April Featured Alum of the Month: Vik Dhaliwal

What do you do in your job? What is your work like?

I'm an Engineering Manager leading an autonomy team responsible for architecting, building, and flight-validating Detect and Avoid (DAA) algorithms for self-flying electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. In this role, I wear a few different hats. A big part of my job is team and professional development. At a high level, this means hiring talented engineers and ensuring team members can prioritize work that aligns with their interests and career goals while still delivering overall team objectives. Project management is the second major component of my role; this means developing and executing a technology roadmap in the long term and making sure that we’re clear on the scope of our work in the short term.

The part I enjoy the most really puts the “engineering” in “engineering manager.” We regularly simulate and flight test new features which means I'm regularly looking at test data and results and, of course, producing an ever-increasing number of analysis and plotting scripts. I also stay hands-on with urgent technical challenges as they arise, whether that involves digging into our CI/CD pipelines, troubleshooting sensor or sensor drivers like GPS and INS, or addressing cloud-related issues. Additionally, I’m responsible for reviewing and approving technical documents and supporting materials before they are shared with vendors or other external partners, ensuring they are accurate and aligned with our objectives.

How did your UC Davis education prepare you for this work?

One of the biggest advantages of a physics education is its breadth: from electromagnetism to thermodynamics, from electronics to Monte Carlo simulations. This provides a broad foundation that can be used to build all sorts of seemingly orthogonal in-depth technical skill sets. My UC Davis education gave me a working foundation in RF and core principles of electronics, which were critical to my work at my first job and across multiple projects at my current job. From using standard lab test equipment to developing flight physics models for aircraft and spacecraft and a lot in between, it's fairly easy to make a connection back to what I learned at UC Davis.

Are there opportunities our current students could pursue, which you found helpful for advancing your career? Or do you have any other advice for undergraduates in our program?

Prioritize finding and applying to internships/REUs, working with a professor in a lab, and making connections! Hands-on and practical experience gained from an internship or working in a lab is extremely valuable for developing technical skills. An internship or lab work can also be a good opportunity to demonstrate your technical skills in a real-world context. Labs are also great environments for building connections with career-oriented senior and graduate students. These individuals are often just a few years ahead of you in their careers and can offer insights into what comes next. They may even be in the process of seeking jobs or making key career moves themselves, which makes them an excellent resource for advice and potential opportunities down the road.