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Industrial Technology Research Institute

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Meet Our People

Uma Sankar Rout

Uma Sankar Rout

Engineer

Hometown: Odisha, India

I first came to Taiwan in 2014 to study for my Master’s degree in Power Electronics at National Chiao Tung University (NCTU*). I chose Taiwan over Europe because of my feeling that Asia is rising and the best future growth opportunities are here. When I first arrived I thought I would stay for two years and then leave as soon as I finished my degree. After graduating I found my first job very quickly, I worked one or two jobs briefly before joining ITRI in September of 2016.

At ITRI I mainly work on the development of motor controllers for electric vehicles. During my time here I have developed motor controllers for 50kW, 120kW and 250kW power motors; currently I am designing a motor controller by using SiC power module, and the goal is to achieve the highest power density compared to current market alternatives. I am currently applying for a patent in my name for a novel EMI filter circuit design. I work in a team of several people, but I work on my own a lot. My working time is spent about one-third at my desk, doing background research, design, and simulation; and two-thirds in the lab, physically testing my circuits.

I am also currently studying for my PhD while working full-time. My PhD thesis focuses more on the firmware for motor controllers, up to now I had mainly been working on the hardware side. My advisor is actually the General Director of MMSL, he is concurrently a professor at NYCU; he has ambitious goals for my research so it’s very challenging, which is good for me at my age, he shows me what I don’t know and what areas I need to understand better. MMSL is flexible about my work time, sometimes I have classes in the afternoon so I work in the evenings to make up the time.

In the past, I tended to switch jobs often, but I have now been at ITRI for almost five years. Two main things keep me here. First, I like the research topic and feel it is very relevant for my long-term career plan. Also, it changes a little from year to year so that I am always learning new things and do not get bored. And second is the working culture, I feel like I have a voice, I am able to give my opinion, affect our group’s decisions and get my ideas implemented. Also, I like the ITRI campus environment, it feels very familiar and comfortable because it reminds me of where my father worked when I was growing up, at the Indian Space Research Organisation.

I really enjoy my life in Taiwan. On the weekends I hang out with my friends – some are Taiwanese and some are foreigners, including Indians – and I also belong to some hiking groups, there are lots of scenic mountains to climb here. When I first got here I didn’t know where to find food I like but I solved that pretty quickly, there is lots of great food here (I am vegetarian) and sometimes when I go back to India I will start to miss the food from Taiwan. The biggest obstacle is the language barrier. I’ve learned enough Mandarin to manage basic situations such as ordering food, but having a deeper conversation or following along in some work meetings can be difficult.

As far as my plan, it will take me another year or two to finish my PhD, and then I will see how I feel. As ITRI supports startups, I may execute my plans in my startups in future.

(*Note: As of 2021, NCTU merged with National Yang Ming University to become National Yangming Chiaotung University, NYCU.)