Company: Texas Instruments
Interviewer: A. Ashwin Kumar (GT)
Interviewee: Gokul K (Bachelors in Electronics and Communication Engineering, Fourth Year, College of Engineering Guindy)
GT: How did you find out about this internship opportunity and why did you decide to opt for it?
Gokul: I got to know about this internship through CUIC and attended the interview. I opted for this internship because of my core domain. After reading about it, I came to know that there are many relevant opportunities available at Texas Instruments. That is the primary reason I opted for this internship.
GT: Can you walk us through your experience as an intern at Texas Instruments?
Gokul: The duration of internship was around 12 weeks (i.e. 3 months), and in the first week, the company started with an orientation. During this, they gave me insights on the company, privacy protection policy of the company, etc. After that, they told us to do some specific courses online.
Even before the start of the internship, we were assigned a project under a mentor and every Friday we would have a project review. After a few days, we had a meeting with our mentor and they explained the project. It was difficult for me to learn software for the first two weeks, but as time went by, I was familiar with the basics.
For the first five weeks, I learned about the circuits the company designed as well as some of their tools. During the internship, I completed several experimental simulations and performed mathematical models of circuits as well.
GT: Did you encounter any challenges in your internship and how did you overcome it?
Gokul: No, I wouldn’t say there were any tough challenges, but I would say an understanding of the company’s circuits is a little difficult. Other than that, there are no severe challenges in this internship.
GT: Can you tell us about the project that you are currently working on?
Gokul: I did a project related to finding the power estimation through ultrasound imaging chips. The company has a medical instrumentation team and they work specifically on imaging techniques. The medical teams generate ultrasound waves, and for this, the amplifier is connected at the back end. These amplifiers have high voltage transistors and we can maximum range of swing. In these conditions, power consumption is a big concern and I needed to build a mathematical model of circuit so that I can analyse the behaviour of circuit and determine power consumption of model before it connects to supply mains.
GT: How did this internship enhance your career prospects?
Gokul: At first, I didn’t know how this industry works and what products were being developed by it. But through my internship, I learnt about this a lot. I learned about advanced circuits which the company is working on and because of this, nowadays I frequently read IEEE papers which enhance and update my core domain knowledge.
GT: Can you share some tips/advice for the listeners who are seeking to apply for this internship?
Gokul: When any student applies for this internship through college, they need to be thorough with basics such as analog RC circuits and OP-AMP circuits so that they can perform well in the interview sessions. For off-campus intern recruitment, referrals would probably be required.
GT: Would you like to say anything about the Intern Diaries initiative by the Guindy Times?
Gokul: Yes, it is a great initiative. I read some of the interview reports from the software domain instead of my core domain. It is really helpful for students to read about a person’s interview experience since it lessens our anxiety levels and they would gain more confidence before attending the particular company’s interview. So I believe the Intern Diaries is a great initiative by the Guindy Times and I congratulate GT for doing this.
The Guindy Times extends its hearty gratitude to Gokul for spending his valuable time and wishing him all the best for his future endeavours.
