Harris Mohamed

Degree: BS Computer Engineering 

Scholarships/Achievements:  
The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Ocean Source Software Awards - HackIllinois 2019
Texas Instruments Semiconductor Research Corporation Scholarship - 2020
Texas Instruments Semiconductor Research Corporation Scholarship - 2021

Student organizations/extracurricular activities:  Illini Formula Electric, 2017-2019

What's next for you after graduation?  Grad school, then into a research team at some place cool like Microsoft hopefully.

Favorite memory from your time in ECE:  In Freshman year, I pulled an all nighter for Illini Formula Electric. I went to the ESPL at 11 PM, we got the communication bus working at 8 AM, then I went home and knew I wouldn't have enough time to sleep. So I stayed up, watched a video on how to fix our ECE 110 project (custom wireless charger), ate a quick breakfast, and went to meet my partner, Neeloy Chakraborty. We implemented the fix and got the proof of concept working! Then I went back to the shop, did a little more work, and then finally went home at 8 PM and slept with a stomach full of Ikenberry Dining Hall finest food. I was purely fueled by curiosity and adrenaline. 

Favorite ECE class:  ECE 385. Together with my partner, Neeloy Chakraborty, and my friends, Nikhil, Pranav, Amith, and Pranith, I had a great time! Sure, the course was sometimes a tad difficult but we got through it together. My final project (motion tracker) was genuinely one of the most fun and rewarding I've had the fortune to work on during my undergrad.  

Future plans?  I will also be working on dropping two albums, a short film, and (hopefully) starting a startup. I one day hope to write and direct a feature length film, go skydiving, go to space, go shark diving, and have a few successful companies under my belt. 

Special mention/thanks:  Neeloy Chakraborty, Nikhil Simha, Justin Bifeld, Jayam Shah, Alex Vetsavong, Pranith Bottu, Amith Chivukula, Matthew Zhang, Carl Guo, Neil Varghese, Harry Chen, Autumn Chung, Tim Lu, Chantel Noggle, Shannon Cleary 

Advice for future Illinois ECE students:   Do everything. Your only wish when you leave will be that you did more.