In recognition of his outstanding performance as a summer intern, Qualcomm awarded WNCG Ph.D. student Tianyang Bai the Roberto Padovani Fellowship.
The fellowship was created in 2008 to recognize Qualcomm’s corporate research and development interns who demonstrate superior technical performance during their summer internship. Roberto Padovani was Qualcomm’s chief technology officer for nearly 10 years and was a leading innovator for the company.
The winners receive a cash award of $5,000. In addition, they are eligible to receive a return bonus of $12,000 if they return to Qualcomm Corporate R&D for a second internship or full-time position. Only about one percent of Qualcomm’s interns receive this award annually.
During his summer internship at Qualcomm in Bridgewater, New Jersey, Tianyang Bai’s research focused on performance simulations of mmWave indoor systems. Bai received the award for his exemplary contributions to the project.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Qualcomm mmWave team,” Bai states. “I also want to thank my WNCG advisor, Prof. Robert Heath, for encouraging me to take the Qualcomm internship and for guiding me into the field of mmWave communications.”
During his internship, Bai reported to Dr. Sundar Subramanian, WNCG alumnus and Qualcomm employee who also served as a panelist during WNCG’s 2014 Texas Wireless Summit. Dr. Ashwin Sampath served as head of the research project.
“I liked my experience at Qualcomm because the research is interesting, my manager worked closely with me to solve problems, and everyone on the team was always willing to help. There were also many WNCG alumni working in the same building, or even on the same team and it was a very friendly environment,” Bai mentions.
Bai originally connected with Qualcomm during the annual WNCG Board Meeting for Industrial Affiliates in the fall of 2013.
“There I met Dr. Xinzhou Wu, a Qualcomm representative, sent him my resume, and later received an interview invitation and internship offer,” Bai states.
According to Bai, he has already accepted an internship offer to return to Qualcomm this summer, where he looks forward to working with the same research team.