PRANAV PULICKAL · CMPE · UTD '27
◌ Available · Summer 2026 · Hardware / VLSI Internship

Pranav Pulickal
computer engineer

Junior at UT Dallas designing full-custom silicon, high-voltage PCBs for our Formula SAE car, and the occasional SDR signal pipeline. I like problems that span transistor to firmware.

↳ Get in touch
01

About

§A
// PROFILE

I build at the seam between hardware and software — places where a misaligned bit or a 5 ns timing slip is the whole story. My favorite work right now is full-custom VLSI design, the kind that starts with a Verilog RTL and ends with a clean DRC/LVS report on a GDSII layout.

Outside the EDA tools, I sit on the electrical side of Dallas Formula Racing, where I design and validate the high-voltage PCBs that keep our electric car safe and moving. The motorsport context forces a different kind of rigor — fault response budgets measured in milliseconds, safety rules that don't bend.

I'm looking for a summer 2026 internship in VLSI, ASIC verification, or hardware design. I'm happiest in environments where the work is technical, the feedback is fast, and someone has a logic analyzer plugged in.

02

Selected work

05 PROJECTS
REF-001
VLSI · ASIC
Jan – May 2026

Full-Custom Turn-Signal ASIC

RTL → GDSII · GF 65nm · Cadence / Synopsys / Calibre

A full-custom digital VLSI controller for an automotive turn-signal system, designed end-to-end on a custom 65 nm standard-cell library. FSM + 45-bit ripple-carry clock divider drive four sweeping 3-LED clusters. Closed with zero DRC/LVS errors and +14.47 ns of timing slack at a 60 ns clock; total power 0.0356 mW.

VerilogCadence VirtuosoInnovusDesign CompilerPrimeTime STACalibre DRC/LVSHSPICEModelSim
CASE STUDY
REF-005
VLSI · CPU
Spring 2026

24-bit Multi-Cycle Harvard CPU

Custom ISA · Verilog · iVerilog · Multi-cycle FSM

Ground-up CPU and instruction set designed under a strict embedded constraint sheet — 29-bit instructions, 24-bit data bus, 8-register file, reverse-endian arrays, and a 3-state multi-cycle FSM. Solved two nasty pipeline hazards (regfile race + DMEM store timing) and validated end-to-end with two custom assembly programs: C = A + B → 42 and Σ i = 0..10 → 55.

VerilogSystemVerilogiVerilogGTKWaveHarvard ArchMulti-cycle FSMCustom ISA
CASE STUDY
REF-002
PCB · Safety
May 2025 – Present

Braking System Plausibility Device (BSPD)

FSAE Electric · Dallas Formula Racing · Analog-only safety circuit

A purely analog brake/throttle plausibility device for our 2026 FSAE Electric car — no microcontroller, no firmware, just discrete CMOS gates, an NE555 RC delay, and a latching SR shutdown. Cut random hardware failures 70% and false triggers 90% versus the previous RC-only design. Currently moving from breadboard to Altium PCB.

AltiumLTSpiceCD4001 / CD4071NE555OP07Analog Discovery 3FSAE EV.5.7
CASE STUDY
REF-003
DSP · SDR
Sep 2025 – Present

FM RDS Signal Decoder

IEEE · Python · RTL-SDR · NanoVNA

Python signal-processing pipeline that captures live FM broadcasts off an RTL-SDR and decodes Radio Data System messages — I/Q acquisition, filtering, synchronization, demodulation. Antenna parameters tuned with a NanoVNA to hold reception stable in low-SNR conditions.

PythonRTL-SDRI/Q DSPNanoVNA
DETAILS
REF-004
Systems · Solar Power
Jan – May 2025

Off-Grid Water Generation System

UTD EPICS · Project Lead · Vera Aqua Vera Vita / Piura, Peru

Led a 6-engineer team designing a container-mounted solar power plant for an atmospheric water generator deployed in Piura, Peru. Re-baselined a 40-ft prior design into a 20-ft container with 17 bifacial panels (10.37 kW), six 48 V LiFePO₄ batteries, and two paralleled MPPT inverters — all locally sourceable in Peru and within a $1k design-phase budget.

SolidWorksKiCadLiFePO4MPPTNFPA 855Trane Trace 3DTeam Lead
CASE STUDY
03

Stack

TOOLCHAIN

VLSI & EDA

  • Cadence Virtuoso
  • Cadence Innovus
  • Synopsys Design Compiler
  • Synopsys PrimeTime
  • Mentor Calibre
  • HSPICE

HDL & Code

  • Verilog · SystemVerilog
  • VHDL
  • C++
  • Python
  • Java
  • MIPS / x86 Assembly

PCB & Sim

  • Altium Designer
  • KiCad
  • LTSpice
  • Multisim
  • MATLAB

Lab & Embedded

  • ESP32 · Raspberry Pi
  • Arduino
  • Oscilloscope
  • Logic Analyzer
  • Analog Discovery 2
  • NanoVNA
Concepts: Full-Custom IC Layout · STA · DRC / LVS / PEX · Signal Integrity
04

Experience

§E
JAN 2025 — PRESENT
University of Texas at Dallas

Electrical Team Member

Dallas Formula Racing · Electric Team
  • Design and develop high-voltage power PCBs in Altium Designer, ensuring robust power distribution for the electric Formula car.
  • Test and troubleshoot PCB prototypes, conducting signal integrity verification to guarantee reliability under demanding automotive conditions.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with mechanical and software teams for seamless integration of electrical subsystems into the vehicle architecture.
05

Now / building

LIVE
RUNNING

BSPD v2 board bring-up

Validating the digital oscillator + divider on the bench; targeting 2026 FSAE Electric competition rules pass.

RUNNING

RDS decoder accuracy pass

Improving sync recovery in low-SNR captures and characterizing reception with a tuned NanoVNA sweep.

LEARNING

Post-silicon validation

Reading about scan, ATPG, and JTAG-based debug workflows on real automotive parts.

06

Education

§ED
AUG 2023 — MAY 2027
Dallas, Texas

University of Texas at Dallas

B.S., Computer Engineering · Junior
EXPECTED GRADUATION · MAY 2027