Testimonials 2007

I did my intern at UNM for 8 weeks under the guidance of Dr. Pradeep Sen on "Exact or stable image\signal reconstruction from incomplete information"

Coming to the States as a summer intern in a top university was like a dream come true. The 8 weeks of my life were never more worthwhile than they were at the UNM. The intern wasn't just an awesome research experience but also a period that has brought a perceptible change in my outlook and vision towards my career. My project was based on the application of specific convex optimization problems for recovery of signals and images. I faced a lot of difficulties in the beginning as I wasn't much familiar about the technicalities of the project. But I must say it was the incessant efforts of Dr. Pradeep Sen that supported me in each phase of the project and helped me to get a deeper insight of the problem.

As a part of enjoyment i can only say it was the best one can make out of 8 weekends. A trip to Sandias, Nambe Falls, Santa Fe and of course Las Vegas was too much for us to expect!! Apart from these trips we also got a chance to visit the Albuquerque museums, Zoo, Casinos and lots and lots of new places. In addition to all the excitement there was an IEEE conference in Albuquerque on 'Pulsed Power And Plasma Science' which we all attended.

To sum up, it was an incredible experience for me. Experiences that are actually very vital for all people who see themselves in research, a few years down the line. Experiences that can actually bring a change in every one's perception. Not to mention, but I would like to thank Dr. Pradeep Sen for giving me such a generous opportunity and guiding me through out my project. I would like to thank Anna Roybal for her gigantic efforts and making our trip complete in very respect.And i would also like to thank Dr. Jayaveera(EYES Coordinator), all UNM people and all ISA people who were always there with me.
Nitesh Agarwal, IIT Roorkee, India

I really enjoyed every bit and piece of the internship program, be it the work or the tours organized by the ECE Department of UNM. The program has motivated me; I would definitely like to pursue higher studies. Peng Sun, my PhD mentor helped me out in every way he could. My interaction with Dr. Hayat was really fruitful.

During the stay in Albuquerque, we visited many tourist spots like Santa Fe, Nambe Falls etc. I am very thankful to ISA (Indian Student Association) in this regard, and also for making arrangements for our accommodation. The university organized trips to museums and an amusement park. We got a chance to attend an IEEE Conference (on Nuclear and Plasma Science) and interact with experts from all over the globe.

For those who wish to continue with higher studies, the EYES program is an ideal platform for polishing your research skills. Those wish to enjoy their stay in US, New Mexico offers lots of scopes for fun and frolic. In sum, my experience at UNM was very stimulating and its moments long cherishing.
Abhik Kumar Das--IIT Kanpur, India

EYES summer internship was a good experience for me. I had the opportunity of work with Dr. Chauoki, chairman of the ECE Department in Control Theory. I learned about Networked Control System's, which was something new for me, and at the end of the program I showed that Uniform Variable Delay with Positive Feedback can stabilize second order systems. From this experience I studied the newest knowledge, learned to use some software programs and had the opportunity to know more about doing research. Also, share this time with students from other country.
Sarah Anzures Chavez--Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico

The best summer one can have. It provided me a taste of research, a understanding of student life in USA and lot of exposure. An organized research internship program has a big advantage of recognition and the scope of interaction with professors and students from whole department; EYES provided that all with distinction.

I did my internship under Prof. Krishna on Quantum dot infrared photodetectors. Prof. Krishna's provided a great platform to understand the basics of my research interest and more importantly the role of master's and Phd student in a research group. Though, I had only few discussions with Prof. Krishna, but those were really thought provoking and covered broader aspects of research.

The trip to Las Vegas, the night outs in apartment, 16 Km long trekking to Sandiyas, reading the map of Abq. to find malls; will treasure all these memories. Anna and Prof. Jayweera really made it sure that those two months were well spent.
Amit Siroya-IIT Bombay, India

To be honest I know for a fact that a lot of the students want to go to the US (the American dream if you may call it so). An opportunity like the EYES program is just the kind an undergraduate student can hope for. This 8 week program opened my eyes to the world of academic research and to life as a graduate student in the United States.

When we reached Albuquerque, we were warmly received by the Indian Student Association. The fact that a senior of mine (in fact from my own hostel) was doing his PhD there made me feel at ease as I knew he'll be there to help me out. Our orientation was well taken care of by the administration.

I worked under Prof. Yasamin Mostofi on the topic of "consensus problems in networks for multi agent coordination". The work was mostly theoretical with a bit of simulation work to verify the results. It was a stimulating experience working under Prof. Mostofi and yeah not to forget Ruan, a graduate student in the dept. who was also working on the same topic, with whom also i had a lot of interesting discussions.

The best part was that the program coordinators saw to it that we had our share of fun too. Trekking the Sandias was one awesome experience. There were social activities planned for us every other weekend. And no US visit can be complete without a trip to Las Vegas(it was on our own expense though)!!

What I brought home with me was a sense of achievement and a feeling of respect for scientific research and yeah lotsa new friends. I'll always cherish this summer and am grateful to all the people(especially Anna Roybal) involved in the EYES program for giving me a wonderful experience.
Aman Agarwal-IIT Madras, India

Well It was first from my seniors when I heard about UNM & EYES summer Internship program. At that time, I never thought that I'll be writing such testimonial at someday and believe me I am really feeling luck for getting such an opportunity. I got everything perfect for me in this internship. I worked on project "Distributed and Adaptive Data Compression in Wireless Sensor Networks" in the field of Signal Processing/Wireless Communication, which is my primary research interest and I was looking for my internship particularly in this field. Moreover, this project was within my reach of understanding and capabilities.I was actually able to relate whatever I had studied in theory with what I was doing. Thanks to my mentor Dr. Sudharman K. Jayaweera who was always so patient in listening to me and who made me realize not to make statements obvious but make them with a strong logic and thats what the research is all about. Also my graduate mentor Amila Kariyapperuma, who never let me feel alone in my lab, always helped me whole heartedly.

Before leaving for UNM, one thing which I didnt expect much, was the amount of fun and enjoyment. But once I was at UNM, I enjoyed more than what I could have ever wanted to. Every weekend trip was either planned by Department or we planned with ISA( Indian Student Association) students. Whether it were Sandia Peaks or Nambe Falls or Santa Fe or above all Las Vegas, it was all simply awesome. Talking about ISA, they were among those who started taking caring of us even before we reached UNM. Right from picking us from airport, arranging for our accommodation, helping us in getting started and for resolving every small issue, they were always there. In fact whole department was itself very caring, especially Dr. Jayaweera and Anna Roybal, who was always so sweet & helpful. We got every facility which a regular student gets there like lobo cards, library card, UNM id, 24 hr lab, department access.

About facilities for research at UNM, CHTM is worth mentioning which is one of the top research centers in US for Nanotechnology, Optoelectronics, Microelectronics etc. Apart from that ARTS lab, MIND institute, lab facilities in ECE department for Pulsed Power, Beam & Microwave, Antenna & computational EM, Robotics, AI & Vision etc are also worth mentioning. For those who are interested in going for Higher Studies in US, this internship program will provide them exact preview of how things are there like work culture, research experience, general life etc. The perfect management and planning of this internship program resulted in a priceless experience and one of the finest summers for me, which will ever be remained fresh in my memories. For knowing my some more experiences at UNM, you can also refer to my blog: http://kurkure.wordpress.com/
Ankur Sharma-IIT Roorkee, India