Bhavani Shankar was one of the first employees at SnT. He’s come a long way since joining as a fresh-faced post-doc in 2009, and now manages teams and projects working on satellite communication and radar signal processing. We sat down with the Indian-born researcher from Bangalore, to hear more about his 10 years at SnT.
Why did you join SnT in 2009?
After my PhD I realised I wanted to stay in academia, and that meant getting postdoc experience outside of India. Towards the end of my PostDoc at KTH under Prof. Ottersten, I was informed about his plans to launch SnT. This looked like an exciting opportunity: we were basically going to build a center from scratch! That’s why in 2009, when I finished my tenure at KTH, I joined SnT.
What was your first project?
My first project was on multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) over satellites. We actually first wrote the proposal when I was finishing up my postdoc at KTH . At that point, this was SnT’s first European Space Agency project. It ran for close to three and half years and since then we’ve had a strong presence in the European Space Agency project portfolio.
What’s special about working here?
Well, it’s the freedom to choose what we want to focus on, within the vision and mission of the center – creating socio-economic impact. The most important thing is that we get to work with industrial partners which allows us to tackle interesting problems that are practical and relevant. And we also get to work closely with young PhD students, which helps us to stay young and flexible. So working at SnT helps you keep a young and dynamic mindset and have an impact on the local economy
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I actually don’t know in which room Professor Ottersten will sit but I want to sit in that office in ten years.
Can you describe SnT?
SnT is the place to be if you are looking for an exciting career that could span either industry or academia, or both. And if you want to work with a diverse set of people, from industry managers to ambitious students, this is the place to be! SnT is an amazing place to work at.
SnT is turning 10! We’ve come a long way since launching our activities in 2009. Stay tuned for a year full of celebrations, cutting-edge research, and new milestones.
OVER 40 INDUSTRY PARTNERS | MORE THAN 70 EUROPEAN PROJECTS | 103 GRADUATED PHDS | 4 SPIN-OFFS