Nishant Aggarwal - PPO at Micron
Written on October 18th, 2020 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}Q.1. Could you please introduce yourself and describe your SI?
A.1. I'm Nishant Aggarwal. I am a 2017 batch Electronics and Communication student. I started with IT for my first two years in college, did many IT projects, and then shifted to electronics. Pretty much the opposite of what most BITSians usually do.
I did my summer internship at Micron Hyderabad, which started on the 11th of May, 2020. It lasted for about ten weeks. We had a two or three-week-long training period, and they allotted two different projects to me. One was supposed to be a long term project, so I just had to give it a start. The second was a mini-project, which ended in a week or two. The stipend was 50k per month.
On our campus, out of 250 students, Micron took a total of three students for three different profiles. They selected two people for one profile in Micron Bangalore while I was in Micron Hyderabad. Apart from us, there were four other students from BITS Pilani. There were no students from BITS Goa. I was the only one able to convert the SI to a PPO from our campus. From BITS Pilani, all four of them got a PPO. I was with all four of them in a team. We were all working under the same mentor but on different projects.
Q.2. What work did you do during your SI? What kind of projects were you involved with?
A.2. There was a 2-3 week training period entirely based on the core subjects. We went through the whole DRAM circuit with literally a million transistors in one circuit, along with CAD tools. The first two-three weeks were about analyzing that circuit and getting to know as deep as possible about how the DRAM's work at an industrial level. That training period was pretty good for a core student, though projects offered to us were mostly on the automation tasks. Our profile was a verification profile. We had to automate the verification flows of our designs. The long-term project was about Particular Verification Flow, something that wasn't yet considered by Micron, in India or outside. So, Micron Hyderabad decided to go in that direction. And I was the first one to start that project.
The mini-project was python automation only, in which I had to compare two different types of database information and report the differences between them. Maybe the projects weren't very core oriented. Still, when we talked to the Indian managing head, Mr. Anand Kumar, he agreed that we should be going through the training material and this automation project. But since this was only an 8-week long internship, they wanted to give us something we'd be able to complete in that period. Generally, though, the projects assigned to full-time employees are related to the core.
Q.3. Could you tell us about the selection process, the testing process, and the interview you had for getting your SI?
A.3. It was on the 15th of February. First, we had a resume shortlisting round. They selected around 60 students out of 250. And then, they took an online test, which had four different parts. One part was digital electronics, the second was aptitude, the third was Verilog, and the fourth was again coding. They gave a dedicated time slot to each part. Then, there was an interview round. Mine was an online interview due to personal complications. The interview was two hours long. It was a technical one where they asked me about everything, right from analog basics to digital basics and to questions related to the hiring domain. We didn't have an HR round. We received the final results in a day or two.
Q.4. When did you start preparing for your SI? How much time and effort would you ideally advise for the same? What are the resources you used to prepare for your interview process?
A.4. I started my preparation after PS-I ended because before that, I was more inclined towards IT. As 2-2 progressed, I gained interest in microelectronics and got quite bored with web development and the IT domain.
I wouldn't say I disliked electronics, but I had a preconception that I would not be able to succeed. But as I started to understand those topics and do well in those subjects, I thought I could do it. After coming to the campus in 3-1, I immediately started my preparation for SIs. I wasn't able to crack the first three-four companies. The first company which came was Analog Devices. I was pretty clear on my basics, but the pressure got the better of me. For the first few companies, I was adjusting to the pattern of testing. By the time Micron came, I was relaxed. I had a referral to an interview in Synopsis for a summer stint, but I canceled it after I got the Micron SI.
Mostly textbooks and concepts from Google. Many of my seniors told me that they would test us on the concepts, and anything you learn here won't be useful anyway in the industry. I was concentrating on having strong fundamentals and a strong base for every field.
The coding round wasn't a CC round; it was just MCQs based on Python because they wanted Python scripting.
Q.5. What were the courses (and other college-related resources, including your PS-1) which helped you with the same? Were there any courses that companies look at extensively while selecting people?
A.5. For SI, they didn't look at particular subjects that weren't a part of my core courses. Only after my 3-1, I started taking extra courses; I started auditing courses. As of my 4-1, I've audited around five or six BE courses along with some ME courses. Core courses such as digital design and ADVD, and those focused on the VLSI domain, are pretty important.
My PS was again in the IT domain, in machine learning. I did IT for most of my college time.
I can say that the electronics lab, which gave us access to resources, access to software like Cadence, and others that aren't available without a license, helped a lot. Practicing on them helps to gain practical knowledge, and implementing the theoretical concepts to design circuits gives a lot of clarity.
Q.6. Could you tell us a bit about your profile (including your projects and research experiences) and what you thought the spike helped you in the selection process? How important did you think those aspects of your profile were?
A.6. I think my CG was the clincher for my acceptance.
I didn't do many projects. I was only working on one project for two or three semesters under a professor. So I did most of my project work in the electronic device's domain, which was again a research area. It didn't help much in the placements or SI. I learned a lot from Dan sir informally, but I guess the CG and maybe the skills I learned during that project phase helped me.
Q.7. Did you participate in any non-academic activities (like Hackathons or coding challenges), and how did it help you?
A.7. I tried a lot of hackathons in my 1-1 and 1-2. I did a lot of coding, but I wasn't interested in it. In many of the hackathons, I would fail or get bored and quit.
I did most of my work for the Instruction Division. I got into web development as soon as I entered college, and people began approaching me for projects, and I began working on it more and more, but it drained me a lot.
Q.8. How heavily do you weigh the role of soft-skills, CGPA, technical skills in your SI process, and the SI to PPO conversion?
A.8. They mostly concentrate on how well your fundamentals are.
They only look at CGPA when they set a cutoff and maybe later during resume shortlisting.
But mainly while looking at your resume, they can only see your projects, your technical skills, and your CG. It's all about how you perform in the online test and how you perform in the interview. Online tests more or less test your speed, kind of like BITSAT. Analog Devices checks your basics a lot. But the interview will check how good your fundamentals are. In my interview, he didn't ask anything about my project. He just asked me the fundamentals related to the courses I have done or the profile domain. I add a verification profile. So he asked me a lot about Verilog testing.
CGPA has to be above 7.5, but otherwise, it doesn't make much of a difference.
If you are clear about your fundamentals, I don't think anyone will reject you.
And once you get into the company, soft skills become more critical because that's how you communicate with people. That's how you learn from people.
Q.9. How did you find working with your team at Micron? How big of a role did the senior colleagues there play in guiding you?
A.9. My mentor complimented us and said it was nice that we asked them so many questions. My project had to include many teams from many domains, so I regularly interacted with them. I used to text or call people at 10 pm. And when your intentions are good, they won't mind at all. It helped that the employees were all around our age, about 24-25 years old, so not much older. I had a right friend circle at the end.
Technical skills don't matter much because you can't learn by yourself, and you have to take help from your mentors if you want to get into an electronics domain and then learn the industrial extension.
Q.10. Could you tell us more about the SI-PPO conversion process? What made you stand out apart from all your colleagues that led to your PPO conversion? How easy would you say it is to convert the SI to a PPO?
A.10. I guess the way we interacted with our mentors and other employee teams helped.
Most of us worked almost equally on our technical projects, and we were doing very well. I'm pretty sure that when I go to that company as a full-time employee or as an intern in my PS II, I'll have people who will know me, and that will help me in the long run. So more or less, your technical skills, willingness to adapt and learn, and your communication skills will all play a large role.
We didn't have any formal process for SI to PPO conversion. They liked our work a lot.
There were many presentations that we showed to different people at different levels. We even showed our work to India's Managing Director. There were senior directors from China to whom we presented our work, and they were all pleased with the progress we had made because they didn't expect us to do so much work in such little time. So that probably helped a lot.
Q.11. How did the WFH aspect of your SI affect the general nature of the job?
A.11. I guess the thing I missed the most was speaking to all of the employees informally. The Micron environment was one of the best, as far as I have heard from peers in other companies about the technical queries. My mentors and my peer employees were very friendly. Work from home didn't seem like I was working from home. Anytime I wanted to talk to this person, I'd call him up or text him, and I'd get a very prompt reply. However, when you are at home, you can't concentrate, and you have to sit the whole day working on one thing. Whereas if you are at the office, you have to do it from nine to six.
From the company's perspective, the transition they made to a virtual environment, and the online support they provided to us was marvelous. I was pleased with how Micron carried out the internship because it was the first time they had virtual interns anywhere globally. So, it was very nice that they could gather everything in such a short period and make it a success. But again, I feel that on-site experience is a whole different experience. Maybe I could have had the opportunity to see the physical designs or interact with people in person while having lunch. The more informally you talk, the more exposure you will get to the industrial way of living.
Q.12. How important do you think doing an SI is for a single-degree student?
A.12. It's a very subjective question. You would want to do an SI, and there's nothing better than that. It doesn't mean it is the end if you don't get it. Many of my friends didn't get an SI. Only six students out of 250 Phoenix students got an SI. So it's not like the remaining 240 won't get placed.
SI, in my experience, won't enhance your theoretical concepts, but you get industry experience.
You can take every course you feel is relevant if you don't get a SI. Do some mini projects, dive into fundamental concepts. That's what my friends did, and they ended up getting placed.
If you want to get selected in some company for a summer internship, go for it. But don't get so involved that you lose your present goals for that.
HVD Sir once told us that we get so involved in thinking about the future that we forget what you have in the present moment, eventually destroying our future. Make a plan and have clarity but don't emphasize getting an SI because it's not the end of anything if you don't.
Q.13. What are your plans for the upcoming placement cycle, as well as the PS-2/TS process? Do you have any off-campus placement/internship plans?
A.13. I'll be doing PS II in the second semester. I wanted to go abroad for a thesis, but that's not possible now, so I'll stick to doing a PS.
I'm not sure if I want to go to Micron for my PS, but I'm also considering Nvidia. There's one thing that if I get into Micron, I'll have a head start. So I can start with the job as soon as I join the company as a full-time employee. In Nvidia, I will be able to explore some other areas, so I'm still confused. I want to get into a job for now. I do want to go abroad for an MS or Ph.D. But right now, I will not be able to muster the enthusiasm to study anymore. Maybe when I feel like I'm saturating in the industry and my career, I will consider it.
Q.14. Do you have any suggestions for the juniors appearing for the SI cycle this year or appearing for it next year?
A.14. Electronics is not hard. Seniors feed into juniors' minds that Phoenix is hard and that it will mess up your life. When I told people I was preparing for core internships, they said I would not get placed. IT people work hard in their respective domains. They are getting placed. If you put in the same amount of hard work into electronics, who will reject you? If you like electronics, stick with it, focus on the fundamentals, and you're good to go.