Ciaran Haden, a 4th year student of BA (Hons) Embedded Systems Design, at ATU Donegal campus, reflects on his recent internship experience at WiSAR Lab.
Tell us about your student experience at ATU Donegal Campus Ciaran.
My experience at ATU Donegal has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m so happy that I chose to pursue the Bachelor of Engineering in Embedded Systems programme.
One of the great things about this course is the strong industry focus throughout, applying the latest technological advancements to solve complex, real-world problems. The structure of the programme is well-defined and designed specifically to meet the needs of industry, offering many exciting career prospects. The encouragement from staff and lecturers at ATU Donegal has been phenomenal, everyone is so eager to help you achieve and succeed.
I would highly recommend the embedded systems programme at ATU Donegal to anyone looking to be at the forefront of technology and innovation.
As part of your course, you undertook an internship at the WiSAR Lab. How did that experience benefit your studies?
I was delighted to undertake an internship at the WiSAR Lab. Working alongside a team of experienced research engineers in industry facing projects, afforded me invaluable exposure to the practical application of new, cutting-edge technologies. The supportive environment helped me to explore, experiment and excel my skills in the industrial application of electronics and computer science.
While conducting my internship at WiSAR I worked on a range of different projects.
In one particular project, I built Python software, with an intuitive UI, for a pressure mat project which regularly reads 900-point data frames for recording and visualisation. This mat is applied to care settings to monitor patients with limited mobility, reducing incidence of body sores or patient neglect.
On another project at WiSAR, I developed firmware for an action-sensing glove project, reading multiple accelerometers and motion-tracking devices. I also developed firmware to send values wirelessly using BLE or to a local SD card. The action-sensing glove is used to assess and analyse patients suffering with conditions such as arthritis.
Working on these projects at WiSAR provided me with the unique opportunity to apply technology, creatively and effectively, across commercial settings, alongside an experienced team of engineers and academics.
What are your future plans post-graduation?
I am delighted to have already accepted a position as an Embedded Software Engineer with Microchip Technology Ireland, a global provider of smart, connected, and secure embedded control solutions.
In my new role, I will be working on enhancing Microchip’s PolarFire SoC and the next generation RISC-V based SoC FPGA software ecosystem. It is very exciting to be joining a company of the caliber of Microchip and I am looking forward to getting started and growing my career in the digital economy.
I believe that my success to date is a strong testament to the high employability of graduates of the ATU Donegal Embedded Systems Design programme and to the insights I gained during my internship at the WiSAR Lab.
Wishing Ciaran every success in his new role from the WiSAR team!
