ECE Expeditions takes a tech tour of “The Hub”

Mena Davidson • April 1, 2025
The 8th cross-country voyage of the ECE Expeditions program took place in Boston, with visits to Analog Devices, MathWorks, Neurable, and SharkNinja.

Over U-M’s spring break, the ECE Expeditions program added another first to its list of destinations that have included New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle: Boston, MA, nicknamed “The Hub.” The program gives Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students at all levels the opportunity to explore a new city, develop their professional networks, and experience the everyday work of an industry engineer.

During their three-day trip in early March 2025, the group of students visited Analog Devices, MathWorks, Neurable, and SharkNinja, meeting U-M alumni and learning about some of the expansive career paths for electrical and computer engineers post-graduation.

“The ECE Expedition expanded my perspective of what it is like to work as an electrical engineer. By touring many different companies, I was able to learn about the diverse range of jobs in ECE,” said undergraduate Jessica Li. “The activities like lab tours, technology and product demonstrations, and engineer panels allowed me to learn about the day-to-day life of working as an electrical engineer in these companies.”

Analog Devices

The Expedition began with a full day of tours at Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a semiconductor company “empowering the intelligent edge.” ADI uses a unique hybrid fabrication model, both fabricating small specialty semiconductors on-site in the U.S. and working with larger manufacturers overseas like TMSC. The company has over 75,000 products, with applications in automotives, communications, consumer electronics, agriculture, healthcare, space, energy management, and more.

The students first met their host, Shravan Siddhling, lead program manager at the Analog Garage, an innovative research and development branch of ADI. Technical Fellow Gina Aquilano, who runs the Analog Garage, gave students an overview of its work, focused on “pioneering breakthrough technologies” that are high-impact but may require more development risks. The projects are forward-looking by 5–10 years, focusing on topics like precision medicine, cutting carbon for agriculture efficiency, and automating dexterity in robots.

“The team decides when to pivot, fold, or move a project to the next level,” said Aquilano. “We’re not just a semiconductor company—we’re working in the solutions space.”

Students toured the laboratory facilities with ADI engineers and saw demonstrations of Analog Garage projects, including a DNA synthesis platform called ADiNA and a robotic arm learning to locate and handle a variety of objects.

The group then headed to the ADI Headquarters and the Wilmington Wafer Fabrication Facility, where they spent the rest of the afternoon with their host Cliff King, senior director of external engagement. Over lunch, ADI engineers introduced the work being done at ADI Headquarters, including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturing and a demonstration of ADI’s products for advanced battery monitoring which is critical for electric vehicles and other energy storage systems. Students also heard from ECE alums Sam Fuller (BS EE ‘68) and Fatih Kocer (MSC PhD EE ‘02 ‘05). Fuller is the CTO emeritus and senior VP of R&D at ADI.

Finally, the students went on tours of the battery lab and fabrication cleanrooms led by ADI engineers, including ECE alum Amrita Ray Chaudhury (MSE EE ‘13). Everyone got to suit up in the full-body “bunny suits” designed to protect the particulate sensitive MEMS technology being fabricated in the cleanrooms. These systems are employed in industrial applications to monitor manufacturing equipment and facilities (e.g., motors, buildings) and trigger a maintenance operation before failure occurs. In addition, automotive applications benefit through the use of airbag deployment accelerometers (ADI devices save an estimated 8 lives per day). In the future, inertial measurement units using MEMS will be used to assist in navigation in the absence of a GPS signal.

“Visiting Analog Devices was particularly memorable because they took great care in showing us around, from the innovative garage setup to the high-precision fabrication facility,” said PhD student Yilun Zhu. “I felt truly welcomed and engaged.”

A student examines a circuit board, standing next to a group of peers listening to an employee speak.
Students learn about ADiNA, ADI’s DNA synthesis platform, in the customer experience room at Analog Garage. Photo: Jero Lopera
Students listen to a man speaking, standing in front of a reflective door to an oven-like chamber.
Ege Guler, research & SW development engineer, shows a group of students the battery testing chambers at ADI Headquarters. Photo: Jero Lopera
In the foreground sits a robot with a rectangular base and column holding a camera. In the background stand a group of students, watching.
Students watch a robotics demonstration at Analog Garage. Photo: Jero Lopera
A student holds a flat, frisbee-sized disk perpendicular to his face and examines it with one eye closed.
ECE undergraduate Joseph Leckie examines a MEMS wafer fabricated by Analog Devices. Photo: Jero Lopera
A group of students poses outdoors behind a sign for Analog devices.
ECE Expeditions students around the sign for Analog Devices. Photo: Jero Lopera
Students sit in a conference room listening to a woman at a podium speak. The room is lined with large windows and a sign read "Analog Devices: ahead of what's possible."
ADI Technical Fellow Gina Aquilano tells students about the work at Analog Garage. Photo: Jero Lopera.

MathWorks

The ECE Expeditions group spent the second morning at MathWorks, a software company that produces the well-known MATLAB and Simulink programs, in addition to more than a hundred other software tools used across every industry.

“I was amazed by the powerful capabilities and wide applications of MathWorks’ software tools,” said master’s student Guantao Liu.

After breakfast in the staff cafeteria with MathWorks hosts, Senior Recruiter Cara Chase and Senior EDG Manager Mat Swanson, students learned about the company’s unique engineering development group—a program designed to hire and integrate recent graduates starting their technical careers.

The students toured the roomy and bright MathWorks campus before hearing from Michigan Engineering alums Christian George, Maithili Shetty (MS ECE 2023), Audrey Lee (MS ECE 2023), and Mohit Padhye (MS ECE 2023). The Expeditions students networked informally with these alums while they ate lunch, again catered by the MathWorks staff cafeteria.

Last but not least, MathWorks put on a demonstration of MATLAB’s multi-agent training feature: a robotic arm playing tic-tac-toe against one of the students.

Three people sit on chairs at the front of a conference room, in front of a projector screen that displays their headshots and names.
A group of ECE alumni sit on a panel to answer questions about their professional experiences. Photo: Jero Lopera
A group of students stands near a white robotic arm holding a dry-erase marker.
A group of students participates in the multi-agent training demonstration. Photo: Jero Lopera
A woman leads a tour of students through a glass hallway.
Cara Chase (L) gives students a tour of the MathWorks campus. Photo: Jero Lopera
A sleek, white robotic arm holds a dry-erase marker. In the background, students look past the robot to a speaker out of frame.
A robotic arm trained and operated with MATLAB to play tic-tac-toe. Photo: Jero Lopera
A group of students stands in a line in front of an outdoor MathWorks sign.
ECE Expeditions students in front of the MathWorks sign. Photo: Jero Lopera

Neurable

Having visited two large, established companies, the Expeditions group next checked out Neurable, a start-up company housed in a small office in the heart of Boston. Students met virtually with U-M alum Ramses Alcaide, the company’s co-founder and CEO. The company develops technology for everyday wearable devices that also act as brain-computer interfaces to track patterns of health and focus.

“We are helping people access their brains in a simple, everyday way,” said one employee.

Students got to try out one of Neurable’s products—a pair of headphones that tracks electrical signals in the brain through electroencephalography (EEG), a technology that has long been used in clinical psychology studies, but is often bulky and hard to set up. Neurable’s algorithms make it possible to measure EEG noninvasively and long-term. Students learned from Neurable engineers, did an assessment, and played a game to demonstrate the live data streamed from the devices.

“Neurable, as a startup, provided a completely different experience from the other companies. The work environment was dynamic and full of energy, making me truly feel the spirit of innovation,” said Liu. “The game they showcased sparked my curiosity about the future development of brain-computer interface technology.”

“I was impressed by the Neurable employees’ unconventional mindsets. The CEO explained the difference between academic research and solving a real-world problem,” added master’s student Rui-Yu Lin. “Additionally, an engineer described that they often collaborate with colleagues from different positions and support each other.”

A group of students sits on chairs in a small office space, watching a presenter on a TV screen.
Students meet virtually with Neurable co-founder and CEO Ramses Alcaide. Photo: Lindsey Nie/Neurable
Students sit in chairs facing three engineers standing at the front of a small office space next to a large TV.
Students talk with Neurable engineers about their experiences at the company. Photo: Lindsey Nie/Neurable
Four students sit around a table, wearing headphones and playing a nintendo switch game.
Students play a video game while wearing Neurable’s headphones to quantify concentration via electrical signals in the brain. Photo: Lindsey Nie/Neurable

SharkNinja

On the final day of the Expedition, students visited SharkNinja, the brand well-known for its vacuums, kitchen appliances, and other consumer products. Kori Brown, director of talent access, gave students a tour of the many product testing areas at SharkNinja, including a test kitchen, test salon, and anechoic chamber.

“The employee who introduced the acoustic chamber was very enthusiastic, providing detailed explanations about acoustic testing principles and real-world applications,” said Liu. “Additionally, we had the opportunity to see their actual work and testing environments, which was a valuable and insightful experience.”

Following the tour, the students met with ECE alum Igor Kofman (BS EE ‘97), the VP of engineering R&D and some other engineers at SharkNinja. Kofman emphasized the value of the interdisciplinary education offered at Michigan and encouraged the group to take advantage of the resources available to them at U-M.

The students also heard about the day-to-day work of Colin Boisvert, a member of the robotics team who sees his role as the “last line of defense” before a product goes to market. He shared about the process of finding bugs before deployment and the importance of engineering with the consumer perspective in mind.

“Our visit to SharkNinja’s test kitchen and design studio, along with hearing their VP share his personal career path, shifted my view on product development,” said master’s student Yilin Lai. “Now I see clearly that great products are driven by human needs, not just by technology.”

A group of students stands in front of a SharkNinja sign in an indoor lobby with minimalist white decor.
Students stand in front of the SharkNinja sign. Photo: Jero Lopera
A group of students pose around a decorative orchid in front of large letters that read, "positively impacting."
Students standing in front of a sign in the SharkNinja lobby that says “positively impacting.” Photo: Jero Lopera
A group of students and SharkNinja employees sits and stands around a long conference table.
Students with Igor Kofman, ECE alum and VP of engineering R&D (standing, right). Photo: Jero Lopera

Visiting Boston

Students also got to explore Boston, visiting landmarks like the beautiful Boston Public Library and the New England Aquarium, historical sites like Faneuil Hall and the Battle of Bunker Hill Monument, and a variety of restaurants.

“The ECE Expedition gave me a much better sense of the opportunities available in industry after I graduate, and I had a great time exploring the city with peers!” said master’s student Michael Loftus.

During one group dinner, the students met with ECE alum Laura Andre (MS PhD EE ‘18 ‘22). She chatted with students about her experience in ECE and with the startup company Qunett (Quantum Network Technologies), where she is currently the CEO.

A group of people stands in a restaurant.
ECE Expeditions students met with ECE alum Laura Andre (center, in green shirt) at dinner. Photo: Jero Lopera

The next local ECE Expeditions trip will be during fall break 2025 and the next cross-country trip will be over spring break 2026. All ECE students are encouraged to apply. You can find out more about the program and read about past trips on the Expeditions website.

More photos can be found on Flickr.