MS in Cyber Physical Systems Student Gets Job Offers at Both Amazon and Nokia
Nitin Sunda, ME’21, cyber physical systems with the internet of things concentration, credits the skills that he learned in class with him landing a co-op at tech company Nokia. His program is at Northeastern’s Silicon Valley campus. Now he has full time job offers from Nokia and Amazon.
For some people, deciding on a specific graduate program of study takes time and soul searching. For Nitin Sunda, it was a no-brainer. Sunda graduates from the College of Engineering at Northeastern University in December 2021 with an MS in Cyber Physical Systems with an Internet of Things (IOT) concentration. Sunda, originally from India, credits his undergraduate degree and previous work experience as inspiration for pursuing his degree. “I had a background in electronics and experience in a software firm,” he says. “I thought the Cyber Physical Systems program would be useful for me.”
Additionally, Northeastern’s reputation as a top university and the courses offered sealed the deal for Sunda to enroll in the program at the Silicon Valley campus. The innovative program prepares its students for a world of connected devices by teaching them skills in data analytics, security, and Internet infrastructure, along with helping them understand various IoT technologies. Graduates can find careers in different fields like energy, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure, and manufacturing.
As part of his program, Sunda took courses in data structure, network structures, and cloud computing. But his core Connected Devices course stood out. “I built an air pollution monitoring system with the help of the professor,” he says. “You determine if the air is good or bad, the humidity is good or bad, and it sends the data to your phone.”
Sunda credits the skills that he learned in class with him landing a co-op at tech company Nokia. During his co-op, Sunda worked at the Internet Infrastructure division. “Nokia has their own devices, and there is some software that is needed to test the devices,” he says. “I was part of the infrastructure team that wrote the code that is used by other teams to test the equipment.” Aside from honing his coding skills, Sunda took on an informal mentor role by helping interns who joined the company in later months.
Although his co-op at Nokia was virtual due to COVID-19, Sunda looks back on his experience fondly. “It was definitely a useful experience,” he says. “I have more skills in core networks now. This also gave me direction since I decided to pursue cloud computing.” Sunda also credits the co-op with giving him other valuable workplace skills. “I know better how to be a good participant in those higher-level meetings,” he says. “Now I can be a part of bigger projects.”
As graduation approaches, Sunda has a big decision in front of him, having received full-time offers from both Nokia and Amazon. Whatever choice he makes, he’s confident his master’s degree will help him reach his career goals. “It has definitely leveled me up,” he says. “Because of this degree and because of the curriculum, I’m more productive, more confident.”
Sunda also offers advice for other students seeking an experience like his: “There are so many resources around here and they should make use of them. I would strongly suggest students to connect with each other. That will be very useful for them.”