GECCO-2021 was the first conference I’ve ever presented at, and it is an experience I’ll always cherish- I am grateful to the ACM-W Scholarship and Google for enabling me to attend it! In spite of it being online-only, it was a lot of fun.

The talks I attended were very accessible and everyone was receptive to questions and ideas- it helped me learn so much more about evolutionary computation and where the field is headed. I got a chance to interact with brilliant researchers from around the world- asking them about their research work and career trajectory was extremely inspiring! Moreover, as someone who likes to make art herself, I was so happy to attend the tutorial on evolutionary art and design.

I had to present a poster-paper at the conference- honestly I felt very intimidated initially, but had a fantastic time! People asked thought-provoking questions, were super-encouraging, and gave great feedback which will definitely help us improve the scope of our work.

I am so thankful to my advisor, Prof. Sumeet Agarwal (IIT Delhi) for his support, and the ACM-W committee for giving me this formative opportunity.