My experience at IMT Atlantique exceeded my expectations
My name is Abraham Sotomayor, and I'm currently completing my PhD studies at IMT Atlantique and Orange.
I come from Peru, where I obtained my BSc in Telecommunications Engineering from the National University of Engineering (UNI). After graduating, I started my professional career at Claro Peru, one of the major telecommunications operators in Peru. At Claro, I worked in the area of optical transport network planning. This experience equipped me with valuable skills in optical communications and complex project management, which became crucial for my future career. After five years of hard but pleasant work, I decided to quit Claro to pursue post-graduate studies in France, seeking to expand my intellectual capacities and satisfy my enormous curiosity about communication systems. Although it wasn't an easy decision to step outside my comfort zone, the excellent reputation of the educational system in France gave me the confidence that I had made the right choice.
In France, I enrolled at IMT Atlantique in the MSc IT Communication Systems and Network Engineering (CSNE) program at the Brest campus. This choice was motivated by the excellent feedback I received about this engineering school from friends who graduated from Télécom Bretagne (that became IMT Atlantique) and the fact that this school is well-ranked in the different international rankings. My experience at IMT Atlantique exceeded my expectations. The Brest campus's location near the sea and its modern facilities create an excellent study environment. The courses are taught by prestigious professors and recognized researchers. The theoretical studies are well supported by practical works, providing a complete background. I must also highlight that IMT Atlantique is a multicultural school allowing us to meet people from different parts of the world, creating a highly enriching experience.
The reputation of IMT Atlantique helped me a lot when I needed to do my end-of-studies 6-month internship, which was necessary to obtain the MSc degree. When Orange selected me for an internship in the automation of an optical network testbed, I felt confident about the entrusted task because, in IMT Atlantique, I was dotted with the necessary technical and organizational skills.
After finishing my internship, Orange selected me to pursue a PhD thesis, in partnership with IMT Atlantique, in optical communications but focusing on how to employ machine learning to improve the capacities of optical networks. During my MSc studies at IMT Atlantique, I had the opportunity to take elective courses about machine learning. This definitely helped me during the selection process.
In my final year of PhD studies, Orange offered me the opportunity to continue my career in a permanent position as a researcher in Quantum Communications in optical networks. My relationship with IMT Atlantique is far from over, as Orange and IMT Atlantique are part of a joint lab named Lab'Optic, recently founded, and that will allow us to work closely to further develop optical communication research in Brittany, France.
