Intern Review Hrishikesh Iyer Simon Fraser University
Intern Experiences Summer 2018
Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada.
Hrishikesh Iyer
Process of securing the intern:
A new program has started as a collaboration between SFU and IITs from 2018. A mail for this was sent on GPO towards Feb end. I then contacted my professor and asked him to be my mentor for this initiative. After a month of form filling and SOP writing, I was selected.
What was I working on?
My research group has developed some high performance piezoelectric vibration sensors. My job had two main components. The first was to test the sensors for their properties and several figures of merit like resonant frequencies, sensitivity, linearity etc. The other half involved sensor fusion. These sensors have two modes of vibration detection, each with its own bandwidth and sensitivity. My job was to develop readout electronics with the help of a postdoc for both these modes and combine these two outputs to purportedly get better noise performance and bandwidth. I couldn't complete the second part though.
These vibration sensors shall be used in several mechanical and architectural structures to pre-emptively predict and fix any harmful damage/wear and tear.
These vibration sensors shall be used in several mechanical and architectural structures to pre-emptively predict and fix any harmful damage/wear and tear.
Workload:
I had flexible hours and a great deal of independence. Even if I came in to work only 5 hours a day but gotten the job done, no one would complained. They let me suggest solutions to the several problems we faced despite my not-so-strong background in the field. They encouraged me to learn and think on my own and develop familiarity with the problem. They didn't look down upon my lack of knowledge but instead were patient with me even through my mistakes and slip-ups.
I worked with a laser doppler vibrometer used to measure mechanical resonant modes of specimen. I worked with a mechanical shaker to simulate external vibrations.
I worked with a laser doppler vibrometer used to measure mechanical resonant modes of specimen. I worked with a mechanical shaker to simulate external vibrations.
Courses that helped me:
EE112, EP Electronics labs, EP226 Waves and OscillationsWhat did I learn during the internship?
I learnt a variety of things about the different considerations involved in designing an analog readout/interface circuit for a sensor. Different nitty-gritties involved in piezoelectric sensor testing.
I've also learnt that it's okay to make mistakes even on this haloed intern. It's how you learn from them that matters.
I've also learnt that it's okay to make mistakes even on this haloed intern. It's how you learn from them that matters.
Places I visited:
Vancouver is heaven for nature lovers. There's a very healthy hiking ecosystem-park maintenance, information, guides and hiking groups. So, 60% of my weekends were spent on a hike. I also had fun going whale watching in the open waters. Apart from that, I met a lot of people from various countries-again Vancouver has a very diverse populace.
Comments
Post a Comment