For my practicum project, I worked at the Analog and Mixed Signals and Systems Laboratory in A.V. Williams on campus. I found this opportunity by reaching out to a professor part of this lab, Professor Sahil Shah. When I reached out to him, he got back to me saying that I could join the lab and immediately gave me my first task. I was assigned to learn about a type of protocol and then present on that information. This was the general format of the work I did for the beginning of the project. I had to do a lot of learning about the topic and the concepts I would have to use for this research project, so I made many presentations for the professor and PhD student I worked with.
Once I gained enough background information, I was ready to help contribute to the project. Some other tasks I performed was to design this circuit using a computer aided design software, simulate a component of that circuit using a different software, and more. I learned plenty about computer engineering through this process, and I learned about many different parts of the computer engineering process. I had to go through each step of designing my own circuit, testing that circuit, and making improvements until I finally created something that worked. Additionally, I learned how to use many different types of softwares I had never used before. One example of a topic I learned was about printed circuit boards or PCBs. PCBs are widely used in electronics, however there are many steps that go into being able to get just a prototype of a PCB. One must create a viable circuit design, test that circuit in simulation softwares to ensure an expected output, and then create a separate design for the circuit that would work best on a printed circuit board. Finally, the printing process also has many steps, as it can be a very tedious process to get a circuit to properly print. The PCB process was just one example of areas where I did not know much about the area, however after spending many hours learning about it, I was able to gain a deeper understanding. I also gained an appreciation for how the sciences can be used to help society.
The main goal of this whole project was to help detect Deep Vein Thrombosis early on, which is something that has been proven to be extremely difficult to do. However, I believe that this idea motivated everyone involved in the project, as I attended many meetings with other experts from other universities who all had personal ties to the project. After hearing their stories, I realized how much I enjoyed the field I was in. I was able to use skills I learn in class about computer engineering and apply that to a field that would directly help people. Additionally, this helped direct my path as a computer engineer at the University of Maryland. As a computer engineer, people generally have a decision to make: to go down the hardware or software “path”. As a freshman, I knew I would eventually have to make this daunting decision, but this research helped me realize my answer to this. A lot of the work I did was working hands on with the hardware, which I really enjoyed. Additionally, the software work I did for this project was something I realized I did not want to pursue as I furthered my career. Some future advice I would give to scholars students is to put themselves out there and try to get involved as early on in the process in something that will help them get an idea of what their field will actually look like outside of college.