Anand S Sekar

Proudest Moment: During the final gallery demonstrations for DXARTS 471: Mechatronics Art, my friend's art project was suddenly failing. They had invited their family and were in tears that after all the work they put in, it was inexplicably breaking. While other students demonstrated their projects, I applied my experience with embedded systems to debug the project. Approaching the last minute, even after being told by my friend to give up, I figured out what was wrong and got it working again. The demo went flawlessly. My friend hugged me and their mom thanked me, and I don't think I've ever felt more proud of myself.

Thesis: Hardware Implementation of a Wireless Backscatter Communication Protocol for Brain-Controlled Spinal Interfaces

My purpose is to make the world more beautiful, sustainable, and efficient through innovation and empathy. Solving complex problems, defined through engineering, is the core of my character. I'm developing a strong foundation in computer engineering, which I'll apply to fields such as neural computation and engineering. Through my experience at UW, I've contributed to a variety of innovative projects (robotics competitions, hackathons, neural engineering research, virtual reality in prison, etc...) utilizing a variety of tools (code, laser cutters, oscilloscopes, soldering irons, etc...). I've met some of the most amazing people and learned some of the most fascinating concepts here, and I'm excited to pursue my Master's here in the fall.

My hobbies include free skates, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and playing video games like Titanfall 2. My favorite shows include Avatar the Last Airbender and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Taking Neuroethics and Moral Issues of Life and Death, while witnessing local activism over the last couple quarters, has motivated me to delve into essential questions relatively unrelated to engineering, but an engineering perspective doesn't necessarily hurt. So while I'm interning at Cisco Webex Teams this summer, I'll also be reading up on topics like ethics and intersectionality.