1) Identity & Story

Tell me about yourself

I completed my BEng in Electronic Engineering at York last year, and I’ll be finishing my MEng at Cornell Tech this May, so I’ve been exposed to different engineering cultures over the last few years. My work across both programs has focused on hardware and real-time systems: PCB design, embedded firmware on ARM chips, and validation pipelines in Python and MATLAB at Imperial. My dissertation looked at when AI methods outperform traditional signal processing, which taught me more about knowing when to trust a measurement system than any single project ever did. I’m looking for a role where production-scale testing really matters — eight complete antenna systems a month, each with 256 circuit boards, is the kind of scale where getting test wrong has real downstream cost. That’s what drew me to this role.

Why Northwood specifically?

From what I understand, Northwood is solving a real problem — there are more satellites going up every year, but the ground infrastructure hasn’t really scaled with that. Northwood is that building something fundamentally different with phased arrays that can track multiple satellites at once. What stands out to me the most is the production side — when you’re building systems at that scale, test engineering is what determines whether everything actually works in the field. That’s the kind of problem I want to be working on.;

Why this role — Electronics Test Engineer?

I like this role because it sits right at the intersection of hardware, software, and systems. You need to understand the design well enough to break it on purpose, and then build the infrastructure to test it reliably at scale. In my experience, you learn a lot from debugging and measurement — actually figuring out what’s happening in the system, not just what I expected. I want to do that in a more structured way, especially in a production environment where reliability really matters.;

Walk me through your background

At York, I built a strong foundation in analogue and digital electronics, especially through a module in Controls, Sensors, and Instrumentation, which is really about measurement systems and validating real-world signals. My dissertation compared machine learning and traditional signal processing, which gave me a sense of when you can trust algorithms versus when you need physical measurement. At Imperial, I worked on a spatial audio project where I built Python and MATLAB validation pipelines and reduced runtime by 61%. At Cornell, I’ve expanded more into systems — things like ASIC design, autonomous systems, and distributed IoT — but always with hands-on hardware alongside it.;

What’s your most relevant project?

The most relevant project is VAM, where the goal was to prove that a piece of hardware met its performance spec before it ships. I designed a multi-layer PCB (printed circuit board) for a high-fidelity audio system in Altium and then brought it up on the bench. From there, I validated each block step by step — measuring amplifier noise rejection using CMRR, checking filter stability with frequency analysis, and verifying the power supply stability. It was very much a full loop of design, bring-up, and validation against spec, which is basically what test engineering looks like, just at a larger scale.;

What are your strengths as an engineer?

One thing is I go to measurement pretty quickly. If something isn’t working, I’d rather look at what the signals are actually doing with a scope or logic analyzer instead of guessing in code.

I’m also pretty comfortable working across hardware and software — things like PCB design, embedded firmware, and test automation — which helps when issues sit at that boundary.

And I’m used to working under time pressure. At Cornell Tech especially, there are hard demo deadlines, so I’ve had to get systems working and validated pretty quickly

What’s your biggest weakness?

I haven’t worked in a large-scale production environment with established testing procedures and formal SOPs (standard op procedure) yet. Most of my experience has been building test and validation systems from scratch — for example on VAM & ChromaWave projects, and at Imperial — where there wasn’t really an existing framework more so like guidelines. So I’ve had to define what “good testing” looks like myself. But I’m also interested in developing the more formal production side as I grow into the role.;

Where do you see yourself in 3–5 years?

In 3 to 5 years, I want to be someone people trust with systems that actually need to work — especially when they’re complex or not behaving as expected.

Right now, I’m focused on getting really strong at debugging and validation at the component and subsystem level. Over time, I’d want to extend that to owning larger systems — where I’m not just fixing issues, but defining how systems should be tested and validated in the first place.

Why are you interested in the space sector?

I’m interested in the kind of systems involved. I’m drawn to areas where reliability really matters at scale. At Cornell, working on assistive tech showed me that engineering mostly matters if it consistently reaches the people who depend on it. With satellites, the data is only useful if it reliably makes it back to Earth (ground stations) — and that depends heavily on ground infrastructure. That’s really what draws me in — building systems that make sure that connection works effectively for those who need it.;

What motivates you on a difficult day?

On difficult days, I’m mainly motivated the idea of shipping and real-world impact. Knowing that something I’ve worked on is being used by people gives the work a clear purpose. Even during testing, catching an issue before it reaches users feels meaningful, because it directly improves the quality and reliability of what is being delivered.

Tell me something not on your resume

I’ve been working with a team to build an AI-based cost estimating tool for electrical contractors. Right now, a lot of their workflow involves manually extracting quantities from blueprints, which is slow and error-prone. Working on that has taught me a lot about why technically correct systems still fail in real-world adoption. Outside of that, I play chess pretty casually — and I think it translates well to debugging, since you’re often evaluating multiple possibilities and thinking a few steps ahead before acting.;

You applied for Senior but you're interviewing for the standard role. How do you see that?

The more I looked into what Northwood is actually doing — especially scaling hardware production and building test infrastructure — the more I realised this is where I’d be able to contribute the most right now. I’m not too focused on title — I’m more interested in working on the right problems. I have the technical foundation and hands-on experience to operate at the hardware-software boundary, and I’d rather grow into more responsibility here than come in with a title that doesn’t match where I can add the most value yet.;