I'm honored to have been accepted to three professional development workshops this year:
- RSS Pioneers, July 19, held at TU Delft, Netherlands
- NextProf Nexus, August 26-29, held at the University of Michigan, co-hosted by UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech
- Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering, October 3-4, held at Carnegie Mellon University, co-hosted by MIT, Stanford, and UC Berkeley
I'll be posting another update after I attend the Rising Stars in ME workshop, but I wanted to post some updates following the two fantastic workshops I've attended so far!
RSS Pioneers
RSS Pioneers is an annual workshop held in conjunction with the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference. I am honored to be one of 30 early career researchers accepted to this workshop, and had such a great experience! The workshop has the unique model of being organized by early career researchers (Pioneers alumni), for early career researchers. This year's organizers brought together a variety speakers, including those doing industry research on autonomous vehicles and AI, founders and CEOs of robotics startups, professors, and those who work in both industry and academia. Rather than keeping talks 100% technical, each speaker also discussed their personal career path, and offered career advice. I really appreciated interacting with a diverse set of robotics researchers, and my main takeaway from this workshop is I really can create my own path.
All Pioneers also got to give a lightning talk, which was a great way to learn about what others are working on!
Finally, I had the opportunity to present my PhD work at the main RSS conference, and I had some great discussions about the future of robotics!
NextProf Nexus
Not long after returning from RSS, I had the opportunity to attend the NextProf Nexus workshop, which focused on preparing PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in engineering for a career in academia. We heard inspiring and informative talks to help prepare for the job search, covering application materials, interviews, negotiation, and tips for forming a successful research group. I even had the opportunity to connect with the new Robotics Department at UM; it was exciting to meet other roboticists and hear about the new department!
I am so grateful to have participated in these workshops, and I look forward to the upcoming Rising Stars in ME workshop to wrap up the year!