Student Spotlight: Aditya Bhuvanagiri
Current full-time student and the Teaching Assistant of IIoT Pilot course, Aditya Bhuvanagiri comes from the southern part of the Indian subcontinent – Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He did his Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering from RVR&JC College of Engineering and Master’s in Electronics and Control from Birla Institute of Technology. He then chose to work for electronics conglomerates like STMicroelectronics and Qualcomm and aggregated 16 years of experience in the field. A vegetarian by choice and the simpletarian he is, Aditya loves egg-plant curry and Pulihora (Tamarind rice) and enjoys a reading books in his spare time. We asked him about his MEM experience so far and this is what he says :
What is Your Favourite Class or Professor, Why:
NUvention Medical by (Prof. Michael Marasco and Prof. Peter McNerney ) – This course gave me an entrepreneurial exposure in Medical field. The course is designed to address unique problems that have real medical value and is structured in a way that it sees your idea build into a product, which, I find, quite rewarding.
Being contemporary and open to all Graduate students, the course attracts students from various fields viz. Medical, Business, Law, Engineering, Journalism and more, therefore, is a great place to learn and network. My team itself, for instance, has students from 4 different fields.
Overall, I like it the most because its hands-on and aims to solve problems with potential stake-holder value and impact which instils a great deal of satisfaction.
IIOT Pilot course by (Shahid Ahmed) – The course is a combination of theoretical and practical IOT learnings and provisions for interactions with industrial experts. I like the course personally as it strengthened my knowledge in this space and is germane to the career I want to pursue i.e IOT Solution Architect.
Can you give a short description of your role and job responsibility?
Before joining the MEM program. I was a Sr. Staff Engineer/Manager in Qualcomm where I lead the video systems and firmware team comprising of 10 engineers. Overall experience is around 16 years.
What made you decide to pursue a MEM degree?
Having worked in Technical roles throughout my career, I sought for a program that amplified my business skills like Marketing, Finance and Strategy while not having to leave my engineering genes behind. MEM offered that blend. Moreover, it rendered flexibility in 2 regards – First, the five elective courses that I could choose from any school within Northwestern according to my preference. Second, the duration (between 9-15 months) which can again be altered based on individual decision.
PS: I chose the 9 months track.
What was the best part about MEM:
Aside from the flexibility of MEM program and the quality Northwestern as a brand casts. It was the peer experience that you gain merely sitting in each course. The student diversity in this program is just amazing.
Word of advice to future students:
Come prepared in terms of what you want to achieve from the program – Choose electives intelligently – If you are looking for a job post graduation, start your search early and Network, Network, Network (with alums, professors and peers).
Time goes by really quickly (thanks to the quarter system) so, stay focused from day one. – manage your time well – participate in class discussions – submit assignments on time while not losing focus on your career goals.
