Ishan Chatterjee, S.B. ’16, wins 2016 SAME award

The New York City Post of the Society of Military Engineers (SAME) has awarded Harvard College senior Ishan Chatterjee, S.B. ’16, the 2016 Colonel and Mrs. S.S. Dennis III Scholarship in recognition of his hard work and academic excellence.

In a ceremony on April 8, Frank Doyle, dean of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), presented Chatterjee with a certificate of accomplishment and a scholarship check for $500 from SAME.

“I am very grateful to SAME for the recognition of my work at SEAS, and to my professors and classmates for their constant guidance and support,” Chatterjee said. “It is very exciting to receive such an honor.

Chatterjee, a native of Pittsburgh, will graduate in May with an S.B. degree in electrical engineering. He developed a passion for science as an elementary school student, and chose to pursue electrical engineering because the field offers many opportunities to solve important problems in a wide range of disciplines, from biology to computer science.

Human-computer interaction has been Chatterjee’s main interest during his junior and senior years. He focused his senior thesis project in “Engineering Design Projects” (ES 100) on developing an on-body touch interaction device that could be integrated within a smartwatch or other wearable device.

“Smartwatches have very small touch screens, so a person’s finger occludes the screen when using the device,” he said. “Having an interactive space that is multi-dimensional, accurate, and precise, right on the back of your hand would be hugely beneficial to the user.”

The device uses a pair of line cameras and processing algorithms to create a “track pad” on the back of a person’s hand. Chatterjee was able to refine the system so it is precise down to a millimeter, which is similar to many commercially available track pads.

The biggest challenge was perfecting the optical alignment. The fabrication process held its share of challenges, too, since he built the device by hand and had to be extremely careful to ensure he placed sensors in the exactly correct position.

Now that the hardware platform is complete, Chatterjee plans to keep working on higher-level software that could enhance the device and improve the user experience. His goal is to make the device fully self-contained and fully wireless, and also more robust to changes in lighting so that it can be accurate outdoors.

“This project taught me so much about the engineering process, from assessing different fabrication methods and component alternatives, to fitting it all into my timeline and budget. I needed to organize my thinking and design approach so I did not, for example, get hung up on something that wasn’t working,” he said.

Chatterjee will apply those lessons in a real-world setting when he starts working as an electrical engineer at Microsoft this summer. He will join the team that is creating the HoloLens, an augmented reality device that projects virtual objects on top of the user’s view of their real space.

About SAME

The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), the premier professional military engineering association in the United States, unites architecture, engineering, construction (A/E/C), facility management and environmental entities and individuals in the public and private sectors to prepare for—and overcome—natural and manmade disasters, and to improve security at home and abroad.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., SAME provides its more than 27,000 members extensive opportunities for training, education and professional development through a robust offering of conferences, workshops, networking events and publications. With a membership that includes recent service academy graduates and retired flag officers, project managers and corporate executives, Department of Defense civilians, private-sector experts and everyone in between, SAME is bridging the gaps between critical stakeholders to advance the field of military engineering and help secure our nation.