This blog post is the third one in an ongoing series introducing the MathWorks student competition team. The team is further growing and we are now 12 folks located in Boston (US), Bangalore (India), Cambridge (UK), and Munich (DE). Today’s post will introduce our new members Maitreyee, Alexa, Jose, and Veer. Our key mission is to equip student teams around the globe with software, training, and mentoring to tackle the same technical issues as professional engineers. Student competitions are often leading the way when it comes to new technologies, just look at the SpaceX Hyperloop, RoboCup or Formula Student Driverless competitions. Thus, we can spend our time working in trending areas such as robotics, unmanned vehicles, automated (and non-automated) driving cars.

Maitreyee

#Drones #SignalProcessing #EmbeddedSystems #Arduino #IndianClassicalDancer #Potterhead #SareeLover

What is your role in the student competitions team? What competitions are you focusing on?

I work on building and executing the student competition driven by MathWorks. I work extensively with the Embedded Targets team to understand the scope of the base hardware to be incorporated in the MathWorks run student competition.

What big project are you currently working on?

I am presently working on exploring the Simulink  support package to explore its possible scope as the base for the MathWorks run student competition.

Which recommendation would you give students thinking about student competitions and career paths?

Applying the learnt theoretical concepts reinforces the actual concept in our minds. And, that is the platform student competitions offer us: they help us apply all the knowledge that you have gained through the labs and courses.

Why do you like working in education and collaborating with student teams?

Students constantly strive to learn more things: to know why a certain thing is working, why the other thing is not. And, it is amazing when you have an opportunity to positively influence the way they perceive and learn engineering.

Fun Facts

• I have been learning Bharatnatyam (an Indian classical dance form) since the past 22 years and
  I hold a Bachelors in Arts degree with the same specialization.
• I am a big time Harry Potter fanatic.
• I can talk at length about Indian Mythology.

Veer

#MobileRobotics #BringItOn #EatSleepDrinkSimulink #50%Robotics50%Automotive #Cook

What is your role in the student competitions team? What competitions are you focusing on?

I work on Indian robotics and automotive competitions. At present, I am focusing on Robocon India which is a university level Robotics competition and BAJA SAE and SUPRA which are automotive competitions.

What big project are you currently working on?

My big project this year is to create content for Robocon and BAJA SAE. This will help students to understand the importance of usage of MATLAB and Simulink in these competitions.

Which recommendation would you give students thinking about student competitions and career paths?

Being a winner of the Simulink Student Challenge and MATLAB and Simulink Hardware Challenge, I understand the importance of competitions. It makes you understand the importance of time management, goal settings, learning from failures, and teamwork. My biggest piece of advice to the students is “Don’t be afraid of failures. Try new things, take risks, and learn from the failures. One day, these failures will serve you with a delicious recipe of SUCCESS”. Finally, choose your career which you can enjoy and cherish lifetime.

Why do you like working in education and collaborating with student teams?

I love to be among the students. Especially the student teams, as they are the most motivated and enthusiastic people in a college/school. I want to help the students from various competition teams to achieve their goals and prepare them for their future career. My current role at MathWorks allows me to do this.

Fun Facts

• I have 13k views on my YouTube video “Mobile robot control using Matlab/Simulink“.
• I cook delicious Biryani.
• I am a big Game of Thrones fan.

Jose

#anotherRobotGuy #theHardwareGuy #juniorRobotics

What is your role in the student competitions team? What competitions are you focusing on?

I support primary and secondary school robotics competitions. My focus is on the BEST and VEX competitions.

What big project are you currently working on?

One of my main goals is to help teachers integrate project-based learning with the use of our tools. Currently I am working on creating material to teach how to perform simple robot simulations to learn the basics of robot programming.

Which recommendation would you give students thinking about student competitions and career paths?

Get involved in as many competitions as you can and do it early in your education. Competitions will help you meet new people and learn the engineering workflows and how to collaborate with others. Hands-on competitions are also a great way to develop the problem-solving skills required in the industry.

Why do you like working in education and collaborating with student teams?

Working with students is great because the environment is by far the most resourceful and fast-paced among scientific and engineering fields. I really enjoy teaching so this role gives me a great opportunity to share knowledge, in most cases, we also learn a lot from the student teams.

Fun Facts:

• I am a guitar player.
• I am total car guy and Volkswagen fan.
• I have two turtles named cuff and link.

Alexa

#BookNerd, #NewEnglander #HorrorMovieFan

What is your role in the student competitions team? What competitions are you focusing on?

I work on a few other academic programs, including the Book Program and MATLAB Student Ambassadors Program. With the Book Program, I support authors and publishers in developing books with MATLAB and Simulink content. With the MATLAB Student Ambassadors Program, I support the Student Ambassadors in coordinating fun on-campus events and gathering together their schools’ MATLAB communities.

What big project are you currently working on?

We promote books with MATLAB and Simulink content on our website here. I work on finding and obtaining access to new books in a variety of industries, and promoting them online to share these resources with our MATLAB community.

Which recommendation would you give students thinking about student competitions and career paths?

Take advantage of all the learning resources and programs we have to offer! Try new things whenever you can and think about what skills you most enjoy, and doing those things should help you find a career path that will make you happy.

Why do you like working in education and collaborating with student teams?

I enjoy helping people learn and getting the most out of their education. If I can make a student or educator’s life even a little easier I feel like I’ve succeeded.

Fun Facts:

• I’ve folded over a thousand paper cranes.
• I once rode a camel in Morocco.
• I like to bake – especially when what I’m baking involves chocolate.

That’s it for now, I will make sure to welcome newcomers as they arrive. Please let me know in case you want me to put you in contact with someone in the team.

Cheers Christoph