PhD Diaries: Inspiring Talks with Nirav Atre
A CMU PhD student, recent University of Toronto Graduate and former SWE Intern at Google
Have you ever come across an interview that you wish had never ended? Nirav exemplifies single-minded focus, an enterprising nature, exceptional analytical thinking and modesty. From his interests in Network Systems to his routine as a first-year CS PhD student, Nirav (with his polite demeanour), paints a realistic picture of his journey so far!
Nirav is pursuing a PhD under Dr. Justine Sherry at the Carnegie Mellon University. He was an SWE intern at Intel Corporation and Google. In addition to graduating with high honors in Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, Nirav has won over 4 distinguished awards and fellowships like the NSERC University of Toronto Excellence Award (UTEA) and CNIB Hochhausen Prize. He was also a summer research fellow and summer intern under Prof. Jonathan Rose, at the University of Toronto.
About Nirav👨💻
- PhD Student and Graduate Research Assistant at CMU.
- Recent University of Toronto Graduate. He also worked here, as a
Summer Research Intern and Summer Research Fellow for two consecutive years. - SWE Intern on the Android Treble team and the Android Nearby team.
- SE Intern on the DLIA (Deep Learning Inference Accelerator) for Intel FPGAs.
- Won the CNIB Hochhausen Prize and NSERC University of Toronto Excellence Award (UTEA).
- Received a special mention in the Dean’s Honour List (University of Toronto) for 8/8 semesters.
- ECE Undergraduate Research Fellowship awarded by the faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto.
- INSPIRE Scholarship’13 Recipient.
The Interview Session
Questions Covered ✨
- Getting selected as a PhD student under Dr. Justine Sherry, at a tier-1 university like CMU, is an outstanding feat. What motivated you to do your PhD?
- Which area of CS do you wish to work on (w.r.t your thesis)?
- In 2018, you won the CNIB Hochhausen Prize for Excellence in Accessible Design in Engineering for People who are Blind or Partially Sighted. Can you describe your Capstone project briefly?
- You were a Software Engineering intern at Intel Corporation. What is your advice to juniors who wish to avail such internships (in terms of how they can strengthen their profile, prepare for the interviews etc.)?
- Having worked with the Google Android Nearby team and the Google Android Treble team, what were the kind of projects that you got a chance to explore? how did you benefit from such exposure?
- You won the NSERC University of Toronto Excellence Award and the ECE Undergraduate Research Fellowship under the guidance of Prof. Jonathan Rose. According to you, which aspects of your profile or project contributions stood out while applying for the same?
- Back in 2016, you mentioned that Prof. Jonathan Rose has been an inspiration, in a U of T News article. Which aspect of his work interests you?
- What were the challenges that you had faced during the PhD application phase?
- Being on the Dean’s Honour List for 8 whole semesters requires unwavering dedication and hard-work. What drives you?
- Which area or sub-domain of networking (the subject) intrigues you?
- A lot of your college projects find their application in the health-care sector. Is there any specific reason for choosing such projects?
- What hobbies do you pursue, during your free time?
- What is a day in the life of a CMU PhD student like?
Tidbits 🌟
It was a pleasure interviewing Nirav- starting from how genuine and courteous he was, to his clarity of thought while explaining technical projects/concepts in a cogent manner. Watch out for his advice regarding SOPs and internships. We love the Capstone project that got him the CNIB Prize! :)
Note: Visit his LinkedIn profile to read about his work.
