WIMTACH Student Profile: Arindam Chowdhury

When Arindam Chowdhury joined WIMTACH, he had simply hoped to gain the experience needed for future employment, but he was met with much more opportunities for growth and learning, beyond his expectations. A student in the Electronics Engineering Technology program at Centennial College, Arindam was eager to learn more practical skills. He was able to gain the experience he needed when he was asked to join WIMTACH’s electronics team for the development of a sleep monitoring system in an applied research collaboration with Noxware Ltd.

As an Electronics Student Researcher at WIMTACH, he is currently assisting the WIMTACH research team with the designs and development of the hardware components of the project. He is instrumental in the development of the designs for the printer circuit board used for the fabric for the project. Using electronic components and various Electrical Computer-aided Design (ECAD) Software systems such as KiCAD, Arindam is contributing to the applied research project by creating Printer Circuit Board designs for the Noxware program while another Student Researcher, Munish Sharma, helps in developing the software components of the program. “It’s very good,” he said. “Me and Munish are like classmates … we work on the project at the WIMTACH [office] and outside [the office] as well … the office atmosphere while studying is good.”

Guided by Professor Robert Wickson, the small team of three are making waves in their development of a sleep monitoring system. Arindam noted that there is a great ease of communication within the team and particularly when he needs guidance to complete tasks. As a result, he has been made to feel confident in his role. He notes that he has been able to gain critical time management skills from this role, presentations skills, and a greater understanding of how to use CAD systems. “I knew CAD before this but, [as for] KiCAD, I never worked on it and it’s difficult to work on it but I’ve learned it,” he said. “Plus I’ve gained some more electronics experiences.”

WIMTACH was instrumental in improving Arindam’s understanding of effective methods of studying. Often, as he was learning about how to use KiCAD he was also tasked with applying much of that knowledge, so he was able to better retain what he had learned. Working with an industry partner on an applied research project for a product that will eventually be used by the general public has been influential in boosting Arindam’s confidence in eventually finding a job as a professional in the electrical field.

He remembers the early days of his internship when he was tasked with improving upon the previous hardware for the program and working with his small team to achieve that goal. That moment was one of the highlights of his experience because he felt quite accomplished when his design worked as planned. “We built it … and we did not know, even after doing this, whether it would work or not but it did and we were so excited that it worked,” he said.

Ultimately, the internship has enabled him to feel accomplished and provided him with the opportunity to turn his interest into a real career prospect. He had always had a fascination with electronics since he was a small kid, taking apart items at home and repairing broken items so, his internship at WIMTACH reinforced his decision to iron out a path within the electronics industry. His advice to students who might be curious, but hesitant to join WIMTACH is to pay attention to time management skills to effectively contribute towards projects. “Know your priorities before joining and be 100 percent into WIMTACH’s work,” he said. “[The] second thing is, just buck up, study. That’s how you’ll be able to take new challenges.”

Now that he has practical insights into how electronics projects work, Arindam feels like he has been given an edge. In the next 5 years, he hopes to improve upon his electrical software development skills to become a professional electrical engineer so that he can eventually get a job at Siemens, a top German electrical design company. But for now, he plans on learning more from his teammates and applying for another role at WIMTACH to learn electronics software development skills. “I am getting to know the industry and I am getting to know the new innovations that they are making in the Canadian market,” he said.

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