Host, Sanjay Reddy talks to Akhil Babu who completed his M.Des in Strategic Design Management from NID. Akhil is now working as a Designer at IBM.  In this episode, Akhil talks about his journey into design. Coming from an engineering background, how he convinced his parents that he wants to go for design, what strategy he used to prepare for design entrance exams, etc. He also shares some interesting questions he was asked by the jury in the Strategic Design Management interview at NID.   While he was at NID, Akhil was able to go deeper into various aspects semester by semester which he explains here in detail. His master's thesis was about educating school children about Design. He talks about how to explain the understanding of design to school students.    Here are the highlights   00:00 -  Introduction to the episode   01:20 -  Akhil Babu Introduction   02:53 - from engineering to design  12:11 - how to choose domains   17:17 - How to prepare for design entrance exams   22:09 - How to know what you are good at/How to focus your preparation  23:36 -  SDM | How to approach questions & what is expected out of a student  31:18 - SDM Portfolio   34:11 - SDM Interview  38:57 - Your mindset matters   44:26 - What is SDM  56:59 - Understanding of Design  1:12:04 - Is it important to know Design Softwares