Miraj Pankajkumar Shah

Degree: BS Electrical Engineering

Scholarships/Achievements:  Peter W. Sauer Scholarship

Student organizations/extracurricular activities:  
Satellite Development (2017-2018), later called LASSI 

What's next for you after graduation?  I am joining Northrop Grumman as a System's Engineer. I plan to be there for three years participating in their pathways program and experiencing different sub fields of EE, and after that, I want to pursue a masters in EE. 

Favorite memory from your time in ECE:  Late night homework grind for ECE 464 with some of my best friends.

Favorite ECE class:  ECE 464 - Power Electronics with Arijit Banerjee.

Future plans?  After 3 years max, I plan to come back for masters. Hopefully UIUC will accept me back. In 5 years, I plan to have graduated with my masters. In 10 years, I would love to have an MBA as well, and hopefully start my own business or be consulting. In 20 years, I want to have a family started. If I have free time or the drive, I want to get a PhD as well. 

Special mention/thanks: I would like to thank my parents for being very supportive of my education. I have never felt like I was ever on my own because of them and their support. I would also like to thank Arijit Banerjeefor being a great mentor to me, as well as changing my outlook on how a class should be taught. I would also like to thank Thomas Moon for being my senior project and thesis mentor, without whom, I would never have gotten the opportunity to work on a project of my choosing. 

Advice for future Illinois ECE students:  Not all ECE classes are taught the same, and not all professors are the same. Find out what works for you. Definitely do extracurricular activities because they teach you a lot more practical knowledge and augment your learning outside classrooms.