64 | MARCH 2020 | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org
TRAJECTORIES CAREER TURNING POINTS AND FUTURE VISIONSGAURAV BHATIA, 34
Principal engineer at Hughes Network Systems
As a boy in India, Gaurav Bhatia was inspired to pursue engineering by
his father, Ajay Kumar Bhatia, a metallurgical engineer, who read the
encyclopedia with him, patiently explaining scientifi c and technical
concepts. When his father brought work home and on Bring Your Child to
Work days, Gaurav got a glimpse of his father’s work creating lightweight,
corrosion-resistant materials for Indian Space Research Organization
launch vehicles. Gaurav Bhatia attended college in his hometown of
Hyderabad, India, before earning a master’s degree. Bhatia now helps
develop satellite modems for Hughes Network Systems in Maryland.Landing a job As a metallurgical engineer, my father had to overcome many
challenges throughout his career. His achievements and fearless approach to
solving diffi cult problems instilled in me a passion for engineering. For exam-
ple, my father developed alloys that combine titanium with other chemical
elements for the cryogenic engines and payloads of Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle missions like Chandrayaan [India’s fi rst lunar probe]. I received
my bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering from
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and went on to pursue my master’s
degree. During the fi nal semester at Villanova University, I was hired by Hughes
Network Systems in Maryland during the College Career Fair.From design to verifi cation and testing I am a fi rmware lead engineer
in the Satellite Communications Modem design team at Hughes, where I work
on FPGA/SOC [fi eld-programmable gate arrays/system on a chip]-based hard-
ware platforms to develop the next-generation high-throughput satellite modems.
I contribute to the design by applying concepts from digital communications
and signal processing, forward error correction coding and computer architec-
ture. The day-to-day work involves using software tools and programming
languages to verify these modems work as intended. I work closely with team
members to evaluate new ideas, implementation detail and testing strategies. I
also mentor junior members of our team. The modems my team develops
power satellite communications for people and businesses around the world.Space in 2050 Since data consumption is increasing worldwide, satellite
internet will play an even bigger role in bringing high-speed connectivity to the
unconnected and will become a more viable alternative for those in cities and
suburbs. The aviation industry will also become a big source of growth for this
market. With so many companies and countries setting aggressive goals for
space exploration, a new space race has begun. By 2050, I expect some humans
to be permanently living on the moon and at least a few to have touched down
on Mars. While the technical challenges for this space exploration are tremen-
dous, it opens doors to businesses. Take the internet; it is such a big part of our
lives now that I imagine any human inhabitants of these planets or moons would
like to be tethered socially and emotionally to Mother Earth. The trunking of
data between Earth and these planets is a business opportunity in itself. ★BY DEBRA WERNER | [email protected]