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Hello, World.

I am Pooja Kankani
Software Developer & Student at UIUC
Corporate Relations VP of  Women In ECE

About

More About Me.

I am a rising Junior in Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a minor in Technology and Management from The Hoeft Technology and Management Program.

I strongly stand for and work towards getting more women aware of and involved in technology and specifically ECE. Having been a part of Women in ECE since my first semester, I've had multiple opportunities to work closely with high schools and companies to organize various events and workshops to benefit girls and women.

I am a James Scholar and I have been on the Dean's List for all semesters so far. I have worked on different honors projects and independent study projects outside of class. Experimenting with new components and sensors and building circuits is something I enjoy thoroughly.

I am always looking to meet new people and discuss and work on project ideas, so feel free to contact me.

Contact Me Download CV

Awards and Honors.

  • Selected to receive the Oakley Scholarship ($1000) as an ‘outstanding female student in the ECE Department' in terms of scholastic records and leadership roles

  • Ranked first in the CodeADA Hackathon for which I made the (Wo)Men2Be with two other team mates

  • Member of the ECE Honors Society - Eta Kappa Nu

  • Invited to attend the Engineering Essentials program by Goldman Scahs in New York, to learn essential technological skills and learn more about the latest developments in the field

  • Recieved a scholarship from GoDaddy to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration 2018 in Houston TX

  • James Scholar at UIUC and on the Dean's List for F16, S17, F17, S18

Work

What I Do.

I am highly interested in Software Engineering and Project Management positions. I am a keen learner and like to keep up to date with the latest technological innovations and developments.

  • (Wo)Men2Be

    An Android application that connects girls in high schools from the Urbana-Champaign region to women mentors at the University of Illinois for specific desired technical skills. It pairs mentees with mentors who are experienced and adept at the skillset the mentee wants to learn

  • LecNotes

    Attempted to create an application that takes running notes for lectures by converting speech to text and stores it on the database for easy student access. It sends out push notifications to students if it detects keywords such as "exams", "due dates", etc

  • Data Visualization

    Made a visualization using different sample codes on d3.js to successfully present collected data and answer the question "Does a country's access to electricity and its education expenditure serve as a good representation of where it stands in terms of its Human Development Index (HDI)?" I made a dashboard visualization for the same data using Tableau

  • Tetris

    Made the game Tetris for my ECE 385 final project with my lab partner.The entire game was designed using System Verilog and the DE-2 Board.The USB continuously reads user key presses from the keyboard and sends it to our code in eclipse. Our software code runs the entire game logic and uses the Avalon-MM interface to transfer data from our software to our hardware at each clock cycle

  • Sensors and Circuit

    • PingPongPaddlePro: Created a project that uses various sensors ( Accelerometer, Gyroscope, IMU) to give a ping pong player the angle, velocity and acceleration of his shot so that it could be used as feedback to improve performance
    • PinPoint: Designed a project to detect if a seat is occupied, vacant or broken using pressure sensors and displayed results using LEDs for use in lecture halls

Skillset

I've Got Some Skills.

This section attempts to display my relative strength in different programming languages and frameworks. However, I am not making a claim that I know the respective percentage of that skill.

  • 90%
    Python
  • 80%
    C++
  • 70%
    Java
  • 90%
    HTML & CSS
  • 70%
    ReactJS
  • 80%
    Bootstrap
  • 80%
    Alexa Skill Development
  • 70%
    Tableau
  • 60%
    MySQL
  • Other skills: Javascript, Android Studio, LC3

Career and Education

More of My Credentials.

This is a time line representation of my education and work experience. I strongly believe having real world experience and infusing creativity with what you learn in class to build projects is really important to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge.

Experience

Jan 2018 - August 2018

AARP

Software Engineering Intern

  1. Developed an Alexa Skill for the elderly (with DynamoDB integration using Node.js) intended to decrease social isolation and encourage sharing of experiences from people all across the world. Researched on designing principles to make a Voice User Interface that is convenient and intuitive to use
  2. Developed an external facing website for The Tech Nest aimed to represent the company’s culture, work experiences, projects and interns using React JS. This website is designed to provide an overall representation of the company to prospective interns
  3. Developed the frontend and animations for an Android Application to track a child’s attentiveness

May 2018 - Present

Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering

External Relations Vice President

  1. Establish corporate relations with companies and sponsors to organize events and opportunities such as tech talks, luncheons, coffee chats, scholarships and company-hosted technical workshops to ensure a fruitful experience for our members and the companies involved
  2. Ensure smooth running of the entire organization and represent Women in ECE at internal and external events

Aug 2017 - May 2018

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Assistant for ECE 110

  1. Assist 30 students in laboratory to help them use the Oscilloscope and other instruments, debug and understand circuits and understand conceptual electronics concepts
  2. Help students brainstorm ideas and successfully finish a final project using motors and sensors

Aug 2017 - May 2018

Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Outreach Director

  1. Organized technical workshops for high school girls to introduce them to engineering and foster their interest in technology
  2. Headed an outreach committee of 20 people and 3 Outreach Chairs to expand WECE's Outreach efforts
  3. Organized soldering workshops, conductive ink experiments and introductions to ECE and CS with the Outreach Chairs and committee

June 2017 - July 2017

HCL Infosystems Ltd.

Data Analyst Intern

  1. Analyzed a company’s inventory stocks to find out the total capital stuck due to excess inventory and the ideal sales velocity required to minimize wastage (MySQL)
  2. Presented a report with changes and actions that should be taken in the short term and those that could be taken in the long run to keep the company above the breakeven point

Education

Aug 2016 - Present

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Bachelor Degree

Currently pursuing my Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering degree.
Minor : Technology and Management
Expected Graduation Date : May 2020
GPA : 3.89 James Scholar

June 2009 - March 2016

The Heritage School

High School

Held leadership positions throughout High School:
Prefect and Captain Grievance Cell
Grade 10: 95.6% [Received a 50% scholarship on tuition for the next two years]
Grade 12: 96.25% [In the top 10 students out of over 250 students]

Volunteering Experience

Jan 2005 - May 2015

Fundraising and Event Organizing Volunteer

The Max Foundation

I was a volunteer at The Max Foundation for around 10 years where I helped spread cancer awareness and raised money for young cancer patients in my city (Kolkata, India) . I spent time with kids in cancer hospitals by volunteering in storytelling sessions to help and support them morally. We also had charity events to help these families financially. I volunteered in sessions of 'Chai for Cancer', a fundraising event to raise money by selling cups of tea. The money is used in helping the patients and organizing events for spreading awareness. As a kid, I also took part in a play on cancer awareness to help people know about the symptoms, available resources and the next steps.

Letter of Recommendation

Contact

Feel Free to Contact Me!

I'm Looking for Internship Opportunities. I am really interested in Technical Project Manager positions and software development.

Where to find me

904 W Green Street
Urbana - 61801
Illinois USA

Email Me At

kankani2@illinois.edu

Call Me At

Phone: +1 (305) 998-8680