Student Design Engineers at Work
Students seen here breadboarding a simple circuit before committing components to final circuit design.
Read below to see what our past student employees have to say about their expereinces at ECS and how the program has made a difference in their professional careers:
"Integrated Design Services was first introduced to me in a guest lecture by Dr. Pusateri in my EE350 class.
At IDS, I had a good amount of responsibility and was able to take initiative in my work; I learned more that way. One of my favorite projects to work on at IDS was the multispectral night vision headset. My main responsibilities were to develop algorithms to process the infrared imagery in a format that could be displayed in the headset. I found some of the applications very interesting, and it was much more exciting than learning out of a book.
My experience at Integrated Design Services has helped me to apply the theory that I was learning in class in a practical setting. Working at IDS was an excellent experience, and it helped me to realize that my career interests were not in signal processing, but actually in power systems. IDS gave me a glimpse of what I could accomplish in a professional setting in Electrical Engineering. I noticed that if mistakes are made in school, you get a lower grade and move on, whereas in the field, you can't move on until the mistake is corrected. IDS allowed me to experience failure and risk taking.
IDS taught me that even after school I will need to continue learning, and will probably never stop. It made me realize that there is so much that school can't teach me, and I will need to investigate solutions for problems on my own. One of the most important things I learned is that the answer is not always going to be within arms' reach: you have to go out and find it yourself. "
Jeff DiTeodoro"I first contacted the Integrated Design Services after seeing a job advertisement posted to the CSE 331 course website.
My work at IDS allowed me to further explore classroom concepts, such as HDL and signal processing. I found it interesting to see how these concepts could be used to design something real and tangible. I was able to work on all kinds of projects, developing hardware as well as software.
While there, I most enjoyed a summer project to develop contrast enhancement implementation. As a member of a student team, my role began with modifying existing code for portability. With continued involvement in the project, my role expanded to optimize and streamline the design itself. Working with other students from various engineering backgrounds was a plus, and together we were able to create something more meaningful than a "group project" for class. I enjoyed watching this project develop from conception to testing. In the end, I also noticed an increase in my skill level and understanding of software development.
Through my four semesters of employment, I also learned what it is like to work in the "real world". While your college professors may grant you endless extensions on project deadlines or curve their tests, your clients in the business world do not. IDS was a great tool for learning the importance of deadlines and correctness of my work - both of which I feel are important concepts for students to learn before graduating. Additionally, the staff was always available for guidance and advice, but they didn't hand-hold through my projects. This was really great - I realized that I could think creatively and on my feet to discover working business solutions.
Above all else, working with the Integrated Design Services taught me to learn from my failures and mistakes, and turn those lessons into future success."
Umar Mushtaq"I found the Integrated Design Services through a job advertisement posted by a CSE professor. The position appealed to me because at IDS, there are no biases when it comes to selecting new students or assigning tasks, which I found to be refreshing.
During my time of employment at IDS, one of my endeavors included work on the Advanced Multi-Spectral Night Vision Goggle project. I took care of the FPGA end of the project, writing power-aware Verilog code. The FPGA work involved utilizing the Altera Quartus-II design suite and the ModelSim simulator. I enjoyed working on this project because it exposed me to the intricacies of working with more than one group at a time and combining our efforts to create a product. I enjoyed the fact that I was important enough to influence some of the decisions made in implementing various aspects [of the project]. Being able to mentor and advise two undergrads was satisfying too.
Adventure and risk-taking were very much present in what I was doing, but the sense of achievement was the most important emotion I felt during my employment at IDS. The atmosphere was laid-back and charged up at the same time. The charged up element was there because we were passionate about our work.The laid-back element came from the fact that there was a lot of camaraderie within the group; plenty of discussion and people around the coffee pot. Plus, I enjoyed working with music playing.
Working at IDS made me realize that academic work can develop even further in an hands-on environment. The prospect of an attempt at a PhD therefore does not terrify me anymore. I had given up on that dream, but after working at IDS I have modified my goals accordingly. My experiences there helped to prepare me for the working world: I was fortunate enough to receive multiple job offers after completing my masters degree at Penn State and my current employment opportunity ultimately arrived as a direct outcome of the work I performed at IDS."
"I first learned of the Integrated Design Services through Dr. Pusateri, who was my Linear Systems professor. He mentioned that the group was hiring students and I was interested because I was looking for a good technical job and didn't want to leave Penn State for a co-op.
By working with the Integrated Design Services, I got a chance to see what real engineering work was like and it gave me an idea of what can be expected of me once I went to work in the industry. There are definite differences between managing projects and performing technical work and I understood both aspects of engineering a lot better after IDS. There are some internships that are filled with busywork, but not here.
The most enjoyable project I worked on was TAPTeLS, which is a two unit system with GPS receivers in each unit. The two units communicated with each other, transmitting their GPS position. I thought it would be fairly simple to write the algorithms for the project, but I later realized there was a ton of math involved. By the end I was using 5 coordinate transformations with some rotations and all that information that I learned in my math class (that I thought I'd never use) actually came in handy.
The staff is extremely helpful, especially with exchanging ideas. They know the students are still learning and have a very hands-on approach. They just don't hand you the answers though. When discussing project possibilities, the answer was usually, 'Try it and let me know.'
Working with IDS was a great opportunity. The teams are small enough that you get to know the other students and staff well enough to develop good relationships with all of them. I really felt a sense of responsibility and ownership toward all my projects. It was a fun challenge that helped me to work beyond what I thought were my limitations and to stretch my abilities."
"I discovered Integrated Design Services through a College of Engineering email. While I was studying as an undergraduate student, I found that working with IDS gave me a lot of insight in searching out practical approaches to problems, which in turn made me more efficient at completing course projects. When my studies transitioned into gradaute courses, my work at IDS actually provided me with a basis for my Master of Engineering paper.
My most enjoyable project would have to be the Victor Detector Interface Board (VDIB). The Victor Detector was an Infrared detector outputting a 3 MHz serial data stream. It had a TCP/IP connection to the detector on a VME card. Since no Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products existed, a custom board needed to be designed and built. My role was to propose a solution to the project by selecting chips to use and breadboarding a prototype to prove the solution. After building the board, I designed the code that was placed on the chips. It was one of the first projects that I was involved in every part of the design process, from initial proposal to the requirements, design, completion, and fabrication of the design. Taking something from a concept to a real-world product was very rewarding for me.
Even from the beginning of my employment, I was given the opportunity to create my own solutions while still being able to seek out guidance from the faculty and staff when needed. That sense of independence helped me develop my engineering style. Also, the opportunity to be part of a variety of projects helped me to determine what kind of work interested me.
One of the most important things I discovered was that failure is a natural part of the design process; continuous learning is the only way to develop and grow as an engineer. IDS is a great place to work, not only for the experience I gained there, but also for the doors that it opened for career opportunities that I might not have discovered otherwise.
Students seen here breadboarding a simple circuit before committing components to final circuit design.
Students Will Ferry and Jeff DiTeodoro attend Texas Instruments TechDay in New Jersey, helping IDS evaluate new technology.
ECS is designing for the future.