I'm Shatakshi Iksha — a computer systems engineering student at ASU minoring in materials science. I fabricate and characterize thin films, model degradation data, and apply computation to embedded systems and hardware. Currently an R&D engineering intern at Fraunhofer USA, optimizing thin-film sputtering processes.
Materials research produces data — XRD scans, mechanical test cycles, degradation curves. My CSE background lets me process it: writing the models that turn raw data into a process recommendation. The minor teaches me what to measure; the major gives me the tools to build systems that measure and model it.
Sputtering, PVD, additive manufacturing, DOE design.
XRD, SEM, EBSD, AFM — the atomic result of that processing.
Mechanical, electrochemical, and optical behavior.
Weibull, regression, and Bayesian models built from that data.
Process a material, characterize its structure, measure its properties, model how those properties translate to performance — this loop repeats across every role below.
Aug. 2023 – May 2027 (expected) · Tempe, AZ
Thin-film processing, materials characterization, and mechanical testing alongside a core systems engineering curriculum.
Dean's List awardee.
Three roles, one throughline: run controlled experiments, then model the data into a process recommendation. Click an entry for the full write-up.
Optimizing sputtering and PVD thin-film processes through DOE experiments.
Linking 3D-printed steel defects to fracture behavior with Bayesian ML.
Modeling how flexible perovskite solar films degrade under strain.
Operational roles across ASU.
Partner with faculty to run school-wide events, including the TDS Community Celebration and Final Reviews.
Supported ASU Online students by phone and organized virtual club and graduation events.
Processed course overrides and advising cases in Salesforce for pre-med students.
Electrical design, additive manufacturing, robotics, and digital logic.
A joystick-controlled wheelchair for children with cerebral palsy.
A low-cost prosthetic built through iterative CAD and printing.
Swarm robot navigation with tuned PID control.
FSM-based digital systems, simulated and validated on hardware.
Weekend trail hikes around the Superstitions and South Mountain.
Multi-day trips — planning routes is its own kind of DOE.
Lakes and slow rivers — good place to think through a stuck problem.
V60 pour-overs at home — dialing in a recipe scratches the same itch as a DOE run.
Open to research, internship, and full-time roles in semiconductor process engineering, materials R&D, thin-film technologies, and related technical work.
With fieldwork in Dresden, Johannesburg, and East Lansing.