Team Q&A: Aditya Joshi – R&D Intern

From working to improve control, optimization, and power systems to his personal efforts with recycling, our R&D Intern Aditya Joshi is eager to help! Join us in welcoming Aditya to the Virtual Peaker team!

How did your previous life prepare you for Virtual Peaker?

As a Ph.D. student, the past two and a half years at NC State University have been instrumental in my technical and professional development. My coursework has provided a good foundation in control, optimization, and power systems. My doctoral research has proven pivotal in immersing me in the full spectrum of research activities—from initial problem formulation and theoretical exploration to practical solutions and implementation. I feel that my academic journey has prepared me for my role at Virtual Peaker. At Virtual Peaker, under the mentorship of Dr. Greg Ledva, I continue to refine my skills and expand my expertise.

Tell us about your role at Virtual Peaker.

As an R&D Intern working on a thermostat project, I have the opportunity to dig deeply into the topic of thermostat control. Throughout this journey, I will navigate various phases, including conducting a literature review, formulating the problem, analyzing preliminary results, and striving to develop a final acceptable solution. Talking in control terms, it’s like operating within a “closed-loop system,” where I’m thankful for the feedback from my team that allows me to refine myself continuously. Although I’m a newcomer, I have found that my team members are incredibly supportive and remarkably prompt in addressing my queries, significantly enriching my internship experience at Virtual Peaker.

How do you personally engage in sustainability efforts?

I strongly believe in the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. For instance, I prefer to reuse everyday items like jars and containers instead of buying new ones, and I repurpose old clothing into cleaning rags. When it comes to recycling, I make sure that I sort the plastics, paper, and metals, and ensure that at least they are sorted before getting disposed of. By integrating these practices into my daily life, I tried to be more responsible in sustainability efforts.

What can you tell us about yourself?

I’m from Sangli, known as Turmeric City of India, and currently reside in Raleigh, North Carolina. I’m fond of traveling, especially to Wildlife Reserves and National Parks. Back in India, I had the chance to explore several national parks like Jim Corbett, Bandipur, and Mudumalai, famously known as the playgrounds for the largest member of the cat family, Tiger. Though I haven’t had the opportunity to travel extensively in the US, I am eager to visit several iconic sites here. The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Parks are at the top of my bucket list.

About The Author

Bill is a serial entrepreneur with a PhD from UC Berkeley in Controls and Artificial Intelligence and 10 years of experience with high performance residential energy management and connected appliances. He was previously at GE as an Advanced Systems Engineer in the Connected Home Software Group, but left that role in May 2014 to pursue entrepreneurship full time.

Bill grew up in Louisville and returned with his family in 2010 after a long stint in the San Francisco Bay Area. He loves Louisville and is working to make it a better and more attractive city for high tech startups.

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