Selective collectiveFounded 2026Applications open — founding cohort

A small collective
for serious
student builders.

Mandrin is a connection-based collective of student engineers, forming its founding cohort now. We work across systems, ML, graphics, and formal methods. Membership is selective by design.

Connection-basedFeedback either wayYour work stays yours

current state

Members3

Selected spaces4

Projects live0

ApplicationsOpen

Technologies across the four spaces

RustCTypeScriptPythonCUDAGLSLWASMTLA+RISC-VCoqRustCTypeScriptPythonCUDAGLSLWASMTLA+RISC-VCoq

About Mandrin

A forming collective,
built around four spaces.

Mandrin exists because campus had no serious space for systems, ML, graphics, and formal-methods work. We're small, new, and selective. Applications for the founding cohort are open now.

Small by design

The founding cohort will add a handful more. We keep the group tight so every member gets real attention and real collaborators.

Selective, not exclusive

Membership is by application and interview. We're looking for genuine engagement with a space — not credentials or polished portfolios.

Projects come after the cohort

Nothing is planned yet. Once members are in place, projects form around shared interest. The work follows the people, not the other way around.

Selected spaces

Four areas. Pick one.

We focus on a small set of spaces where the work is hard and the feedback is honest. You apply to one. Projects form within each space once the cohort is set.

Systems & Compilers

Languages, runtimes, operating systems, emulators.

Build the layers other people write on top of. Parsers, codegen, schedulers, kernels. We work close to the metal and ship things that boot.

RustCWASMRISC-V

ML Systems

Training infrastructure, kernels, distributed systems for ML.

Not model-prompting — the engineering underneath. Custom kernels, autograd internals, distributed training, inference serving. Math meets systems.

PythonCUDAPyTorchTriton

Graphics & GPU

Real-time rendering, compute, and the math behind it.

Shaders, signed distance fields, ray marching, compute pipelines. We build things that render at 60fps and understand why.

GLSLWebGPUCUDAMath

Formal Methods

Specification, verification, and proving distributed systems correct.

Write specs that find bugs before runtime. TLA+, model checking, proof assistants. We take correctness seriously, especially when it's hard.

TLA+CoqDistributed SystemsLogic

Membership process

Four steps. There is an interview.

We keep the process short and the feedback honest. Apply, get reviewed, talk with us, hear back. The whole thing takes under two weeks.

Apply

10 minutes

Submit the application form. Tell us your background, which space interests you, and what you'd want to work on. No portfolio polish required — signal over presentation.

Review

Within 5 days

We read every application. We're looking for genuine interest and evidence you've engaged with the space — a project, a course, a problem you've been stuck on. Not credentials.

Interview

45 minutes

A technical conversation in your chosen space, not a leetcode round. We'll discuss a real problem and how you'd approach it. This is where we both decide if it's a fit.

Decision

Within a week

We respond within a week of the interview, yes or no, with specific feedback either way. If it's a fit, you join the founding cohort.

Not sure which space fits?

Find your space

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

Short answers to the things everyone wants to know before applying. Anything missing — ask us on Discord.

Any college student who builds or wants to build — engineers, designers, researchers. No CS degree required.

No. We care about what you've built and how you think. Portfolio/projects > grades or branch.

Nothing. Mandrin is completely free — we're a peer collective, not a course or bootcamp.

~5–10 hours a week: one weekly hack session, plus building on your own project.

Apply with the form → short interview (projects + how you think) → decision within a week, feedback either way.

Online-first (Discord + calls), with in-person meetups when members are in the same city.

Founding members

The three of us.

Mandrin is three founders today. One of us will be your interviewer. Reach us on Discord or GitHub — links below.

Siddhant Bayas

Systems & Graphics

SystemsCompilersGraphics

Systems & Graphics

Mayank Saharan

Presentation & Personal Development

CommunicationMentorshipGrowth

Presentation & Personal Development

Amit Jogde

Management

OperationsCoordinationProcess

Management

AI space match

Find your space.

Describe what you've been working on or curious about. We'll match you to one of the four spaces and tell you what to brush up on before the interview.

Or try:

Your matched space and interview prep will appear here.

Questions before applying? Talk to us first.

The founders are on Discord. Ask about a space, the interview, or whether Mandrin is the right fit for you — no pressure.

Join the Discord

Apply to the
founding cohort.

Applications are open now. Tell us which space you're applying to and why. We read every one and respond within five days.

mandrin / status

Members today3