Student interns gain R&D exposure at ASTRI

[Hong Kong, 13 August 2012] A group of 30 science and engineering students from local and overseas universities had their first taste in applied research when they took up their summer internship at the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI).

While most of the interns were locals, others were from renowned universities in Great Britain and United States, including Cambridge University, Imperial College London, Purdue University as well as University of California, Los Angeles.

There were also four students from Princeton University, who joined ASTRI through a joint internship programme organized between Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and ASTRI. This is the second year that ASTRI has been joining hands with HKUST to provide internship for students.

The two-month internship, was the very first time for most of the students to work in a real research environment, taking part in different research projects within ASTRI’s research groups.

Andrew Ward who studies Electronic Engineering at Princeton University, took part in developing Augmented Reality at ASTRI which he found very interesting. The technology involves mapping virtual objects onto the real world which can be applied to 3D games and interior design. “This project gave me my first exposure to the real world of Electronic Engineering. It has reinforced my interest in this area and image processing in particular.”

Andrew said he felt quite alone at first but very soon he found himself well integrated with the team. He said, “I met many new friends coming from different places. I like the diversity in this company. I really enjoyed my internship here.”

One of the good friends that Andrew met at ASTRI was Akshaya Uttamadoss who is also an Electronic Engineering undergrad at Princeton. At ASTRI, Akshaya was entrusted with the task of researching on energy harvesting to extend battery life. She said, “This is my first experience of working for a research centre. I really appreciate my supervisor’s trust in my ability to finish the assignments on my own. I have learned to exercise self-discipline, time management and problem solving skills during the process.”

ASTRI summer interns: (from the left) Vincy Lee, Andrew Ward, Jasper Lee and Akshaya Uttamadoss.

Students who joined ASTRI summer internship come from universities in Great Britain, USA and Hong Kong.