EngSpotlight Interview: Computer Engineering

How would you describe Computer Engineering?

One of the major ones is the concept of miniaturization, so taking some technology and just progressively make it smaller and smaller. There are several reasons why you want to do that. One, is for power consumption. You want to make it more efficient so that it can run longer. And two, it's cheaper to manufacture. So we know, for example, a good technology that we know now are CPUs, like CPU chips and PCs. The very first computer systems that came out spanned entire walls. And over the last century, computer systems have gotten more powerful and they’ve gotten more smaller. They also can focus on processor design. So how do you build the right CPU or how do you build the right chipset to get it to do what you want to do? Or how do you figure out the right layouts where the chips are going to go, how do you figure out the right instructions or the right tool sets or things that you want to accomplish for those chips? Well, what exactly do you want the chip to do? So they're responsible for designing computer chips, planning computer layouts, just designing circuits, equipment and systems. And eventually, you can go a little higher up or you can build mathematical models to simulate how exactly a chip will work or how exactly information or the bits are going to flow between the systems.

Can you describe your transition into a university environment?

It's a new environment with people you have not met before.  Going to be some new courses, new material I have not taken, but it was mostly "the unknown." I wanted to be able to find a niche group of people that I could be myself with, I would be able to have a support system where we help each other out in terms of assignments or just being ourselves and hanging out. So for me, it was mostly trying to find the right group of friends that I could connect with. And when I saw my schedule for the first time, it was quite overbearing. I would say engineering schedules are probably one of the toughest to deal with in terms of organization. So the two biggest concerns I had was, well, am I going to be able to handle the workload, and am I going to be able to find a group of friends that I'd be able to connect with and have a good support system to carry me through to the end? 

Initially I was struggling with the workload, but it really helped to keep organized.  I found it tough to balance between everything, like you've taken five or six courses, you have 30, 35 hours, I'm not sure how much, but for me it was about 35 hours a weeks of courses, but it was tough to be able to be, I needed to figure out how to prioritize what work to do. So for me, typically when there was an assignment or when there's something that needed to be handed in for evaluation, I tried to work on that almost immediately. It sounds like a nerd thing to do, but it was strategic in the sense that it would start to pile up if you didn't work on it, if you weren't diligent. So for me, it was a little hard to begin with, and that goes back to having a great support system too. So, having both of those was key to being able to get through, but I did find it difficult, but I did adapt in the end. 

Current workplace: Magic Leap

At Magic Leap, we are an augmented reality company. So we actually build our own headsets, so we do the entire stacks. We go from building the actual optics, building the actual hardware, building the actual headsets to the actual software stack that actually will perceive what is around you, and then you render that on the actual device. I work in 3D reconstruction, so basically, what that does is you wear the headset and it has a bunch of sensors. We've got depth sensors, we have cameras, we have IMU, that is used for, kind of, predicting motion as you're walking with the headset. And then it builds, kind of, a digital twin or digital reconstruction of what is around you, so that you can interact with it with virtual assets. For example, let's say, if you were moving into a new apartment then you wanted to figure out where things were going to go. So instead of physically moving around, let's say, a couch or a fridge, you can place virtual assets in this room. Maybe the fridge is going to go in this corner or maybe the couch is going to go in this corner or maybe I'll hang a TV on the wall somewhere. It's a way of reconstructing the environment and interacting with the environment. So what I do specifically is, I do both. So I not only do research, and I’ve test out or vet out, kind of, the latest advances in 3D reconstruction. I also implement prototype and I eventually get them into the user's as well. So I get to do a little bit of both.

What are some characteristics that make a student in engineering successful in the industry?

If you need help, if you're stuck, don't hesitate. I suppose it's kind of a pride thing where you want to be able to come up with, you know, so let's say you're tasked with a particular, you know, it's something to be done in the system and you have to figure out how to solve it right? So I suppose it's a pride thing where you be like, okay I can use what I’ve learned, I can solve it on my own, but there are many factors in play especially when it comes to deadlines or other things that are dependent on that task. So, don't be afraid to raise the red flag if you need help because most likely when you're asking for help, someone else will have gone through the same thing you've done, and It'll be nice to be able to guide them in the way where you're avoiding, kind of, the pitfalls that they’ve faced and they have experienced.

So neverending curiosity, don't be afraid to admit that you're wrong, and most of the time, especially when you are starting out, there is going to be some collaboration involved because as you're starting out, you're most likely going to be working on some minor feature or some part of the system that other people will rely on. So collaboration is key, a key part of the process to learn how to collaborate and to work in groups. That goes a lot without saying for any kind of engineering work.

What advice do you have for first-year engineering students?

It’s very important that you find a good group of friends or a good social circle to hang out with, like that to me was the fine line between success and failure. For example, let's say, if you don't do well in an assignment or don't do well on a test, it's one thing to, kind of, be in solitude, but it's good to have a support network to be able to, kind of, deal with those feelings.

So I would say, finding a good group of friends is key, number one. Number two, it's a cliche, but be organized. It's daunting, especially for first year, where the course load is not easy. I would recommend try to be on top of your assignments, try to be on top of your labs and your reports.