
Internship Electronic Engineering / March 2022 - April 2022
Internship Electronic Engineering / March 2022 - April 2022
Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:
I am a B.Sc. electronic engineering student at Università di Trieste. I discovered u-blox through an event held at my university. I did my internship in Sgonico, where I developed and tested real-time operating system functionalities for u-blox cellular modules.
Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you worked with:
I worked with the Audio Team, which I found to be a stimulating environment. I familiarized myself with the structure of the cellular module, and I studied its components. Once I understood that, I started expanding and improving the existing code base to add the functionalities I was interested in. Finally, I tested my work on physical components and modules. Although it was challenging to work with a system that I previously did not know, I could always rely on my colleagues for explanations and resources.
Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn:
At u-blox I found a professional environment, and friendly colleagues who were always ready to help me in case of need. I was encouraged to work autonomously, but my questions were always welcome and promptly answered. This experience has helped me get some invaluable insight into this field, and it has taught me many essential skills
Internship Networks and IoT October 2021 to January 2022
Internship Networks and IoT October 2021 to January 2022
Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:
I attended both the bachelor's and the master's at the University of Trieste. Towards the end of my
MSc studies in electronics and information technology (curriculum Networks and IoT), I decided
to spend some time working on a project at u-blox Italia S.p.a.
I was really excited to work on the topics discussed during the lessons, even if the reality is more
challenging. During this experience I worked with the protocol stack team on two major topics
like security and power consumption, indeed the title of my work was:”Secure User-Plane Socket
Connectivity and Power Consumption Scenarios in Cellular LPWA Environment”.
Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you
worked with?
As said before, the topic was about IoT security and power consumption. For what concern the
first one I have deepened how to establish a secure connection between the device under test and a
server, whereas for the second argument I measured the power consumption of the device with
different traffic profiles.
I didn’t have all the theoretical knowledge required, but thanks to the colleagues who were
always helpful and kind I could achieved my goals.
The environment in the team, despite the corona situation, was very active. Most of the time I had
the freedom and the responsibility to make my own decisions so that if I found a problem, my
colleagues were ready to help me.
Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn?
In this experience I was able to put into practice the knowledge acquired in the classroom. To
achieve the objectives initially set it was necessary to go through others and this makes you grow
a lot. This path was facilitated by colleagues who were always available and kind.
Therefore I would suggest it to all the students that have the willing and the possibility to spend
some time on any similar project in this enterprise.
Internship Audio R&D from October 2021 to January 2022
Internship Audio R&D from October 2021 to January 2022
Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:
I’m from Oderzo, a small town in the North-East Italy, near Venice. I’ve been studying in Trieste since 2016, which is the place where I did my internship this year. I had been chosen by U-Blox for a scholarship called ‘Talent Engineering’ which gave me the opportunity to work in the Audio R&D team. Since one of my favorite topic during my degree was Digital Signal Processing the object of my Internship was Echo Acoustic Cancellation and the study of Identification Algorithms.
Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you worked with:
I’ve started with the study of Acoustic Echo Cancellation and the algorithms used in System Identification since these topics weren’t treated during the traditional courses. Then, of course, it was time to apply what I had learnt. I’ve developed a small framework to test the algorithms performances under different circumstances, such as clipping and distortion. These simulations were performed first in a Matlab environment and then using Simulink. Since these type of programs are usually not dealt with during my lessons so for me it was pretty challenging to use them in the most efficient and correct way. As I said I was in the Sgonico’s Audio R&D department and I had the pleasure to be flanked by Vojko, Stefano and Giovanna who helped me during all my Internship. They were very kind and patients taking the time to clarify every single doubt I had.
Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn:
I liked pretty much everything of my experience from the coffee breaks to the different challenges that occurred during my Internship. One of the things that I liked most was the relationship with the team, especially the fact that they treated me as a member more than a student. I’ve had my first glance of how a workplace is and in particular I’ve learnt how important is cooperation and teamwork in such environments.
Internship Electrical Engineering from July 2022 to December 2022
Internship Electrical Engineering from July 2022 to December 2022
Short Introduction about you (where are you from, studies/university etc.), why you did your internship at u-blox and which subject were you working on:
I’m from Lucerne, a beautiful city not too far from the u-blox headquarters. After having completed my Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering at EPFL in Lausanne, I decided to interrupt my studies for a year and gain some experience in the industry. Since I had a particular interest in Integrated Circuit (Digital) Design, I came across u-blox and got offered an interesting position as an IC validation intern. This led me to work on IC validation related topics, working mostly with FPGA’s.
Can you tell us more about the tasks and the challenges you had, and the people you worked with:
In the first phase of the internship, I was working on a Python-based validation framework which allows for automated and robust testing of a design on different hardware platforms (FPGA, Emulation, ASIC, …) for different product lines.
In the second phase, I explored and worked on a FPGA-based validation technique where data and control information can be sent in real time to a running design on an FPGA. This included writing RTL in SystemVerilog, coding corresponding software in C and setting up a simulation environment to verify each development step.
Throughout the internship I was exposed to various workflows (firmware, FPGA, …) and numerous tools. The main challenge consisted in understanding and using them in an efficient way and integrating them into my development activities. Fortunately, I was very well supported by my line manager and my supervisor from my team and could reach out any time to other team members for help and clarification.
Conclusion, what did you like and what did you learn:
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at u-blox, working with such innovative and open people, but also doing other activities such as sports and going for dinner with colleagues after work.
Apart from all the technical aspects, I learnt a lot about how to work in an industrial environment, where tasks are done for a specific purpose, as opposed to just the purpose of learning in the case of university. This leads to different requirements and asks for a different approach, and I definitely learnt to tackle challenges with a bigger focus on scalability, simplicity and maintainability in mind.
I was particularly happy that I was given the chance to present my work in front of the whole department and get valuable feedback and recognition for my work from experienced colleagues, which made me feel even more like a regular member of the company.