Drumming
Volunteering / Community Service
Working out (my workout routine)
Tennis
Hiking/Camping
Photography
Skiing (still a beginner though!)
Movies/TV
Cars (some choice automobiles)
Birthplace:Fairbanks, Alaska
Current Residence: Torrance, CA
Occupation: Electrical Engineer and PhD Student
Status: Working and going to school!
I'm currently living in Southern California and working as a digital design engineer (proof-of-concept and hardware prototyping), and I'm also getting on-the-job consulting experience. In addition to my job, I started working on my PhD (in Fall '05) at UCLA.
I graduated with my Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May, 2002. (If you'd like to know more about my academic and research work, click here to go to my research page.) I received my B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering (and Math Minor) from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the spring of '99.
I was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, known as "The Golden Heart of Alaska". Alaska is the land of the midnight sun, and home of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (the oil that flows through this pipeline accounts for nearly 20% of U.S. oil production annually!) Alaska also boasts the tallest mountain in North America (Mt. McKinley, which is about 125 mi. south of Fairbanks and stands at 20,320 ft.). We also get a great view of the Aurora Borealis, and of course record snowfalls and temperatures in the winter. The temperature range in Fairbanks is surprising to many, as it has ranged from as low as -70F in the winter to 100F in the summer!
My parents came to the U.S. from India in the late 60's (my father is from Kolar and my mother is from Bangalore, both in the state of Karnataka) and both retired from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2004/2006. My Dad is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Psychology (and hosts his own radio show) and my Mom worked as a Seismic Data Analyst at the Geophysical Institute. My brother Anil works at Lucent in NJ (he also went to the University of Illinois, where he got his PhD in EE). My sister Anu works in Tucson, AZ (where she got her PhD from U of A).
Some of my hobbies/interests include traveling, drumming, volunteering / community service, music, working out, tennis, hiking and camping, reading, photography, skiing, movies, and cars.
