We spoke with Harry Upton, a returning Summer Placement Student from the University of Warwick, about his experience at Plextek.
What drew you to apply to Plextek for your summer placement?
I chose to pursue an internship at Plextek because of their expertise in multiple areas of electronics which I am interested in – namely embedded systems, RF and communication systems. In addition, being a consultancy means there are a huge range of people with different skillsets working on loads of interesting projects that I can ask about and learn from.
This summer I have had the opportunity to experiment with different ways of optimising multistatic radar systems to reduce cost and complexity. It has been an interesting blend of learning about software engineering and signal processing techniques, as well as giving me a chance to mess around with embedded Linux using some SDRs.
Going into this placement, what personal or professional goals did you hope to achieve?
The main goal of my project was to explore ways an existing radar system could be expanded without increasing the cost or hardware complexity. Coming into the internship, I also hoped to get a broad range of experience working on a design project and to implement those skills on something practical. The radar project has been perfect, allowing me to experiment with a bunch of signal processing techniques I have learnt about over the past couple months and see real performance improvements in the system.
Every project has its hurdles: what unexpected challenges did you face?
A major challenge the project faced early on was when the initial plan to create a radar network with multiple transmitters using pseudorandom codes looked like it wasn’t going to work out, so we had to shift the direction of the project.
After extensively discussing the problem, my mentor and I explored some alternative methods that we could use to integrate multiple transmitters in a way that didn’t add any additional complexity. We were able to come up with a different method that actually reduced the number of channels the radar receivers needed and allow more flexibility in the topology of the network, which I think is a great result, even if the original method we wanted to try didn’t pan out how we thought it would.
How did mentorship play a role in your learning and development?
One of my favourite parts of the project has been being able to work closely with my mentor to solve some of the problems that you inevitably encounter when working on a project like this.
Whether it was a specific area I needed help understanding, or just wanting to talk through an issue I was encountering, my mentor’s guidance has been repeatedly invaluable.
A great part about working at Plextek is that you are surrounded by so many people with diverse areas of expertise who are happy to help, so there’s always someone you can ask for a second opinion from when you’re trying to solve problems.
Following your placement, has your perspective on your career path in engineering or technology changed?
Before undertaking my internship this summer, I had very little knowledge and understanding relating to radar and the techniques involved that make it all work. I have really enjoyed being able to design a radar system myself over the past couple of months, and it has allowed me to develop lots of related skills in programming and signal processing. It has also made me seriously consider pursing radar further as a career option, it’s an incredibly interesting field that I hadn’t really been exposed to in my studies up until now.
Plextek is a company I would like to work for after I graduate. It’s a great environment to learn from others and get exposed to a variety of different projects and fields of electronics.
I highly recommend anyone who is looking for an internship/placement in areas such as embedded software, radar and RF to contact Plextek – the mix of a collaborative environment where you can learn from so many different people, and the freedom to have a real impact on your own project, makes it such a fulfilling place to work.
If you are an enthusiastic, adaptable and motivated person who thrives on variety, enjoys learning new skills and facing exciting challenges then this is the place to be.
Find out more about our Early Careers & Summer Opportunities here Plextek Early Careers page