Sreevatsank Kadaveru
We bring you Sreevatsank Kadaveru! He graduated in 2020 in the discipline of Electrical Engineering. Read on to know more about his journey and learn about Wireless Communication.
The wireless industry has tremendous potential, particularly with the advent of 5G, you need at least a Masters, or a PhD degree get a job in the industry. The field is astonishingly diverse and nuanced.
A quick introduction, I am Sreevatsank Kadaveru, I am a graduate in Electrical Engineering, and am from the 2020 Batch (obviously from IIT Indore). I was quite active in clubs and activities during my college time, particularly in technology. I have been a part of The Team Robocon for two years, The Electronics Club for three years, and also the FLUXUS Technical Team, in my first year. I also headed The Electronics Club in the year 2018–19. I did an internship at DRDO in my 2nd year and a research intern at Tèlècom ParisTech, in France, in my 3rd year. My professional interests are in Wireless Communication, my internship, and my thesis was on a nuanced topic in 5G. I aspire to pursue higher studies in the same domain (soon). I currently work at Tata Digital, as a Digital Engineer (a fancy name for Software Developer).
Let me begin by elaborating on my penchants and professional interests, to help make better sense of the domain of the Wireless industry, and also the motivations behind the choices I have made, followed by a look at the wireless industry. I always fostered a great interest in computers and electronics since my school days; I was fortunate to have had access to a computer and the internet from a very young age, like from the age of 3 !! ( ╹ ▽ ╹ ). I was quite intrigued by how computers worked, and I was fascinated by the apparent magic that they could manage. With time, my fascination with computers only deepened, and I was so enchanted by them that, I wanted to rigorously and exhaustively understand how they work, from the inside-out. From electron to electron, atom to atom and transistor to transistor. And that is how I ended signing up for Electrical Engineering. Although Computer Science was the fancy trend at that time (and even now, and maybe forever !!), my resolve for Electrical Engineering was clear. Thanks to the invaluable advice from my professors and my parents, and my fascination with Physics.
What was their advice? Their advice, “Computer Science is easy, and anyone at any point in their life can get into it. Core is where the challenge lies.”, that is indeed true !!, take for instance me, it took me four years to learn Electrical Engineering, but only two months to get placed in a respectable CSE job. Anybody can get into Computer Science, but the other way around does not work. Electrical Engineering is tough; one requires a strong grasp of Advanced Mathematics, quite a lot of Physics, and a keen intuition for the subject. Of course, the same is the case with Mechanical, Civil and Metallurgy and others. In spite, CSE jobs promise far fatter wallets than any other. It is the demand and supply that determines what you are paid, not the richness or vastness of your knowledge or even the hard work you put in. Yes, this is a reality of life, yeah that is how it is everywhere !! and yeah it is not going to change anytime soon !! ( •́╭╮,•̀ )) . The core streams do not get their well-deserved recognition and reverence (not in the job market at least), but then I digress.
Money too is a reality of life; yes, you must follow your passion; it is vital but equally important is the monetary angle when you are scouting for a career. It will ultimately determine where you live, how you live, your lifestyle, and your future family’s lifestyle and their access to resources. Do research on the future of the industry of your interest and the prospects that it has to offer before choosing a career, but then I digress again.
A look at the wireless industry. The wireless industry is vast and diverse, in fact, it is not one industry par say. It is the result of the intertwining of several different industries. A wireless device requires or consists all the following: an RF frontend antenna system, mixed-signal samplers and ADCs, Digital Signal Processing techniques, Error Correction techniques, Digital Coprocessors, the standardisation of Wireless Standards and Protocols, Networking, Algorithms, Embedded Systems, Security in Wireless, etc. You get a feel of how broad and diverse the wireless field is. The outlook for the industry looks bright, primarily owing to 5G and IoT. Communication forms the backbone of the modern-day society and its importance in only bound to burgeon with time, and will never go out of fashion. The 5G technology will have a far-reaching impact on various industries. The advent of 5G is set to revolutionise the wireless and the IOT industry, everything that can go wireless will go wireless (wires will soon be obsolete). It is estimated that the 5G market alone will be as large as $ 6 Trillion by 2027 [2].
Given the wide gamut of the wireless industry, the spectrum ranging from core electrical to core computer science so is the nature of companies and the jobs in this space. The various companies specialise in one or more technologies, and unlike the semiconductor industry, no one company rules it all. Some of the pioneering companies in this space are Qualcomm, Ericson, Nokia Bell Labs, Huawei, ZTE, and Samsung. Some of the pioneering universities in this space are UT Austin, UC Berkley, NYU, TU Dresden, Stanford, In India: IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IISc, IIT Hyderabad.
Unfortunately, Wireless Communication is not taught as a subject in the undergraduate, and even in post-graduation, unless you exceptionally choose to specialise in it. And hence, as a result, there are no jobs at the undergraduate level; this is precisely why I planned higher studies. But then apparently China and the World had something else in store for all of us ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (in the interim I had to take up an unrelated job). Jobs in wireless-only exist for postgraduates and PhDs.
One crucial aspect left out is that, although most wireless is just an extended application of the core competencies that it stems from, Wireless Standards and Protocols and its research can genuinely be described as an independent competency essence of wireless communication. It goes to answer questions like “How does the wireless channel behave?”, by studying modelling the radio waves’ reflection, refraction, diffraction, scattering and absorption, by buildings, cars, trees, ground, water droplets, etc. “Optimal locations for cell tower placement?” “Optimal time-frequency resource allocation strategy?” “Optimal power allocations?” “Effects of multiple-antennas?” “Study of interference and techniques to mitigate them?”, and much much more. This field is mainly theoretical and research-oriented and is academia led. One needs a strong mathematical background in Linear Algebra, Numerical Methods, Convex Optimisation techniques, etc. The industry too actively supports academia and also contributes to the progress of the field. Companies like Samsung, Ericson, Qualcomm, Bell labs have profoundly contributed to the 3GPP standardisation effort for 5G. I ultimately aspire to be a part of the R&D department in the wireless industry.
Considering my strong interest in both Computer Science and Electrical, and my desire to not leave behind the wealth of knowledge that I have acquired during these four years, the wireless seemed to be the best blend between EE and CS. Also, during my time at The Electronics Club and at IIT in general, I explored a motley of fields beginning from Analog, Mixed-Signal Design during my DRDO intern, Digital Signal Processing, Microware and RF, and finally 5G, Wireless and Error Correction codes during my Tèlècom ParisTech research intern. You can see the trend !!. The wireless industry is quite well poised for me.
I hope this helps !! And All the Best !!
[1a] https://www.computersciencezone.org/technology-job-gap/
[1b] https://appliedcomputing.wisconsin.edu/about-applied-computing/applied-computing-jobs/
[2] https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/5g-services-market
- Sreevatsank Kadaveru
