ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Pulkit Goyal is an author on ‘ Bumblebees compensate for the adverse effects of sidewind during visually guided landings’, published in JEB. Pulkit conducted the research described in this article while a PhD candidate in Prof. Florian Muijres's lab at the Experimental Zoology Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands. He is now a Vision R&D Engineer in the lab of Dr Richard van der Stam at ASMPT Semiconductor Solutions, Beuningen, The Netherlands, investigating dynamics and control systems, and its applicability in a variety of fields.
Pulkit Goyal
How did you become interested in biology?
Growing up, I was curious about how ‘things’ work. Therefore, during my studies, I focused on abstraction and modelling of systems from the perspective of dynamics and controls. The decision to apply this knowledge to the field of biology was purely incidental for me. During my search, I came across an open position that focused on studying insects to understand their wind-mitigating capabilities. I applied for this position as it allowed systematic exploration of insects' capability, which was very exciting for me.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
My interest in dynamics and control systems was spawned during my bachelor’s thesis in the Aerospace Systems Laboratory at the University of Texas at Arlington, USA. There, I learnt about Kalman theory and its several applications in control systems. My thesis involved one of those applications – it dealt with the estimation of the size of space debris using astrometric and photometric measurements. This experience got me hooked onto dynamics and control systems and inspired my pursuit of professional activities over the next decade.
After my bachelor’s degree, I joined the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a scientist in the domain of aerodynamic design and analysis. I worked there on the characterization of loads acting on the rockets, and a crew module for human spaceflight as they travel through Earth's atmosphere, as well as designing and testing of concepts for future missions.
In between my career at ISRO, I moved to The Netherlands to pursue an MSc program in control and simulation on scholarship at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). There, I enjoyed learning about the design, simulation and testing of control systems for different aerospace and mechanical systems. During my internship at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Braunschweig, Germany, I developed and implemented a sensor-based approach for two sensor configurations to estimate wind velocity and airspeed for a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft. During my thesis work at the Micro Aerial Vehicle lab (TU Delft), I developed and implemented a real-time mission planning strategy for deployment of a sensor network using a fleet of drones. To continue my journey in control systems, I later joined the Experimental Zoology group at Wageningen University to find out how bees land. One of the results of this quest is published as this article.
Currently, I am working in the semiconductors field as a vision engineer. My work is focused on (a) understanding problems and solving them to provide workable solutions for sustaining/improving vision functionalities in the current and upcoming laser dicing machines of ASMPT ALSI B. V., and (b) developing portability of vision-based manual training data captured on one machine to automatically align wafers in all other laser dicing machines.
How would you explain the main findings/message of your paper to a member of the public?
Flying animals often encounter winds during visually guided landings. However, how winds affect their flight control strategy during landing is unknown. Here, we investigated how sidewind affects the landing performance and sensorimotor control of foraging bumblebees. Bumblebees landed less often in higher windspeeds, and their landing strategy in sidewind resembled that in still air, but with important adaptations. Bumblebees landing in a sidewind tended to drift downwind, which they controlled for by performing more hover maneuvers. Surprisingly, the increased hover prevalence did not increase the duration of free-flight landing maneuvers, as these bumblebees adapted their sensorimotor control to fly faster towards the landing platform outside the hover phases.
What is the most important lesson that you have learned from your career so far?
One important lesson that I have learned so far is to always know what is expected of you before you go into a meeting. This does mean that I sometimes have to put in effort before the meeting, e.g. to find out the agenda of the meeting, or how I can contribute to it. This has helped me quite a lot in narrowing down exactly how I can add value to the issue being addressed in the meeting. Additionally, it helps in keeping the meetings relatively short and focused.
Do you have a top tip for others just starting out at your career stage?
It is extremely useful to take communication and time planning courses in case you haven't had any in your career before. When I enrolled in these courses, I wasn't sure what to expect. But having done these courses, I can say that I benefited a lot from them. These courses helped me realize the areas in which I was lacking. With that knowledge, I could apply the tools I learnt in these courses to communicate more clearly and manage my time better.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Next to the research, it is very helpful to be involved in other activities. This helps in relieving unavoidable stress and brings balance to mental health. In my free time, I do different activities. I like to cook Indian dishes and learn new dance moves. I also do different sports such as running, cycling and playing badminton. I got into gardening during my PhD and now I am continuing it. And once every 2 weeks, I ‘live’ for a few hours in the world of Dungeons & Dragons with my friends.
Pulkit Goyal’s contact details: ASMPT Semiconductor Solutions, ASMPT ALSI B. V., Platinawerf 20, 6641 TL Beuningen, The Netherlands.
E-mail: [email protected]