Dominik Bauer, October 2017 - February 2018, Masters Thesis @ CMU
Right after finishing the CLICS program at Carnegie Mellon University, I went to work with Mercedes-Benz R&D North America (MBRDNA) in Silicon Valley to develop machine learning algorithms for autonomous vehicles. After this amazing experience, I returned to Carnegie Mellon University in Fall 2019 as a Ph.D. candidate in Robotics where I am now continuing my research on manipulation and grasping with soft robots. Retrospectively, the CLICS program had a decisive and long-lasting impact on my career by exposing me to a highly-competitive environment of world-class researchers at Carnegie Mellon and providing me with an established network of research mentors.
My time at CMU has taught me lots of valuable skills.
I learned how to approach research problems and how to transform interesting ideas into publishable results. Personally, the different cultures at CMU and in Pittsburgh helped me to broaden my horizon and gave me new insights about my future personal and professional goals. In addition to these advances, I am looking back at lots of fun and happy moments in Pittsburgh with my fellow CLICS and interACT students. While going on hiking and skiing trips or having barbecue and cook outs, I have found many new friends that I am still in contact with today. I hope that in the future many more students will receive the same support and can benefit from CLICS the same way I did.
Dominik Bauer, August 2020
Fabian Martin, April 2018 - September 2018, Bachelorthesis @ CMU
After graduation, I accepted a job as a Software Engineer at Facebook in London. I look back fondly to my time at Carnegie Mellon University. It was both a very interesting and fun experience and also an important step in my career. I had the chance to work on a challenging problem for my bachelor thesis while being surrounded by many smart and hard-working people. I can recommend this scholarship to anyone who is driven and open for a change in perspective.
Fabian Martin, February 2020
Robin Schmucker, September 14. 2017 – March 25, 2018, Bachelorthesis @ CMU
Currently I am pursuing a PhD at CMU as a student of the Machine Learning Department. The CLICS exchange program provided me with the unique opportunity to spend one semester as part of the CORAL group where I gained hands-on experience in robotics and machine learning research. During my stay I worked side by side with students from a large variety of cultural backgrounds which taught me important technical and social skills. It also allowed me to be a member of CMU’s RoboCup2018 home robotics team. Looking back my exchange, it was a fun time full of new experiences which opened many opportunities.
Robin Schmucker, February 2020
Emanuel Jöbstl, Oct. 17-Feb. 18, Masterthesis @ CMU
I am now living in Berlin, co-founding authory.com, a company which helps journalists to become more independent. My time at CMU teached me a lot about practical problem solving and state of the art ASR research. I also learned a lot about machine learning technologies and databases, through the rich calloboration and exchange with other InterACT students. The cultural evironment I was part of during my overseas stay helped me to understand the US mentality and culture better. Many of the connections I made are still very helpful today, especially since technical startups often choose the US as their most important target market.
Lian Xizhe, January 1, - July 1, 2018, Masterthesis @ CMU
After graduating, I started working as a consultant specializing in data science, which I gathered my expertise during my master thesis. The overseas experience helped me adapting quickly to the fast pace consulting routine, since both situations need me to work independently, yet keeping good communication with coworkers. During my work I am happy to apply the research approaches and techniques I learned during my master thesis, which improves the results of current products.
