Pulse 2019

Our Story

In November of 2011, the student organizations of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came together with a vision. They wanted to inspire students and faculty alike to think about the future of technology and their role in it.

Just three months before the first conference, Pulse was pitched to the department heads. The idea was met with enthusiasm, and right away, the organizers got busy trying to put things together. It was a hectic time, but come February, everything was set in stone. Pulse 2012 successfully kicked off a long-lasting tradition for the ECE department.

Since then, Pulse has been a way to give back. Our curriculum teaches us fundamental concepts and skills while Pulse brings the cutting edge of technology right to students. Combining knowledge with experience, we motivate students to push the boundaries of innovation. However, more than anything, Pulse is a reminder of why we all chose to be engineers, for the opportunity to create impactful technology and push the world forward.

Pulse 2019 will be the 8th annual conference of its kind and the Pulse Team is beyond excited to continue the trend of making Pulse bigger and better each year. Our theme for this year’s conference - Pulse Horizons, Imagine New Beginnings - focuses on the power of creative innovation in engineering new solutions for the future. This year we are encouraging corporate sponsors to inspire students by sharing knowledge and starting conversations. We hope that this will be the spark to ignite the imaginations of the next generation so that, together, we can solve the problems of the future.

Meet the Directors

Learn more about the people that made Pulse 2019 possible

Shayna Kapadia

Co-Director

Shayna is a junior in Computer Engineering and her technical interests are cybersecurity and neuroscience. Her hobbies include embroidery, guitar, and music. Shayna joined Pulse because she desired to become involved during freshman year. She wasn’t sure where to begin her involvement, so she started attending Pulse meetings. For Shayna, Pulse is a great way to be involved with the department and also to give back to other students.

Shayna loves pickle juice.

Cary Chai

Co-Director

Cary is a junior in Computer Engineering and he is getting a minor in French. His technical interests are VR/AR, internet of things, and robotics. He likes dancing, music, reading, and graphic design. Cary joined Pulse because it seemed like an exciting event, an excellent way to give back to the department and the students in it, and a great way to meet many new people. In addition, he joined Pulse because he is enthusiastic about new technologies.

Cary likes walnuts.

Forest Lam

Secretary & Treasurer

Forest is a junior in Civil and Environmental Engineering. His technical interests are smart cities/smart infrastructure, which involves internet of things, transportation systems, like autonomous vehicles and mass transit, and construction management. He enjoys design and photography. Forest joined Pulse because Cary introduced him to the conference, and he wanted a way to connect to the ECE/CS communities on campus. He is also very interested in finance, and is excited to pursue his interests through Pulse.

Forest has studied abroad in Germany.

Rishabh Anand

Networking Director

Rishabh Anand is a junior in Electrical Engineering. His technical interests are internet of things, predictive analytics, and VR/AR. His hobbies are photography, golf, squash, reading, and soccer. Rishabh joined Pulse to give back to the department by helping to provide a platform for the student body to interact with industry leaders and observe and explore first hand the latest technical innovations. Another reason Rishabh joined Pulse is because it is great way to meet many new people and work on cool projects.

Rishabh has lived in 12 cities and went on 6 hikes across Washington this summer

Abishek Venkit

Corporate Director

Abishek is a sophomore in Electrical Engineering and is minoring in Computer Science. His technical interests include audio electronics, embedded systems/software, and renewable energy. He likes soccer, playing piano, watching TV, and eating. Abishek saw the influence of Pulse last year and decided to join, seeing its cool and interesting impact as a club. He wanted to join to meet more people in the ECE department, and also to pursue his interests in technology.

Abishek lived in the Netherlands for 3 years.

Rahul Rameshbabu

Webmaster

Rahul is a senior in Computer Engineering. His technical interests are OS/Kernel, systems programming, computer architecture design, data structures, and programming languages & compilers. He likes being a course assistant for CS 225, making personal technical projects, and theater & art viewing. Rahul joined Pulse because he loved Pulse as a event, had opportunity to meet with cool companies, and because it made him more passionate about his interests.

Due to a bet Rahul dyed his hair blond freshmen year for 5 months, which he says he will never do again. He also cannot snap his fingers.

Daksh Varshney

Competitions Co-Director

Daksh is a sophomore in Computer Engineering and intends to get a minor in Mathematics. His technical interests are robotics, AI/ML & Data Science, and PCB/IC design. He likes playing cricket and chess, listening to Bollywood music, watching stand up comedy, and surfing the net about the latest tech developments. Daksh joined Pulse because he desired to become involved in organizing one of the biggest events on campus and to challenge himself to go beyond his limits in holding competitions for Pulse. Daksh also joined because he wanted to get in touch with people who think similarly about the event, and to learn and acquire different skills from everyone on board. Through Pulse, Daksh hopes to bring forth new and innovative ideas about competitions that will help all students, both undergraduate and graduate, to challenge themselves and think out of the box.

90% of the time, you will see Daksh wearing a blue shirt on campus

Joey Bahary

High School Co-Director

Joey is a sophomore in Electrical Engineering. His technical interests are robotics, embedded systems, software engineering, and computer architecture. His hobbies include graphic design, playing violin, and coding. Joey joined Pulse because wanted to get involved in the tech conference that he loved being a part of as staff last year. He did a Raspberry Pi IOT workshop last year and found it really interesting. He also joined because, “Shayna is very persuasive,” and because the staff is so nice and everyone is really good at organizing this event; joining as a Pulse director was the easily the best decision he could have made. Joey also wanted to network more and meet with people who share similar interests in the technical field, and was very interested in helping other undergraduates find a niche or passion in ECE.

Joey views grilled cheese as the best sandwich.

Keshav Harisrikanth

Workshops Director

Keshav is a junior in Electrical Engineering and is minoring in Computer Science and in the Hoeft Technology and Management Program Class XIV. His technical interests are digital system design, FPGAs, verification, and computer architecture. He enjoys board games and video games, making cool projects, teaching, and hiking. During his freshman year, Keshav attended the conference and really enjoyed it. The following year he joined the corporate committee and enjoyed being a part of the conference. Keshav really enjoys the idea of workshops as a guided mini project that teaches you a new technology, and he desired to be a part of that for Pulse 2019.

Keshav has competitively played Hearthstone on a national-scale collegiate league, and won top 16 out of approximately 1200 teams, thereby receiving a $750 scholarship.

Vishesh Verma

Competitions Co-Director

Vishesh is currently doing a masters in Electrical Engineering. He also did his undergraduate in Electrical Engineering here at UIUC. His technical interests include RF circuit design and PCB design. His hobbies include table tennis, dance, and reading. Vishesh joined Pulse after he attended the conference two years ago. Finding Pulse very exciting and aspiring to get more involved in the ECE department, since all of his other clubs were outside of engineering, he joined staff last year and had a great time being involved with Networking and Competitions.

Vishesh had 3 eye surgeries in 6th grade

Sankruth Kota

High School Co-Director

Sankruth is a sophomore in Computer Engineering. His technical interests are robotics, parallel programming, and data visualization. He enjoys soccer, basketball, track & field, and NBA 2K. Sankruth joined Pulse to impact future generations and to share what he knows with other people. For him Pulse has a dope community with fun people to hang around with, and is the best place to take a week to learn new things.

Sankruth has never lost a game of NBA 2K.

Sai Komaragiri

Marketing Director

Sai is a senior in Material Science and Engineering. His technical interests are polymers and soft materials, material applications in consumer products, and material applications in space. His hobbies include singing, playing tennis, watching movies at the theater, and landscape photography. Sai joined Pulse because he has always felt disconnected to the ECE/CS program at UIUC and he wanted to find a way to get connected with the people here and help organize one of the largest student-run conferences.

Sai discovered a fossil when he was 12 years old.

Umaiyal Sridas

Media & Design Director

Umaiyal is a junior in Computer Engineering and intends to get an Art and Design minor. Her technical interests are VR/AR, software for animation, and cloud infrastructure. She enjoys art, both painting and digital, photography, yoga, and playing the flute. Umaiyal joined Pulse because it presents current technical issues and the innovative solutions people have provided. She is excited by Pulse because it encourages bleeding edge technology, and is a way to learn about her major and various industries through tech talks and interactive programs. She wanted to be Media & Design director because she loves the way art and technology complement each other and how technology can be integrated into art.

Umaiyal was on the wheelchair basketball team her freshman year here at UIUC.

Event Details

Click images to see details about Pulse 2019

Keynote

Workshops

Competitions

Schedule

Future Speaker Series

Women in Tech Day

Select Speakers at Pulse

Here are several of the speakers that will be at Pulse 2019

Laura Butler

Rich Templeton

Ritu Raman

About Us

Our Story

Contact Us

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