Basic Information
- Name Anubhav Batla
- Curriculum: B.Tech Program
- Year of Study: 4th
- Company/University of Internship: Texas Instruments - Embedded Software
- Year of Internship (eg. '23 Summers, '22 Winters): '23 Summers
- Mode of Internship (Online/Offline/Hybrid): Offline Mode
- Duration of Internship: 9 week
Getting into the Internship:
At the beginning of the internship season, I was uncertain about the specific profile I wanted to pursue. However, based on my previous experience with Digital Design projects during my 4th semester and summer vacations, I felt inclined towards securing a Digital Design role. Additionally, I had also started practicing DSA questions, considering the possibility of applying for Software profiles.
During the application process, I applied for several Quant profiles (such as Optiver) as well as Software profiles (such as Samsung Korea, D.E. Shaw). I even participated in group\ discussions at Optiver and attended interviews for the Software profile at D.E. Shaw.\ Unfortunately, I faced rejection in those processes.
Realizing that I was wasting time applying for profiles that didn't align with my interests, I decided to focus solely on applying to core electrical companies. The first company I applied to was Sony Japan, where I submitted an SoP for one of the offered profiles, but unfortunately, I did not proceed to the interview round. I had a similar experience with Google Hardware, where I did not advance to the interview stage.
Next, I applied to Texas Instruments for all four profiles and was shortlisted for interviews for the Analog, Digital, and Software profiles. Considering my limited interest in Analog and the time constraints I faced, I chose to concentrate my preparation on the Digital and Software profiles. Preparing for the Digital profile required significant effort as I had to go through a reference book and solve problems since the interview was expected to be primarily technical, as advised by my seniors. For the Software profile, I reviewed C programming and brushed up on basic algorithms. During the interviews, the Digital and Analog interviews were highly technical, with minimal focus on the points mentioned in my resume. Conversely, the Software interview was relatively relaxed, with a couple of C programming questions and inquiries about my resume. I was ultimately selected for both the Digital and Software roles and decided to pursue the Software profile to explore a different area. Having already completed numerous Digital Design projects, I wanted to delve into Embedded Software work.
During the internship:
Throughout my internship, I was part of the Applications Team, which served as a liaison between clients and developers. Our team was responsible for the recently launched Sitara series MPUs. My work primarily involved exploration and analysis. In the first half of my internship, I focused on analyzing the boot flow of a competitor's processor and creating a porting guide from the competitor's processor to the TI processor. The second half of the internship revolved around porting and packaging a Smart Camera demo application from one processor to another. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my work. Although I wasn't directly involved in software development, I had the opportunity to explore highly capable processors and gain insights into their applications in various scenarios. I would highly recommend this internship to individuals who, like me, are interested in exploring this profile. However, those seeking software development work might be disappointed if they are assigned to a team similar to mine, which doesn't directly participate in feature development.
After the internship:
Despite initially pursuing a software-oriented role during my internship at Texas Instruments, I have decided not to continue working in this domain. Instead, I plan to delve deeper into the field of Computer Architecture through my research work. Additionally, I intend to undertake a Digital Design/Hardware-oriented B.Tech. Project in the 7th semester. My internship experience was invaluable to me as it provided clarity regarding the possible next steps in my career.