A collection of my personal thoughts in a slightly presentable format. Touching on some important events and decisions in 2020 and looking forward to 2021.
𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 - 𝗘𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 (𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵) It is probably appropriate to start looking back at 2020 through the “how-covid19-affected-my-life” lens. I think everyone has a variant of this, but for me there were a few days in March when things changed too quickly. In particular, March 14th was a tipping point. The day started off with calling my parents that things are ok - “this covid thing is becoming a bit of an issue but surely it will be fine”. By the end of the day I had booked a flight back to Japan.
During few days from the 14th leading up to the 3am coach ride to Heathrow, I felt that almost all of my life was based on a set of assumptions that were no longer valid. Exams, coursework, robotics society projects, all social plans in the future - what was essentially the most important things in my life were no longer so. I never even considered how fragile the world I lived in really was, until it was made more than clear. I vividly remember looking out of the coach window at the empty streets of Cambridge and thinking that I will maybe never see this place again. Remembering the few years I had spent here, and how special they were without realising it all the time.
Of course, I did manage to come back. But for some, that good bye in March was the last moment in Cambridge. This emergency period did fade away to become a new norm which we are getting used to. But given what happened in March, it’s not an exaggeration to think that everything that we care for and find importance could at some point all of a sudden disappear. While it is a terrifying thought, for more of us there is nothing we can do than to ride along in the wave of the changing environment. “Therefore nothing matters” is one way of looking at it - but not a very helpful one. I would much rather get on board with “Therefore appreciate every moment of your life and the beautiful people and community around you. Take the opportunities you have so you don’t look back with regret, because you may never get the chance to do so again.”
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 - 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 In 2019 I started to think about where to go with my professional career in robotics. I decided that pursuing a PhD was the best path forward, and was searching for labs and what exactly I should be doing. 2020 was a continuation of this.
An unexpected upside of the pandemic was that so many events were postponed and cancelled, freeing up lots of time in the spring-summer period. During this period I spent time researching what is out there in the field of robotics without being time pressured. The exploration was merely scratching the surface of robotics research - in fact most were only based off video presentations at ICRA 2020 (where I got to present my first publication! - from the summer research project in 2019).
More than half of my life now I have been surrounded by robotics projects. I’ve always loved the technical challenges and competitions, but never did I decide what I want to specifically do in the future about it. And now, it was time to decide. Being interested in this broad field it’s hard to narrow down, and everything seems (and is) interesting in its own ways. It is way too easy to think “what if something I didn’t look at was actually a door to a perfect topic?”, opening a million tabs to papers and websites, which in reality leads to nowhere. At some point however a decision had to be made - a fine balancing act of something that I like doing, that I can actually do, and that I truly believe is important.
By August, it was becoming clear what I was drawn to, which was manipulation and in particular dexterous manipulation. Dexterous manipulation in the robotics context is about getting robots to skilfully interact with the world, in the form of using its end effector (hands) to handle objects and the environment. In the broadest sense, I want to devote my time and attention to develop robots that can interact and cooperate with humans. Not just in the short term but also 10, 20, 30 years looking ahead. In a future like that, it is a requirement for robots to have the ability to handle tools and everyday objects skilfully. The idea and field of dexterity is not new, but much work is needed for it to be remotely applicable in the real world. It also has a great crossover with my technical interests in mechanical design and control/software integration.
Currently I am in the process of applying to universities in the US, UK, and Switzerland (5 in total. 3.5 of the applications done). They are all world class institutions, but with a bit of luck, I hope to begin a PhD course starting next year.
𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 + 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 The year began with a similar reflection post in the end of 2019, with three goals in mind: 1. Keep up my academics, 2. Continue my project oriented lifestyle, 3. Narrow down my plans after graduation.
Academics wise, I have just about been able to keep it up compared to 2017~19, a solid 6/10 effort I would say. A similar evaluation for the projects side. No doubt that I was able to pursue lots of activities, but I did hope to do a bit more technical projects on the way. I think this is because of a) not efficiently allocating my big free time period over summer, and b) underestimating the academic challenges in 4th year. In terms of sorting out plans after graduation, it’s going to plan - nothing less and nothing more.
Perhaps I could have done better. Structuring unstructured time myself and working through projects and tasks is a weakness of mine, which I must overcome. Especially in the 1st term of my final year, I found juggling multiple deadlines extremely difficult. The 4th year course with highly weighted coursework deadlines coming by every week is a totally different structure to the mostly exam based past years.
But life is not all about getting things done and being efficient (though I do value that quite a bit). Maybe this is being the final year at Cambridge and nostalgically remembering the good times, but all through this year I have been reminded how lucky I am to have friends and many communities around me that make everything worth it at the end of the day. From mucking around making potato guns to the regular zoom meetups throughout the year when everyone fled back home, the list keeps on going. And I’m so glad for all of it. Above all, living out of college with a few of my fellow engineering students has made the 2nd half of the year so much more enjoyable. You know who you are, and thank you for making this lockdown-quarantine-online-study environment really worth it. I look forward for the time together in 2021 too .
Overall, I think 2020 despite its challenges has been positive and successful. It is certainly not the year where I achieved much, but it was an important year to understand what I must do to take me to the next step.
Speaking of next steps, here is how I plan (and hope) 2021 to be.
- Keep up my academics (this is a given at this point) - Complete all ongoing projects - Successfully start a PhD
Point 1 is simple - keep up the work. Point 2 refers to all of the commitments and projects I am holding on to at the moment. Bringing the rescue robot project (yes this is still going on) to a good point to pass on to the next generation of undergrads, successfully complete my master’s project, continue my work as a Technical Committee chair for RoboCupJunior Rescue League, and so on. It’s not an ambition per se, but these are all what I committed, and I strive to finish it well.
Ambition lies for point 3. Research is iterative, and what I do will most likely not be something world changing. But I still wish to be ambitious - aim to make significant advancements in the field of study. Something that will be key for future robotic developments. During my undergraduate, I tried multiple projects and activities, but I sort of miss the middle and high school days where most of my mental capacity was spent working on robotics competitions. Given that I will be able to secure a PhD position, I wish to find and narrow down a challenge that requires full attention and dedication to give it all I got. We’ll see where I am in a year’s time.
Thank you for reading. I wish the best for everyone’s health and wellbeing, and hope for a great 2021.
(Pictures: a beautiful summer day by a river in Japan and in the UK)
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