Amit Sangwan

Hometown: Gurgaon, India​

Level of Study:  MS '17; Current PhD Candidate.

Why did you choose to study electrical engineering?

I had an early interest in smart technologies, which we can observe from our smartphones to the computers to the wireless networks which connect us to the world. This interest led me to pursue my career in electrical engineering. ​

What do you like best about electrical engineering?

Electrical Engineering is a fantastic field, it a unique branch of engineering that involves building and designing innovative computing systems to the power system solutions and the communication technologies. Its beautiful experience to be a part of this fusion of different technologies to create a new smart world and making life better.​

What is your research area?

Communication systems design ​, Internet of things, nano-scale communications

What makes UB Electrical Engineering special?

At UB Electrical Engineering there are field ​experts working on some of the most advanced research areas and its an amazing experience learning from them. Also the department is very helpful and is very supportive in making the experience the best.

A favorite memory of your experiences thus far?

​Trust me, there are a lot and Electrical engineering dept. has made a lot of it possible.​

Where did you do an internship? 

I did my internship at MERL (Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs), Cambridge, MA. 

What did you do in the internship?  What did you learn? What surprised you?

During the internship, I worked on the design and implementation of the Antenna Phased Arrays. The interesting part of this job was it allowed me to apply my knowledge of Digital hardware design and Analog hardware design along with the Simulation and RF circuits design. I worked extensively from simulating the design in Matlab to creating the digital implementation part in FPGA with signal processing, and digital controls and DAC, along with that the signal generated from DAC needed RF design knowledge for the creation of the complete system of the transmitter. 

I learned that there is always a lot more to learn and never stop learning. Also, having strong fundamentals is necessary and always useful even if we are out of our comfort zone, to build complex designs.  The surprising part for me was that only when we are challenged with big problems we realize our big strengths in life.  During the internship, I saw some challenges but with efforts, we got through them and now when I look back I realize that those things that seemed challenges now are easy tasks. :) 

How did you get the internship opportunity? 

 The internship search/hunt is a tricky process! Getting an internship should not be the goal but getting the right one suited for your field of interest should be. I started by evaluating my current working area, interests and put together a list as follows:  possible match, perfect match or too high level and out of scope. Followed by this I allowed linked in and other job search websites to see the posting and put those job posting next to these categories of the list as per their skill required and the job role and applied in the order of priority set by my list. Soon I got the interview calls, went through those and choose the one which I felt most good about. 

What advice would you give students interested in internships?

Finding internships is like finding a friend in real life until the goals align it never goes through for a good experience. Don't hesitate to apply for the dream company and prepare your resume and cover letter assuming you were on the other side of the table. In the interview, communicate your strong areas, show confidence in your knowledge and make it an enjoyable conversation rather than a rapid-fire question answer.