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Will scaling solve robotics? Perspectives from CoRL 2023.
This year’s CoRL was the biggest CoRL yet, with over 900 attendees, 11 workshops, and almost 200 accepted papers. While there were a lot of cool new ideas (see this great set of notes for an overview of technical content), one particular debate seemed to be front-and-center: “is training a large neural network on a very large dataset a feasible way to solve robotics?”.
A Beginner's Guide to Creating an Open-Source Python Package
A while ago, I had the opportunity to develop and release a new open-source Python library: PGMax. Since this was to be my first open-source library release, I spent a lot of time figuring out a good set of developer tools to speed up development and enable (hopefully) lots of people to use and contribute to the project in the future. While there are already so many different articles, blog posts and resources on setting up open-source Python packages, none of them really presented a good integrated suite of tools for the various pieces (dependency management, documentation generation, continuous integration, etc.) that a well-engineered open-source project might want. So, I thought I would describe PGMax’s setup in the hopes that it might help others interested in setting up their own open-source library.
My PhD SoP
Writing a good PhD SoP can be a daunting task. Fortunately, there are plenty of good posts out there about how to approach the writing process and what a good SoP looks like (in particular, I followed the structure laid out by this post by Tim Dettmers and this post by my undergrad advisor Stefanie Tellex). When I was writing my own SoP, what I probably found most-helpful on top of the above-linked posts was reading SoP’s by students in related areas who had been successful with the PhD application process (in particular this one from Nelson Liu). Given how much I benefitted from these, I figured I’d try to give back and contribute to the genre. Below, you can read the SoP that helped me get admitted to MIT:
A Beginner's Guide to Undergrad CS Research
Computer Science has become quite the popular field these days, especially amongst undergraduates. As a result, there are a lot more CS-related resources now than there ever were before. There are tons of books, lecture videos, guides, articles, and even memes about everything from understanding difficult CS concepts for coursework, to ‘cracking’ technical interviews, to applying to CS grad school. However, one aspect of an undergrad CS education that often gets left a bit in the dark is research [1]. While most University undergrads are probably aware that undergrad research opportunities exist, a surprising amount don’t really know (1) what undergrad research entails, (2) why they should care/potentially try to get involved, and (3) how to actually get a research opportunity. This is unfortunate because there’s been an overwhelming recent interest from students in going to CS graduate school or pursuing research-related jobs in industry, which both increasingly require at least some undergrad research experience.
Strange Python list multiplication behavior.
I recently spent on the order of 2 hours debugging some code that it only took me 1 hour to write. This post is partially intended to be informational for a reader and partially intended to serve as a future warning/reminder for me.
My NSF GRFP Application Materials
Recently, I was incredibly excited and humbled to learn that I was selected as a 2021 NSF GRFP Fellow. Like most of my accomplishments, this one was only made possible by the support of friends and colleagues, and the mentorship of my incredible advisors at Brown. One resource I found particularly helpful for this application was previous successful applications, specifically Victoria Dean’s and Nelson Liu’s. Given how useful these were for me, I figured I’d share my own application materials to contribute to the genre and help any future applicants. You can find both my research and personal essays linked below.
Featured on the MIT Admissions Blog!
One of my favorite blogs in the whole wide Internet is the MIT Admissions Blog. Admittedly, this used to be because I wanted nothing more than to become an MIT undergrad. However, I’ve continued to keep up with these blogs even after being rejected from MIT because many of the posts have been exceptionally genuine, relatable, and even insightful. In fact, I actually kept a copy of one of my favorite advice posts pinned to my phone’s notes app throughout my time in college and it stayed relevant and insightful over all 4 years.
My goldwater application sample.
Earlier this year, I had the incredible privilege of being named a Goldwater Scholar. While winning the scholarship was rather validating and motivating, I thought the application process worthwhile in of itself because it forced me to think hard about my research direction and career goals for the future. During the application process, I found it incredibly helpful to read past sample applications. However, such samples are pretty few and far between, especially within the Computer Science or Mathematics categories.
My main undergrad college essay.
I’ve been asked this a bunch of times and here it finally is: the essay I wrote for the CommonApp. I think it’s really representative of the headspace I was in at the time (and admittedly still am in, to some degree). If you’re reading this and struggling with college essay, then let me say that I’ve been there too and I’ve got advice: just write the most honest reflection of yourself. That’s it. And that’s what I attempted to do below.
More than a 45 - a reflection on my time in the IB
So this post is actually an article I wrote for my school’s student newsletter. I was asked to submit this some time before my TA internship at my school ended and I think it really encompasses my experience and views toward the IB. I’ve put it here in the hopes that it might be useful to student coming into the IB or trying to decide on their IB school. I hope you guys have as fulfilling an experience as I did 🙂