- November 15, 2021
Before Alex’s internship in Russia he was not sure what subject he wanted to pursue in grad school next year. During his interesting and engaging time in Russia, he was able to reaffirm his top choice in studying autonomy.
During this summer, Alex was given the opportunity to experience many different aspects of Russia, from working in a lab at one of the most technologically advanced universities in Moscow to exploring historical sites such as the Cosmonaut Museum to experiencing nature at a local park. Within his lab, he was given the opportunity to work on and research complex autonomy problems focusing on coordinated path planning and obstacle detection and avoidance. He not only gained technical experience, but was also given guidance on how to construct a technical paper based on the research he was performing.
Outside of work, Alex met many amazing people and was able to see Russia from the views of those who actually lived there. He was also able to use the experience to practice his Russian speaking skills with multiple different native speakers. He tried traditional Russian cuisine, rode on the very nice metro system, and overall got a deeper understanding of Russia and Moscow. In addition, with the World Cup coinciding with his trip, Alex was able to witness the outpouring of national pride that thronged through the city when the underdog national team beat Spain.