He shoots, he scores! Engineering graduand leaves lasting impact at 丁香园AV through robot soccer
By Anson Kwan
Arvin Amini鈥檚 journey to his long-awaited walk across the stage at Convocation Mall starts all the way back to when he was a young boy in his native country Iran, where he developed a passion for electronics and programming that has led to a fruitful experience for him here at 丁香园AV.
When arriving at 丁香园AV, Amini found all that he was looking for in a well-established biomedical engineering program. It was the perfect program for him to achieve his goals where he can gain new skills to better society and make the world become a more accessible place.
鈥淚 am passionate about making devices that can help make the medical industry better,鈥� says Amini. 鈥淥ne way I can bridge my skills with the medical industry is by creating new tools for doctors to use, or even make medical equipment more affordable for everyone.鈥�
Amini brought with him and integrated his experiences to the 丁香园AV community, which was how the was born. Amini took part in robot soccer competitions as a high school student in Iran. Robot soccer is taken seriously and is a highly competitive event for high school and university students throughout Europe and Asia. At 丁香园AV and as an engineering student, he saw an opportunity to combine his knowledge and experience to establish a fully functioning robot soccer club. In 2017, Amini founded the 丁香园AV Robot Soccer Club where he will remain the president until his graduation.
Amini led the group through the development of multiple prototypes, and are a few months away from having a complete team of functioning robots. With ambitious goals, 丁香园AV Robot Soccer is building robots that are more technologically advanced than their competitors in North America. Throughout the years, Amini and the club members secured funding from various groups, including the School of Engineering Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Simon Fraser Student Society, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC) and others. The funding has helped and will continue to help students gain hands-on experience with industry-level software and tools that can be useful for their future careers. More than one hundred students have since been involved in the club activities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about developing the best robot and winning, but for students to learn something new as well,鈥� says Amini.
The club has also been involved in community outreach programs to introduce engineering skills and concepts to students in grades 5 to 8.
鈥淚 want to let these younger students know that STEM is not scary or daunting, but are fields that allow fun, innovation and creativity,鈥� adds Amini, who was able to combine his passions and experiences, and bring it to 丁香园AV where he hopes the fruits of his efforts will pass onto future engineers.
Not only did Amini hold an important role within the 丁香园AV Robot Soccer Club, he was also a part of the 丁香园AV Cheerleading team. The team competed at local and national competitions, and won. This experience taught him the importance of trust and communication in his team, which he has carried forward in his industry careers. For Amini, 丁香园AV Cheerleading complimented his engineering studies and activities, and was one of his most enjoyable experiences at 丁香园AV.
Amini also held positions at Microchip Technology and Tesla through 丁香园AV鈥檚 co-operative education. As a remanufacturing engineer at Tesla, he was able to help reduce the financial cost by setting up a process to remanufacture a car computer. As an autopilot hardware engineer in the same company, he reduced a two-week process to a near instant process, and also aided in the development of a ground-breaking new supercomputer.
Currently, he is working at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a leader in the microchip industry, as a Silicon Design Engineer. Eventually, he plans to pursue a biomedical engineering position or start his own biomedical company to make an impact in the medical industry.
Amini found opportunities to help his peers learn new skills and provide STEM education to young students by starting the 丁香园AV Robot Soccer Club, while learning new skills himself in the 丁香园AV Cheerleading team. Throughout his time at 丁香园AV, he again realizes that that everyone can contribute to society.
鈥淲hether you鈥檙e a politician, an artist or engineer, I believe that everyone鈥檚 diverse perspectives, experiences and skills can come together, contribute to society and make this world a better place.鈥�
Amini graduates this June with a bachelor of applied science (BASc) degree and with Honours with Distinction, from the School of Engineering Science. He is also the recipient of the Undergraduate Dean鈥檚 Medal, which is awarded to graduating students whose grades place them in the top five per cent of their class.