There are many talented women at HCL Technologies helping to #ShapetheWorld through their important work.
For International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), meet HCL's Meenakshi Subramanian, Indumathi Raju Janiwarad and Raagavi Rajagopal.
Meet HCL’s Meenakshi Subramanian
Meenakshi (pictured above) lives and works in Chennai in India as a Technical Architect for HCL client, Boeing. Meenakshi has been executing projects focusing on developing web applications for customers.
“I’m a person who looks forward to trying new hands-on technologies so I took up Internet-of-things (IOT) training from CDAC. Simultaneously, I received an offer to handle an engineering IOT project leading a technical team while also being customer facing," she says. "I accepted the opportunity as I knew the role would leverage my skill set and get me working on something challenging.”
One aspect that interested Meenakshi was the team she would be working with and helping them find the right technological direction for the project: “I was keen that the technology and the work I would be performing would be new and innovative. The kind of problems faced during the project’s execution would also draw upon my previous experience. I knew I could help the team and the project through my expertise and knowledge of best practice.”
Working for HCL for 15 years, Meenakshi has always enjoyed the freedom to choose the work that she has wanted to embark on or the technologies that she wanted to learn about and explore. “Even while working in a project I would have opportunities to work with different project teams to solve technically challenging issues. Every passing year with HCL has been a new experience for me with new work and responsibilities – and I have thoroughly enjoyed this. I have worked with wonderful managers and customers who have guided and brought the best out of me. Having worked for HCL for so long and enjoyed the trust of my managers and colleagues, I have always felt that my work matters greatly.”
Meenakshi’s work is primarily focused in two areas: hardware evaluation that supports 802.11 wireless technology (2.4/5 GHz) to establish a closed network IOT framework – where she managed a 15-member team to perform evaluations and set up a working end-to-end prototype; and spectrum analysis of 802.11ad wireless technology (60 GHz) using MATLAB simulators.
Meenakshi believes the next big thing in her space may be further exploration in 802.11ad wireless technology to help develop greater engineering capability for product design and development. Meenakshi is into Mode-2 development and is seeking to gain further experience and expertise in related areas including working in frontline product development where the products are patented for HCL.
When it comes to offering advice for further women seeking to establish their computer engineering careers, Meenakshi reflects on the importance of change and upskilling for engineers: “There will never be a point in life where we can say that we know it all. Every day is a new day to enhance and mould ourselves to face challenges in life. Women are born to be tough and we have inborn capabilities to excel in all spheres on life, whether it is in a personal or professional front. All women should be open to change and to continue learning and updating ourselves. The world is becoming unpredictable, so it is even more important for us to stay tuned and be sustainable. The recent pandemic has also proven the importance of technology and engineering – and we can use this as an opportunity to stay abreast with latest happenings across industry and keep learning and adapting to change.”
While working from home during the pandemic, Meenakshi says she experienced a variety of emotions. Initially she felt anxious about how she was going to manage both office work and home simultaneously.
“With no additional helpers it was a huge task in the beginning but when I established a routine, I was able to overcome many of the challenges. I then, however, started feeling low and alone when every conversation I was having with the outside world became virtual. To get me through this, I thought about people who were homeless and who had lost their jobs during the pandemic – and so I felt grateful for what I had and was motivated to contribute to the betterment of people around me. I became more positive and sensitive towards others, and less egoistic. I acknowledged my shortcomings and identified areas where I could improve," she says.
"I then worked on positive changes I could apply within my relationship with my family. Although COVID while be problematic for some time, I do cherish the lessons it has taught me. I now live life as it comes and I cherish all the small moments in life because I know that everything around us is temporary, including our sorrows.”
Meet HCL’s Indumathi Raju Janiwarad
Indumathi lives and works in Bangalore in India as a Senior Software Developer for HCL client, Veoneer UST.
Love and passion towards computer engineering and a strong interest in technology attracted Indumathi to work for HCL, who has worked for the company for almost a decade.
“The support provided by my managers and team colleagues is really encouraging,” says Indumathi. “I’ve been supported to develop my skills and experience through many opportunities.”
Indumathi has worked on helping build an Autosar team by training them and working with project colleagues. Additionally, she successfully completed an On Board Charger program entailing work on a passenger car (Hybrid) and on commercial vehicles (Electric Bus) which are currently running in Sweden’s Gothenberg and are creating considerable value for the client.
Indumathi has aspirations to be a good professional leader within HCL and is keen to learn as much as she can to forge her career forward. “Learning is very important, whatever would the domain of work. I enjoy working in the field of technology and the work is always exciting and innovative.”
Work-life balance is important to Indumathi, and she has been enjoying working from home as she has been able to balance quality time with her my family and children without impacting on her work.
Meet HCL’s Raagavi Rajagopal
Raagavi works in Chennai in India as a Data Analyst and Qlik Developer, supporting HCL client Depuy Synthes, part of Johnson & Johnson.
“The world needs engineers,” says Raagavi. “We run the world and there’s nothing in this world that doesn’t need the help of engineers.”
Raagavi says she initially pursued computer engineering because she wanted to earn a better salary. However, when she executed her first computer program, the joy of seeing the output from her creation strongly attracted her to learning further computer languages. This soon became her passion and now she can’t imagine doing any other job.
Raagavi enjoys working for HCL because she’s always provided with a range of opportunities to improve herself technically. “At HCL, I can advance myself professionally and there’s a constant stream of exciting challenges that come my way.”
The kind of engineering work Raagavi has undertaken includes requirement analysis, data collection and product owner support. She has also worked in data analytics and visualization support. She has solid experience in identifying problem areas so business improvements can be made, as based on facts. She has created and enhanced Qlik and Power BI dashboard and has worked on Qlik app development and capacity analytics. Her work helps manufacturing teams at Depuy Synthes to identify machine capacity, correctly allocate machines based on product demand, and to understand actual machine running time and production. This helps the team their improve planning and production outcomes.
Raagavi has also helped to develop apps that immediately answer business questions and help provide important insight via Quality Dashboards, Energy Usage Dashboards, etc. For example, Raagavi has also worked on analytics dashboards for Irish Healthcare to assist their decision making during the COVID pandemic. The dashboards provided timely data regarding patient flow, hospital capacity, theatre scheduling, PPE requirements and planning.
“I realised how my work can make an impact on a patient’s life. This makes me really enjoy my work. It’s rewarding to see how technology lends a hand during difficult situations,
she says. Raagavi adds that predictive analysis is the next big thing in her space because this can help forecast future aspects based on past data. She says a further typical role she is keen to secure would be as a Data Scientist.
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.