Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1256432
76 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 Shaughnessy: How did you think to take batter- ies apart and harvest the zinc for resale? What a great idea. Aggarwal: I used to explore all of the scrap in my home. Seeing me dismantling batteries and cells, my grandfather told me that batteries contained zinc, or jasta in Hindi—an expen- sive metal used for making corrosion-resistant pipes. I used to open AA and D batteries and ex- tract the zinc foils. One day, I melted those foils and wound up with a big zinc log, which I then sold in the market. Even then, I think my inner salesman was active! With the zinc mon- ey, I bought more electronics—mainly chemi- cals for my experiments. Shaughnessy: On your blog, you mentioned that you once rode a bus two hours each way to the Tico Institute of Embedded Technology. You must have been really serious about your training and education. Do you attend confer- ences, trade shows, or webinars? Aggarwal: I did, but those were pre-COVID-19 conferences, of course. My parents didn't have much money, and that was the most affordable way to reach the Tico Institute, which was 60 kilometers away from my residence. I used to take an auto—a three-wheeled vehicle—from my house to the train station, a train to Delhi, and then a bus to the training center. A one- way journey would take two hours or more, but I never minded hard work. I think it is in my blood from my father, as well as my grand- father, who was a farmer. I was crazy about electronics, so I wanted to do whatever it takes to learn. I feel so happy now that I listened to my inner voice and stuck with my passion. I attended many seminars conducted by various semiconductor manu- facturing companies in India, such as Texas In- struments and Freescale (now NXP), as well as other exhibitions. In addition to the seminars and exhibitions, I also visited all of the electronics shops and markets in the city. I have explored them hun- dreds of times. In Delhi, we have one of India's largest electronic component markets—the Lajpat Rai Market. I understood that I needed to go out and meet people, understand what products the world is making, and improve my own knowledge. I think every engineer should visit these exhibitions and seminars; they help you improve your perspective for whatever you build, and you learn so much from others. I had poor communication skills back then. I remember being scared to answer the phone at home. English was my second language at school, so talking to people was also a way of forcing myself to speak to people and improve my communication skills. Now, I am like a child when I see new hardware. If I enter your office and see a PCB, I will ask if I can take a look at it. Figure 1: One of Pallav's early designs—a power board laid out with Protel 2.7.