A year at intel

I joined Intel in June 2018 and it feels just like yesterday. This journey has been full of technical learning and professional development.

I am working in the Physical Design team of the Image Processing Unit here, on meeting partition constraints of power, frequency, and area. This involves developing new algorithms for improving the quality and speed of convergence.

I work under some amazing mentors who motivate me to challenge myself time and again. My colleagues share my enthusiasm and are always there to help me with my ideas. Working till late in the evening and brainstorming sessions are the best parts of my day.

Being my first employer, Intel has helped me to get the gist of what is actually done in various teams across the Industry, a perspective far from what I had in college about the Industry.

Although the so-called work-life balance depends upon what stage the project is in. Towards the end, this sometimes involves spending the whole night in the office, which I found surprisingly interesting, though others who have family or have been through the process several times would likely disagree.

Going on team outings is definitely one of the major events I look up to. Sharing the common love for food, we have been to almost every buffet in Bangalore for team lunches. The recent potluck lunches and weekend sports have certainly played their part in bringing us together as a team.

Recently, the management has started focusing more on Product Output rather than Individual Growth. Though both of these targets should go hand in hand, we are always stuffed with more projects of the same kind. I am always curious to know more but working on the same concepts repetitively becomes mundane. Though there is a fair amount of office politics, nothing unusual in a corporate, but this can be avoided with fairly minimal effort.

All in all, at Intel, I find a culture conducive for growth and learning. Whether I wish to work from home or leave the office early, there are no questions asked as long as I do justice with the work. The schedule becomes hectic sporadically, but we have always worked as a team in meeting deadlines.