June Focus on Women Engineers: Meet Aishwarya Srikanthan
Meet Aishwarya Srikanthan, Electrical Engineer
8 June, 2023
Leading up to International Women in Engineering Day on 23rd June 2023, ALL.SPACE is celebrating its dynamic female engineers each week.
Other women engineer features:
- Meet Marina Marinova, Antenna Test and Calibration Engineer
- Meet Yamini Harikrishnan, Lead Requirements and CONOPS Manager
- Meet Maria Papaioannou, Director of Lens Antenna Engineering
For today’s spotlight, meet Aishwarya Srikanthan, Electrical Engineer within our Active Circuits team based in Reading, UK. Aishwarya tests and validates a new type of radio-frequency integrated circuits, or RFICs, core to ALL.SPACE’s smart terminal beamforming technology.
Role: My work is currently focused on the test and design validation of the RFICs that are an integral part of our beamforming technology. ALL.SPACE has been heavily involved in the design process of these first-of-their-kind RFICs. These ICs are now being manufactured and integrated into our terminal. I test the characteristics and validate the design to ensure they meet the design specifications. We’re currently determining the right configuration of the IC to deliver the best results as these circuits get used in huge numbers in our terminal. This effort involves working with various teams across the company, from the terminal testing team to the team designing the PCBs to mount these RFICs.
Time with ALL.SPACE: 4.5 years
Favourite Thing about ALL.SPACE
Being one of the engineers to join ALL.SPACE in the early stages, I have had the opportunity to be involved in different stages of product development. I was initially focused on PCB design, which gave me the opportunity to learn about the process of fabrication and assembly. I also supported 3D modelling of the PCB designs. This work exposed me to 3D simulations as we worked toward choosing the right RF design on the PCB, which is a critical part of our performance metric. Now I am actively involved with the testing and validation of the RFICs, which opens a bigger door of opportunity to learn and sharpen my skills.
Biggest Challenge
With these adaptive responsibilities come the pressure to perform without delays. I have always had to go past the learning curve at a faster pace and deliver the results within the expected timeline. Being part of a fast-paced work environment has motivated me to push my limits and being surrounded by a team who is willing to help has been a big advantage for me to learn and deliver without delays.
Path to Engineering
With the invention of mobile phones, I have been interested in them and the electronics behind cellular technology. I have been curious to understand how a small device can shrink the world, figuratively. This fascination led me to choose Electronics and Communications as my major in my bachelor’s degree. I then secured a job in a leading telecom company in India. But three years later, I realised that this job was not my core interest as it was purely telecommunications and didn’t involve electronics. So, I chose to pursue my master’s majoring in RF and Microwave. This led me to enter the world of telecom, where design, test and validation of electronics are now a major part of my career.
Hobbies
I love reading, listening to music and watching movies. Newer hobbies involve going to the park, going on bike rides, playing with toys, going on play dates and watching kids shows (all activities to do with my son, in case you hadn’t caught on to that). I love these activities right now, because they don’t last too long, and I can always go back to my old hobbies.