“I build an abstract model of the chip system we design.”

Our team develops radar sensors that are used for adaptive cruise control and emergency breaking systems in cars. My task is to design a simplified model of radar chips, which consist of hardware and software.
The model mainly fulfills two purposes: Firstly, as the initial check of the whole system, it can be used to validate the concept of the chip. As a result, we can locate any problems in early development phases. Secondly, the software running on the chip can be tested before the real hardware is available.
My job is to understand the functionality of individual components of the system and how they interact with one another. I have to find out what details are relevant for the model and how to implement them.

Creating an abstract model might sound simple enough, but it can be quite difficult to break down a system into its essential features. If I recreate a functionality exactly as it is in real life, it would take much too much time to come up with a simulation model. On the other hand, if the model is too abstract, we could miss important aspects.
I have to sort out what details to include in the model and what to leave out. To be able to decide that, I align with the rest of my modelling team and colleagues from concept engineering, software development and product design.

There are always new challenges in our everyday work. Sometimes it’s difficult and time consuming to find a solution. For me, though, I think it’s really exciting and satisfying to approach a solution and see progress – true to the maxim “the journey is the reward.”
When we finish a project and see that our chip works in real life, it connects the whole team.
We put in a lot of effort, and at the end of the day it is worth it. It’s a great feeling to know that we make life safer for people all over the world.

First, you need to have both the big picture and the details in mind at the same time. That’s necessary to see the impact of the element you are working on for the rest of the system. You also need to have knowledge of electronics and signal processing to be able to understand the radar chip. And last but not least, you need programming skills to build the model.

I started with an internship, and later on I wrote my master’s thesis at the company. After graduating in 2018, I decided to accept an offer and stay with the team. Since then, I’ve been working full time at Infineon in Linz, Austria.