Senior Computer Engineering student, Nicholas Mirchandani ’22 has exciting plans this summer after graduation. He will be moving to Seattle to be a Software Engineer at SpaceX. We were eager to learn more about Nick and his experience at Chapman as well as his future plans.

Fowler Engineering (FE): Tell us a little about yourself and why you chose Chapman University.

Nicholas Mirchandani (NM): I’m a double major in Computer Engineering and Computer Science with a Minor in Game Development. I chose Chapman because of its emphasis on community. At a smaller school, I felt like I’d be able to have more of an impact here, especially as they grew their engineering program from the ground up. Along the way, I’ve met so many incredible people, all similarly humble in their accomplishments.

FE: Can you tell us a little about the research you’ve done as an undergraduate student and your favorite experiences at Fowler Engineering?Student guiding Spot the robot

NM: As a student, I’ve done research in many fields, from VLSI design to virtual reality to optoelectronics, and over the years I’ve had the privilege of presenting my work to prestigious groups like Chapman Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), SID, and SPIE. Through it all, my favorite experience has been founding and cultivating the Chapman Robotics Club, training underclassmen with no knowledge of robotics and seeing them take on projects of their own. I also should mention working with the Spot robots in the “AI For Robotics” class, especially since my experience there as a team lead is what got me my job at SpaceX.

FE: Speaking of SpaceX, can you share what you will be doing there?

NM: At SpaceX, as a Software Engineer on the Vehicle team, I’ll be closely collaborating with Hardware Engineers to solve real-world problems, pulling from both my software and hardware experiences at Chapman as a Computer Engineering major.

Thank you, Nick for telling us about your experience as a Chapman University student studying at Fowler Engineering. We are so happy to hear about all the moments during your time as a student that impacted your future. We wish you the best at SpaceX!