# Poorani Ravindhiran > Actively seeking full-time opportunities in Perception and Robot Localization | 4 years of work experience | UMich Robotics Graduate Location: Belmont, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/poorani The best way to predict future is to invent it! I’ve always believed that by combining our will with our technological powers, we can create a stark possibility- a future defined by an evolution towards super-intelligence to solve all the humanitarian problems. This vision has led my path to present- from a kid fascinated by gizmos and robots to a passionate researcher and a driven roboticist. Be it designing a drone or controlling a robot by gesture, I have not only been enthralled every time by the science and math behind these endeavors but also have had my inquisitiveness aroused. This passion began while I, as a little kid, was reading about a robotic pet named Jeeno in a science fiction novel. From there, I went on to earning my Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Anna University, India and my Master of Science degree in Robotics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. To continue learning and growing towards this passion and vision, I’m currently interested in getting industrial experience in the areas of robotics vision and learning. I’m actively looking for full-time positions from January 2021 in these areas, especially for research engineer or research scientist roles. I'm also open to challenging internship opportunities. I enjoy working with robust thinkers and strong collaborators operating in a highly dynamic environment, and who equally enjoy what they do. Interested employers can email me at poorani.r96@gmail.com. Even otherwise, I enjoy meeting people and hearing new perspectives, so feel free to reach out to me. ## Work Experience ### Software Engineer - Sensors @ Volkswagen Group of America Innovation and Engineering Center California (IECC) Jan 2023 – Present | Belmont, California, United States I am working with the sensors team on the autonomous ID Buzz vehicle for sensor data capture, calibration, visualization, and assessment. I'm currently focussed on developing a ROS based framework for sensor evaluation. ### Software Engineer @ Qualcomm Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | San Diego, California, United States I worked with the Multimedia Video team in developing automation tools in Python for testing video decoding and encoding from HAL through E2E layer. I also worked on developing new tools in the Google Cloud AI platform for the detection of video artifacts using convolutional deep learning models to replace manually executed subjective validations, thus scaling up testing by 80%. For this model, I generated a training dataset of 50k labeled images with visual corruptions emulating decoder and encoder artifacts. ### Data Science Intern @ University of Michigan Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States I'm assisting Dr. Armin Sarabi, a research scientist in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, in automating the manual process of annotating internet scan data. I've so far worked on analyzing the problem statement and on developing software in Python to create training data for learning models in order to achieve this goal. ### Robotics Engineer @ FUJI Innovation Lab Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | Seattle, Washington, United States During my three months with FIL, I worked independently on developing and testing different features for an AMR in a simulation setup using Gazebo and ROS Melodic framework. I simulated a custom mobile robot in Gazebo by writing URDFs and synthesized data from fake sensors as a close emulation of the real world. I implemented gyrodometry and verified the sensor fusion results using RQT, RViz and other visualization tools. I also implemented features like geo-fencing and interface functionalities. I explored different SLAM techniques (like RTAB, Gmapping and hector) in ROS. In the second phase, I focused on detection of dynamic obstacles and inclined surfaces in the simulated environment. I analyzed the influence of dynamic objects on gmapping and AMCL, and worked on their detection. I, then, implemented detection of humans in 2D laser data using a random forest classifier. Finally, I got to implement detection of inclined surfaces from 3D point clouds with an accuracy of 0.02 meters in ramp width and of 10 degrees in slope angle estimation, followed by integrating these modules to the mapping and navigation modules. Working independently, I gained experience in setting my own deadlines to meet the company's expectations, directing research and converting those ideas to plausible implementations. I also had the opportunity to learn new software tools, that I wasn't familiar with but were needed for the work, without letting it affect the deadlines. ### Grading assistant for 'Introduction to Artificial Intelligence'-EECS 492 course @ University of Michigan Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 Along with 2 other people, I evaluated six theoretical and coding assignments for the EECS 492 Fall 2019 class, consisting of about 150 undergrad and grad students. ### Autonomous Vehicle Testing Intern @ Qualcomm Research Center Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | San Diego I interned with the Autonomous Vehicles Testing Team at Qualcomm Research Center for summer’19. The project was focused on analyzing the performance degradation of the sensor fusion module due to changes in camera’s tracker frequency, availability of dense LIDAR map, ego vehicle’s positioning error and sensor configurations through specific characterization studies. ## Education ### Master of Science - MS in Robotics University of Michigan ### Master of Business Administration - MBA Westcliff University ### Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering SSN College of Engineering ### Higher Secondary Schooling Maharishi Vidya Mandir ### Schooling Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram ### Bachelor of Arts - BA in Hindi Language and Literature Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/poorani-ravindhiran --- Source: https://flows.cv/poorani JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/poorani/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-10