My Internship Experience at Erdos Miller
Receiving a Warm Welcome
In the time that I spent at Erdos Miller during my internship I’m proud of how much I’ve learned in these three months in product development, software development and the MWD industry. I began my internship after completing my junior year of my computer engineering degree at the University of Houston. I was excited to start my internship, although I didn’t know completely what to expect given that this was my first internship. On my first day I was introduced to the team, and everyone was welcoming, and it was not difficult to get to know everyone in the office because Erdos Miller is a small company. I grew to appreciate the size of Erdos Miller because it allowed me to engage with people of many different roles within the company and team was good at answering any questions that I had.
Project Introductions
After meeting the team, I was started working in qtcreator to learn how the edaq interfaces with the software and I spent some time learning the interactions that the edaq has while it is connected to software built to interface with it. Once I was comfortable with the operations of the edaq I was given access to the company’s repositories, and I was able to read through the firmware that runs on the edaq board and how the board is interfaced with the eclipse touch software. After spending time looking through these new resources, I felt prepared to start on my project for this summer. I started by setting up the framework for a new qml application. I also got introduced to more of the tech stack that Erdos Miller uses for software and firmware development. I used git controls for the first time to commit my work to my project working repository and clone the repositories of other projects that I referenced. My project required edaq firmware modifications, and I was able to write those changes and then commit them to my development branch for the edaq firmware. I had the opportunity to see how software development is planned in both resolving issues and in determining a timeline for project completion.
There's Always a Helping Hand
As a part of my project, I met with my manager Nathan Szanto and several other members of the team on a weekly basis to check in with me. I really appreciated having these meetings because they allowed me to speak with several members at once regarding any issues that I couldn’t make progress on, and they were able to point me in a direction that would allow me to move forward. These team members also reviewed my project upon completion of the first version and they helped me find several bugs and recommended minor feature additions. Next, I added these changes and was ready for the final step of building the installer for my software. I was able to do this with the help of John Amstadt and I was surprised to see how intricate this process was. This allowed me to have a better understanding of how software is released and installed on devices. Building the installer required some debugging in order to ensure that all dependencies were included, and eventually, it was able to install and run as intended.
My Concluding Thoughts
What I really like about Erdos Miller is how there is an emphasis on allowing people to work on what they are interested in instead of assigning work. I feel that this allows for team members to work to their strengths and still allows for the opportunity to try to solve tasks that may be more difficult for a team member. In addition to this, there is a lot of cooperation between people with different backgrounds and this allowed me to learn more about the company and industry practices other than just in software and firmware development.
During my internship with Erdos Miller, I had the opportunity to observe tools being tested under expected working conditions with another company that facilitates this testing. In addition, I was walked through the production and operation of the Micropulse tools. I also walked through the pcb design for the edaq and I learned a lot from that experience. I really appreciate that I was able to see all the design that went into the full technology stack that is designed and maintained at Erdos Miller, and I learned of many different areas that I’m interested in spending parts of my career in.
Overall, I am so grateful for the opportunity to intern with Erdos Miller this summer and the team at Erdos Miller which is so talented and helpful. This opportunity has introduced me to numerous opportunities that I can see myself using in my career and personal projects. It has also shown me many specific areas in which I feel that I would enjoy working.
