y young professional needs to build a bridge from the academic world to the trailhead of their career path. The job market for new graduates is more competitive than ever, and summer internships give students a head start in the professional world as they prepare to make the transition into working life. For Raunak Kahlon, a Senior Electrical Engineering Major at the University of California San Diego, Mini-Circuits’ MMIC design center in Carlsbad, California was the perfect test bed to apply the knowledge and skills he’s accrued in his college program to real-world problems in the heart of RF semiconductor development.
While much of Raunak’s undergraduate study has been focused on analog systems, his program curriculum included one RF course requirement, and the topic piqued his interest. When it came time to find a summer internship, Raunak followed his interest in RF as a potential career path for him, it led him to Mini-Circuits’ nearby Carlsbad office.
During his internship, Raunak worked alongside RF Test Engineering Manager, Ruchir Pandya and his talented team of test engineers on a variety of characterization and qualification testing for Mini-Circuits’ MMIC devices. The experience provided immersive, hands-on experience with state-of-the-art test and measurement instrumentation and software within the company’s global operating ecosystem. The learning curve was steep, but Raunak embraced the experience. In just three months, he not only mastered several test procedures, but also helped innovate improvements that made a meaningful impact on test efficiency and throughput.
“The team around me gave me a lot of responsibilities I wasn’t sure I was going to be given as an intern,” said Raunak of his experience. “Those responsibilities really pushed me to do more and learn more than I thought I could have this summer.”
Under the guidance of Ruchir and his team, Raunak was able to conquer multiple projects, including complete engineering wafer qualification for a new amplifier design. The project included tests such as U-HAST, ESD, HTSL, and others. He also learned JMP programming to add automation to the data analysis and reporting workflow, significantly reducing processing time.
Ruchir, who provided mentorship throughout Raunak’s internship, said, “My goal for Raunak was for him to learn and explore. I am a UCSD alum, and I’m familiar with the classes he’s taking, so I asked him what he would like to do and what he wants to learn more about. One thing I saw with Raunak is that he came in with a desire to learn and for genuine experience. I wanted to give him ownership of a project to oversee from start to finish.”
Ultimately, Raunak came away with valuable experience in the RF/microwave industry and new practical knowledge he’ll carry into his senior year, which will include a course on semiconductor physics. Perhaps most importantly, he came away with new colleagues and friends in his network who will be a source of support and guidance as he commences with his career.
“I had no idea what to expect from the corporate world when I started, but I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience,” he said. “Working with the theoretical knowledge I’ve spent three years learning has helped me understand some of the missing concepts I hadn’t learned about. This experience really opened my mind to a career in RF, and it set a high standard for what I want in a full time role. But I think having high expectations is good. I know I want to look for a position that has a lot of the same characteristics as my experience at Mini-Circuits.”
Raunak at work on the bench at Mini-Circuits’ Carlsbad test lab
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