Summary As a 4th year engineering student majoring in electrical and computer option, I have received experience in diverse areas;

summarizing them into two categories, I have worked in both hardware and software fields. Apart from the academic education that I have received as a part of engineering science, much of my experience as a future stems from taking part in the professional internship program at Actel Corporation (now Microsemi). As a part of radiation group, I have traveled around United States and taken part in off-site device testing. As a result, I have received training in preparing for remote experiments, understanding the hardware and creating/improving software system for testing environment that is most efficient. I have worked with FPGAs, Microcontrollers by implementing test designs on them in different platforms for specific functionality. As an instructor for the University of Toronto outreach program, I have also taught middle and high school students basic engineering design concepts, and introduced them to several different design models through workshops. Engineering Design Process I go through several different design processes depending on my circumstances. Reflecting on some of the scenarios that come to mind, I generally start by a specific goal or idea in mind and determine rest of the steps. Internet is a rich resource, where I can often find approaches of other people, their success rate and also concepts that can come handy during the design process. I also speak to my peers when I feel that they may have ideas that could be helpful during the implementation process. Once I feel that I have enough information, I plan out my implementation steps and start working on my design. Many times, I hit a roadblock or feel that the method can be improved, so more research and revision is done, and the system is debugged. Through several iterations, I finally finish my design and do one final revision for functionality. My design process is quite similar to one described by NASA1.

Figure 1 Engineering Design Project, NASA

Critique One of my strength is that, I am very persistent in my work and once I take interest in a project, I do everything I can to complete my work. I dont give up easily, and I use most of the resources available to me to do so. My weakness lies within my strength; I sometimes focus on my project so much that I often ignore everything else that also needs to be done. This often leads to rushed completion of my other projects. I need to prioritize my tasks and assign timeline so everything can be done without compromising quality.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/plantgrowth/reference/Eng_Design_5-12.html

Three Innovation ideas: 1. RFID Inventory system 2. Communication system (receiver and transmitter) in mobile devices 3. Automated helper robots for disabled people