Presentations and Packing - Ayon Mitra

This is our last week in Leuven, and we’ll soon be returning to the United States. Last Friday was our final presentation to members of the life sciences team and of the INBT, who listened in via video call. In the days leading up to the presentation I worked on refining my COMSOL simulations and streamlining my MATLAB code to make them more versatile.

Four-Level Kirigami Pyramid

The presentations themselves went very smoothly. I was slightly nervous prior to presenting but I was first, so that helped to ease my nerves. My presentation was relatively quick and concise, so there were not many questions, and my supervisor told me she enjoyed it. I then listened to the other four interns’ presentations which were all very informative and interesting. Afterward we had a nice reception after.

During this final week, I prepared a summary presentation for my supervisors and transferred the MATLAB files. This has been a very fun and informative project to work on. I started the summer with practically no experience in computational research, but now it is something I will further pursue. It has also been my first professional project, especially one involving team and supervisory interactions.

Overall, my time in Belgium and at imec has been life-changing. As I’ve talked about earlier, this is the first time I truly lived in my own place (freshman dorms don’t count). This gave me a great deal of practice in living independently and has forced me to develop simple, but important skills like budgeting and time management. In addition, the comprehensive international community at imec has shown me the importance of diverse perspectives in STEM research. I’ve also formed meaningful connections with many people, especially my supervisors.

My helpful supervisors. Left: MEMS Design Engineer Veronique Rochus and Right: PhD student Rachid Haouari

I’ve been enjoying domestic life the last couple of weeks. Over the next couple of days, I will pack my things and take care of administrative business. Yesterday I had the chance to stop by Brussels for a little under an hour; my last vacation 

Tasty Belgian Fries