Here, in our series on the latest EW BrightSparks of 2023, we profile James Stephenson, an Electronics and Software Engineering Student, and Research Project Assistant, at the University of Glasgow.
Achievements
James was nominated by his Supervisor at the University, who described James as an “excellent engineer” whose “drive and motivation were highly evident”.
And note that James is the only student in the UK to receive an IEEE Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. Indeed, he is one of only three awardees from European universities.
James worked for six months as a Research Project Assistant in his nominator’s lab as part of a funded research project, we learned.
“From day one, he has demonstrated an exemplary work ethic with a highly driven mindset. Coming from a more software and digital electronics-oriented degree, he rapidly acquired skills in RF, microwave, and antenna engineering through hands-on work in the lab. He is an all-rounded engineer with a high level of awareness of the ‘why’ behind the engineering, evidenced by suggesting new approaches to carrying out work.”
He worked across tasks ranging from the synchronisation of wireless SoCs through embedded C programming, to interfacing and data collection and processing automation in Python, as well as RF hardware design.
“He independently acquired flexible (F)-PCB design skills for a complex wireless system including switched RF transmission lines, power amplifiers, and wireless SoCs for wearable multi-antenna sensor nodes. In addition, he has demonstrated excellent communication skills by transferring his designs to other members of my team, supporting them along the way. His contributions extended to Python coding for automating the data acquisition using the lab’s Vector Network Analyzers for rapid and repeatable characterisation of flexible antennas for sensing applications.”
We also learned – in his previous role in industry, interning at Verint Systems – that he developed a fully functioning CI/CD pipeline (continuous integration and continuous delivery) and 100% test coverage, working in an agile software development environment.
The wide variation in the two working environments and roles (research assistant in an RF electronics lab versus software intern in industry) is evidence his high adaptability and versatility, his nominator highlighted.
James wrote up his results for an academic publication, submitting his results for peer review. He was the first author of a high-quality paper submitted to the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, the largest European event for antenna engineering/electromagnetics, on antenna-based soil moisture sensing. Noteworthy is that he balanced the data collection and writing up of the paper with the first few weeks of his final year of studies.
Finally, his nominator also highlighed that “his time and project management skills matched those of full-time researchers I have managed” and James was also the liaison with another student team developing the GUI/front-end for the system. He did an excellent job managing the limited number of hardware development kits available and creating almost API-like conventions for communicating with the other team.
“James is a mature student who returned to pursue an electronic engineering degree after many years in various non-tech jobs; such drive and high levels of motivation are rare. More noteworthy is that he had to manage caring responsibilities alongside his full-time studies, including during the challenging WFH pandemic times. He is well-known by almost all the academics teaching his courses; in their reference statements, several professors described him as ‘an asset to our community’, ‘diligent, smart, and hardworking’, and ‘motivated and ambitious’; his grades are also well above the average for his batch.”
Community
James has also been fully engaged with outreach activities, we learned, showcasing research to the public for STEM outreach at Glasgow.
He was a key organising volunteer on the Green RF Electronics Lab annual Explorathon Festival stand at the University of Glasgow, for example. This was visited by over 500 members of the public. James also proactively approached his manager suggesting new venues and science/music festivals where the university’s future STEM outreach activities could be located.
Alongside his degree, James has also been an active member of Glasgow’s Student Satellite Society, GU:Orbit. As part of the embedded and communication teams, he was involved in several technical tasks. These included Learning Model Based System Engineering and using the open-source Capella tool to develop the On Board Computer.
Also, he has been working in the society’s communications team to design and program a LoRa transceiver for a High Altitude Balloon flight.
James has always been enthusiastic about volunteering to support the university’s research engagement activities, his nominator told us. He has volunteered to present demonstrators of his group’s research, including work that isn’t his own, to external visitors from overseas universities.
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