It is a matter of great privilege to work on the indigenous Design, Development, and Manufacturing of Aero-Engine Test Beds for testing military aircraft engines.
Sandeep Biswal, our next pathbreaker, Senior Manager at Lam Research (India), leads the Engineering support and Operations functions for the Etch business unit in India.
Sandeep talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about starting his career at HAL, working on Aircraft Engine Projects followed by a long stint at Safran, leading and managing activities on Product(s) Development & Support for various Aircraft Engine Programs.
For students, whether it is Semiconductors or Aerospace, there is nothing more satisfying than working on projects that deliver massive impact !
Sandeep, can you share your background with our young readers?
I come from a small village in coastal odisha where I studied up to 10th under state board and then moved to a small town to complete my 12th in Science under state board, before moving to the state of Himachal Pradesh where I completed my Engineering in Mechanical. I then went to IIT to pursue my Masters.
Both of my parents are from education background – Father was a professor in Mathematics and Mother was a Primary school teacher.
My initial interest was to do something related to crime investigation when I was in school though I didn’t have any idea of how to get there. But subsequently, I had to go in a different direction when I realized that one needs to go through PSC & work under the influence of politicians.
What did you do for graduation/post graduation?
I had written state JEE without much preparation, but still had got a reasonably good rank. So instead of preparing for another year, I decided to join NIT (earlier it was called REC) in Mechanical Engineering. Then during engineering, I had prepared for GATE and joined IIT Kanpur for Masters in Mechanical Engineering.
What were some of the key influences that led you to such an offbeat, unconventional, and unique career in Mechanical Engineering?
My only objective was to ace whichever stream I was taking and then take up a job immediately without wasting many years since I was not from an affluent family.
My uncle had done his engineering and was well placed in a PSU. That kind of influenced me a bit after I completed my masters. Otherwise my only objective was to finish my studies as early as possible and get into a job.
Tell us about your career path
When I started my career in 2001, there were not many opportunities in core mechanical engineering, only software companies were coming for campus placement. So after waiting for several months during my 3rd semester of masters when one round of placement was over, I finally decided to apply for software companies coming for campus placement in order to secure a job. I eventually started my career in a software company. As soon as I joined the software company, the recession started & many of my friends got laid off. Also, I observed that computer science & electronics guys were getting preference in that company. All these things triggered me again (since I had joined a software company even though I was not very keen as there was no other option at that time) to change my stream to core mechanical and I started looking for Govt/PSU sector jobs. Accordingly, I applied for open positions in ISRO & HAL, and finally got selected in HAL.
At HAL, I led an Aircraft Engine Test Bed Project involving Design, Development, Manufacturing and Installation & Commissioning of Aero-Engine Test Beds for testing the military aircraft engines. It was very good learning working in HAL. The exposure I got there, I don’t think I would have got in any private industry. After a couple of years, I realized that it was financially challenging with the salary I was getting in HAL even though I was enjoying my job.
At that time, I started looking for opportunities in the private sector and that is how I landed in the next organization, Safran Engineering Services where I grew from an engineer to a Dept head and spent significant 15 years in my career.
I joined Safran as a Senior Mechanical Engineer and progressed through positions as Team Leader, Group Leader, Technical Manager, Senior Technical Manager / Program Manager to Senior Program Manager .
I led and managed activities on Product(s) Development & Support for various Aircraft Engine Programs, including Design Validation of Metallic & Composite Structures using FEA, Aerodynamic analyses using CFD, Modelling & Drafting, Concession, Instrumentation, Certification, Technical Documentation/Publication, Engineering Software Tool Development, and Design & Manufacturing of mechanical tools.
After 15+ years, as my work was becoming monotonous, I started looking for opportunities through different job postings. I realised that it was not at all an easy task to find relevant opportunities. Finally I got selected in 3 organizations and joined one of them. Unfortunately, I was not aware that the organization was going through a bad phase. Also, the job role did not match my expectation because of which I decided to leave that organization without having a job in hand. After taking a break for a few weeks, I started supporting a start-up. In the meantime, I came to know about an opening for a position at the company I currently work (Lam Research). I applied through a referral and got selected. That’s my journey & experience so far.
How did you get your first break?
My first breakthrough was through campus placement. I think if someone is not getting through campus placement, then they need to struggle a bit to get their first break.
What were some of the challenges you faced ? How did you address them?
First challenge was to take engineering admission in Himachal Pradesh – a) Going very far away from my native at such a young age (~17), especially for someone who has never gone outside of his state & beyond 100-150 kms from his native place, and b) not knowing proper Hindi
Overcame the above challenge through strong determination – studying mechanical which I wanted to pursue and from NIT where students come from all over India so that I can understand people from different states.
Second challenge – No mechanical industries for campus placement though I wanted to pursue my career in mechanical.
To overcome that, I decided to join whatever came my way rather than not having a job and struggling. The time I spent in software and the learning from that experience has helped me quite a lot in my current career.
Third Challenge – Deciding to leave the job without having a job in hand after working for ~19 years.
I would say it was a tough decision but I had faith in myself & almighty.
Where do you work now?
I Currently work at Lam Research India where I am leading the Engineering support and Operations functions.
I lead the Department for Mechanical Design services, Electrical Cable Design, Cable Routing, NPI (New Product Introduction) and Product Group Operations & Quality function for Etch business unit in India.
The typical skills needed I would say are problem solving & decision making, Strategic thinking, Collaboration & leadership. My typical day is like resolving various issues, providing leadership to the team & taking key decisions. I love managing operations & driving process improvements which is one of the key areas in the current job role.
How does your work benefit society?
I am into the semiconductor equipment industry which is part of the larger semiconductor ecosystems and are the unsung heroes behind nearly every modern convenience; they’re tiny, but their impact is massive.
In my previous roles in the Aerospace Industry, I have been involved in the development of Aircraft Engine programs.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
- Building the competency & highly efficient teams from scratch in my previous tenure
- Establishing various processes in my current tenure
Your advice to students based on your experience?
Do the best whichever career path you choose. Be humble – attitude matters.
Future Plans?
As of now, I plan on continuing my current job for a few more years, then be a consultant in Engineering or Operations if there are opportunities; or else get involved more into financial investment/planning.