Arya Menon, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University
I AM .... an Educator in this Exciting Field!
What made you want to work in this industry?
When I was in 10th grade, my physics teacher introduced me to resistive networks and I loved finding the equivalent resistance of such networks. The process felt like a visual puzzle, which was very exciting. This prompted me to take up electronics as an elective during 11th and 12th grade. In addition to the basics of electronic circuits, our curriculum introduced me to various types of analog modulation and the block diagrams of the circuits that enable communications. I thought then that I wanted a career in communications. However, soon after I joined my bachelors degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering, I realized that my true passion was the circuits and hardware that enable communications and not the information theory and coding aspect. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to work on antennas as part of an undergraduate student satellite team and during an internship at the Center for Electromagnetics at CSIR-NAL, India. The opportunity to explore this field outside of the academic curriculum as well as the enthusiasm of my colleagues and mentors, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, cemented my interest in the electromagnetics / microwave area.
What is your favorite part of your job?
I am an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University. One of my favorite parts of the job is that I get to interact with students on a daily basis and share my passion for microwave systems with them. Being in academia also gives me the freedom to think about and work on interesting problems in our field. Through my research, I hope to develop technologies to advance high-frequency (RF/microwave/millimeter wave) systems for ever-increasing, data-intensive sensing applications that are ultimately beneficial to society.
What are you most excited about for IMS?
IMS, specifically Project Connect, is partly responsible for where I am today. My experience attending IMS as a part of Project Connect 2015 led me to pursue a PhD and then a career in academia. Therefore, I am most excited to meet the 2024 Project Connect Cohort as well as reconnect with some of my Project Connect Alumni friends who are still involved with the program.