Arun Ravichandran, MS ITM’ 23

Hi everyone, I’m Venkat L. Turlapati (aka Lakshman Turlapati). For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a tech nerd at heart. Growing up in Hyderabad, India, I assembled my first computer at the age of 10 and even turned that hardware passion into a side gig, creating gaming rigs and workstations for over 25 people. That enthusiasm guided me to a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Osmania University, graduating in 2022 with hands-on projects like a blockchain healthcare system and an IoT smart fabric prototype that took second place at a T-Hub hackathon. Professionally, I hit the ground running as a full-stack developer at Church & Dwight Co. from 2022 to 2024. There, I focused on building intuitive ServiceNow portals, automating workflows with Angular and JavaScript, and integrating tools like Workday.

While AI intrigued me, I was mostly using it casually and was amazed by its capabilities without ever exploring its inner workings deeply. As a CS undergrad, product-side opportunities were limited, so I sought a graduate program that would merge my technical skills with management without losing touch with tech.

That’s what led me to the Master’s in Information Technology and Management at UT Dallas. The Naveen Jindal School of Management, ranked in the top 50 when I applied in 2023 (and now top 15 and climbing higher), offered the perfect blend of business acumen and tech innovation. Fun fact: It was the only school I applied for, I felt an immediate connection to its vibrant community and its practical focus on turning ideas into reality. Starting in 2024, my aim was to pivot towards product management, bridging code with business strategy.

But UT Dallas had bigger plans for me, starting with a nudge from our Program Director, Michelle Bellamy. She encouraged a group of us to attend TAMUHack, and that weekend was a revelation. Seeing AI’s raw power in project after project ignited something profound. I dove in headfirst: studying LLMs and transformers (inspired by experts like Andrej Karpathy), experimenting on Hugging Face, and even upgrading my hardware for local model runs. I’m so grateful for an environment that supports such intense growth. Even while balancing five classes and tech officer roles in clubs like AWSxUTD and Code.exe, where I led workshops for over 150 students and built websites, I still earned a 4.0 GPA last semester. My product management goals altered into a full-blown passion for AI, supported by dual AWS certifications and my selection as an AWS Cloud Captain (one of ~100 globally selected members each year).The momentum built from there. I’ve created projects like Review-Gate for the Cursor IDE (over 1,500 GitHub stars and 200,000 impressions), t2s-cli for secure natural language-to-SQL, and FormsIQ for AI-driven mortgage automation. These boosted my LinkedIn to 2,500+ followers and have opened doors to exciting professional opportunities.

A standout moment that speaks volumes about the UTD community was the “Meet Your Deans” event. I had the chance to demo an AI project to Professors Mark Thouin and Gaurav Shekhar. Professor Shekhar not only praised the work but graciously took me under his wing, mentoring me and directing me to key events and industry connections that sparked even more innovation. This level of direct support from the school’s leadership was truly humbling, and I was deeply honored to be named a Dean’s Impact Scholar, which further fueled my drive to contribute back to this amazing community.

Looking back, my journey with the university provided the catalysts: the mentors, the opportunities, and a community that genuinely wants to see you succeed. I am immensely grateful for every connection I’ve made and every door that has opened since I arrived. My path has been transformed, and I’m just getting started.