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Meet The Developers
Anu Shivaprasad and Paul Wang are both graduates of the MathWorks Engineering Development Program (EDP), a challenging 18-month training program that prepares entry-level engineers for successful technical careers throughout The MathWorks.
Paul graduated from Boston University
in 2000 with a BS in Biomedical Engineering. He came into the EDP in the fall of 2000
and, after working on enhancements to the Financial Time Series Toolbox, is now writing blocks for a new product.
Anu received her BE in Electrical Engineering
in 1999 from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India and her MS in Electrical Engineering in 2001 from Binghamton University in New York. She completed the
EDP in March 2002 and now works on the Communications Blockset Development Team.
The program gives recent graduates with degrees in math, engineering, or science an opportunity to gain a thorough knowledge of MathWorks products and the company culture by resolving customer issues and completing projects for many different departments.
N&N: How did you hear about the EDP? Paul: I had applied for a technical support opening and, when I came in for my second interview, I was told about the EDP. I opted to be in the program because it would give me the opportunity to choose where I wanted to go afterwards.
Anu: A friend referred me for another position. After a phone interview, a MathWorks recruiter
recommended that I pursue the EDP. Happily, I was accepted.
N&N: What project are you currently working on? Paul: I'm developing new blocks for future products. It's exciting work, but the results are too far into the future for me to be specific right now.
Anu: I'm working on the Viterbi algorithm, which is part of the Communications Blockset. This algorithm enables users to estimate transmitted signal data.
N&N: How did the EDP prepare you for what you are doing now?
Paul: One of the best experiences I had was being able to talk with customers. This really prepared me for development. I now always put myself in the customers'shoes and think of their needs first.
Anu: The time I spent in technical support helped me understand how customers use our products. This and my work in other departments helped me shorten the learning curve. By the time I started in development I had a firm understanding of MathWorks products and departments.
N&N: What was your first development job at The MathWorks? Paul: In my first job in development, I worked on the Financial Time Series Toolbox. It was good to be a part of that team.
Anu: Designing algorithms for a future product. It was challenging, but a lot of fun!
N&N: What is the biggest challenge in your current project? Paul: There are a lot of challenges. Customers have varied requirements, and finding a way to please as many as possible is a big one. We have had quite a bit of input from people in the academic and financial communities and now we have a pretty good idea of what they want.
Anu: The biggest challenge is determining how to implement the Viterbi algorithm in
a way that is most useful to the customer. Developing and validating the code, making sure we run all of the tests so that the algorithm runs perfectly, and having the best documentation are also very important. But teamwork is the key to making a successful product.
N&N: Does your previous EDP experience help you meet those challenges?
Paul: Yes. Especially learning to get the right kind of input from customers and knowing how to ask the right questions.
Anu: Definitely. Talking to customers helped me understand what they want in our products.
I also learned what is intuitive to them and what requires more detail. This information helps us design a better product.
N&N: What did you do yesterday? Paul: Yesterday, I was working on enhancements to our portfolio optimization routines.
Anu: We had a usability test on the module we developed for the Viterbi algorithm.
N&N: What do you do when you're not developing software at The MathWorks? Paul: Like to really get away from the computer when I'm not working. I try not to think about computers in my spare time and like to draw and work with pastels. I also enjoy going up to Maine or New Hampshire to ski with my friends.
Anu: I like to paint, mostly with oils. I also do some glass painting. When the weather is nice, I also love to play tennis. But when it's winter in New England, I mostly paint.
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