Internship experience at Prima Innotech LLC

Prerequisite for reading this article

Knowing that I am in Mechanical is enough. Those who have watched The Wolf of Wall Street will enjoy the article more.

Introduction

My name is Sarvesh, and today I will be writing a pretty formal article. This one will not joke about some fictional martian lady or make fun of the noisy neighbors. However, some patches of my informal and bohemian writing style would inevitably make their place. Can't help that. I did my six-month-long part-time/full-time work as Robotics Intern at Prima Innotech LLC. I worked on developing cost-effective solutions for collaborative robots under the excellent mentorship of a Stanford/IIT-M alumni, Dr. Ajit Paranjpe. Before moving forward with the experience and learning, I shall discuss why I applied and how I got it.

Why I applied

Money was good.

How I got in-the short answer

The Wolf of Wall Street movie.

How I got in-the long answer

I applied and was asked for my resume and given an assignment. The assignment was hardcore computer science and electrical stuff. I, a mechanical engineer, did not have any lying idea on what the assignment was. I searched the internet, stole code from one place, put it in another place, then the bugs came, then StackOver flow came, then tiny depressions came, then tiny motivations came. Thanks to the makers of The Wolf of Wall Street, for those tiny motivations. Somehow I pulled the assignment off and was again assigned to design a motor controller, an electrical domain problem. I thought I was doomed to work on the EE stuff now. Then someone dropped a task in the Mechanical domain, and I was assigned that. Then I worked Happily Ever Six Months on developing mechanical solutions for a six-axis collaborative robot.

A few learnings from the internship

1. For the last three years of my bachelor's degree, I constantly asked a question

to the universe: I learned the theory, mugged the big rusty formula, and solved the problems. Now, where and how is the theory used in real life? Here is the answer: The concepts from the course on Machine Elements are used to design lead screws and racks. Moreover, the hectic 8-hour/week Machine Drawing classes were worth it. And on and on. The theory does matter, like a lot, for Mechanical core subjects. 2. I was always scared that working part-time would affect my GPA. After everything is said and done; it did not. 3. Before the internship, I always preferred a non-core over a core. However, I will now try my best to opt for a core placement in my final year. Still, fingers crossed, metaphorically.

Sarvesh.