewed and are available for download upon registration in the following link. https://www.OpenSeeSame.tcs.com/OpenChallenge. You should begin with the kickoff challenge. This will take you approximately one hour. Phase1 consists of two mandatory challenges listed below. These revolve around problem solving. S.No. 1 2 Name of Challenge The Craft of Problem Solving The Art of Problem Posing Effort 1 person day 2 person days

Phase2 consists of seven challenges, of which you may choose any two. Each of the seven challenges is centered around a specific career pathway at Ignite. The seven challenges are listed below along with the effort required for each challenge. S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Name of Challenge Build an Application Innovation Challenge Evaluate an Application Coding Challenge Design and Creativity Challenge Algorithms Challenge Research Challenge Effort 10 person days 3 person days 1 person day 6 person days 2 person days 1 person day 2 person days

TCS Ignite Open Lab

WhenmustIcompletethesechallenges?

You must complete the kickoff challenge before 17th February. You must complete the two challenges in phase1 within a week of completing the kickoff challenge, i.e. by 22nd February. You can choose to attempt any two challenges from phase2 and complete them before 29th February.

S.No. 1 2 3

Name of Challenge Kickoff Challenge Closes Phase1 Challenge Closes Phase2 Challenge Closes

Timeline 17th February 2012 22nd February 2012 29th February 2012

HowcanIprepareforthechallenge?

The challenges in Open Lab cover a range of skills and abilities. We are interested in applicants who display proficiency in one or more of these specialized skills. It is thus important for applicants to wisely choose those challenges that will best showcase their abilities. You may prepare by referring to books or by seeking information on the internet.
CanIworkinteams?

Yes. The global IT industry thrives on team work, which as you may well imagine, is different from group work. The output of a team is generally expected to be greater than the sum of the efforts of the individual contributors either in terms of quantity or quality, or preferably both. You need to specifically provide the name, role, contact details and nature of contribution of all your teammates and collaborators. You should also provide a list with the references you have used.

TCS Ignite Open Lab Howlongdoesthechallengetake?

Each challenge will have a section on the effort required for that challenge. Please ensure you plan your time accordingly to ensure timely submissions of deliverables.
Whatarethedeliverablestobecompleted?

Each challenge will have a section on the deliverables to be completed for that challenge. In addition you will need to complete a document containing the names of the team members, their role and their contribution to the challenge. The format is specified below.
S.No. Name College EmailID Role %Contribution

The teams will also list out other collaborators (not necessarily part of the team) and reference material used. The reference material could be internet links, books, papers, product web sites etc. Please use the following as the examples citation. To complete the challenge, you must create a single zip file by compressing all the deliverables for each challenge using tools like winzip or 7zip.

Sourcetype

Format FullNameofcollaborator Relationshipwith applicant Contactdetail Authorsfullname Nameofbook

Data RamPrasad Classmate ram.prasad@abc.com BrianKernighan,Dennis Ritchie TheCProgramming Language PrenticeHallsoftware series 1978 4045 MalcolmGladwell CreationMyth TheNewYorker May16,2011

Citation RamPrasad,Classmate, ram.prasad@abc.com

Collaborator

Book Publisher YearofPublishing PageNumbers Authorsfullname ArticleTitle MagazineName DateofPublishing Pagenumber(If applicable)

BrianKernighan,Dennis Ritchie;TheCProgramming Language,PrenticeHall softwareseries,1978,40 45

Popular magazine

MalcolmGladwell, CreationMyth,New Yorker,May16,2011,68

TCS Ignite Open Lab SergeyBrin,,Lawrence Page Theanatomyofalarge scalehypertextualWeb searchengine Computernetworksand ISDNsystems Volume30,Issues17 1998 107117 GooglePrivacyPolicy March11,2009 GooglePrivacyPolicy, lastmodifiedMarch11, 2009, http://www.google.com/in tl/en/privacypolicy.html.

Authorsfullname ArticleTitle Journalarticle JournalName(if applicable) VolumeNumber(if applicable) YearofPublishing Pagenumber Sitename Website Lastmodifieddateforthe site Sitelink Googlesearch Keyword Nameofthekeywords yousearchedonGoogle

SergeyBrin,Lawrence Page;Theanatomyofa largescalehypertextual Websearchengine, Computernetworksand ISDNsystems,Vol.30,1998, 108117

http://www.google.com/i ntl/en/privacypolicy.html Whatisthenameofthe Whatisthenameofthe bestalgorithmforsorting bestalgorithmforsorting

Whataretheattributesthatthechallengeevaluates?
Product idea Problem Solving Problem Posing Design & Creativity Research Challenge Coding Challenge Algorithms Challenge Evaluate an Application Analytical Ability Features & Functions Deliverable Quality Attention to Detail Teamwork Creativity Coding Skills

TCS Ignite Open Lab

Conceptualize a Product Build an Application

WhatifIhavequeriesaboutOpenLab?

If you have any queries, you can write to chennai.openchallenge@tcs.com

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TCS Ignite Open Lab

OpenTest
WhatisOpenTest?

The Open Test is an online standardized test of aptitude. The test will be used to assess your aptitude for comprehension, logical thinking and quantitative reasoning.
Whoshouldtakethetest?

This test is open to candidates seeking to join the TCS Ignite SASTRA University MCA Program. i.e. the test is open to final year science graduates with BSc Maths/ Statistics/ Physics/Chemistry/ Computer Science/ IT or BCA/BCS degrees.
WhenandwherecanItakethetest?

You can choose to take the Open Test anytime and anywhere between the 1st and 4th March. You will need to book a time of your convenience for taking the Open Test. Booking of slots can be done on the Open Challenge website from15th February 2012.
HowcanIprepareforthetest?

The topics covered include but are not limited to Arithmetic, Algebra, Number sense, Discrete Mathematics, Geometry and basic Probability. The content covered is at the level of eighth standard mathematics. In particular, familiarity with topics in higher mathematics such as Calculus or Abstract Algebra is not required to write the test.
Whatisthetestquestionpattern?

Open test will comprise of 15 multiple choice questions. The questions will be of varying levels of difficulty and there will be approximately 3 easy, 9 medium and 3 hard questions, each of which will be scored differently.

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TCS Ignite Open Lab Whatisthetestduration?

The test will be of 60 minutes duration.

CanIusecalculators?

You can use calculators.

Doesthetesthaveanegativescoringforincorrectanswers?

Yes, the test will have negative scoring. The negative scoring will vary according to the question difficulty, i.e. easy, medium and hard.
WhatifIhavequeriesaboutOpenTest?

If you have any queries, you can write to chennai.openchallenge@tcs.com

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