Cultural & Technical Goals

Having been to Malta once already, my learning goals are probably slightly different than the rest of the team's. Culturally, I am aiming to get a deeper understanding of how Malta developed as a country in order to better understand the cultural background of the country. I'm hoping this will giving me a better insight on the Maltese traditions and cultural norms. Most of the research will occur before arriving in Malta which should allow for some interesting social interactions.

As for the technical goals, I am aiming to enhance our scan matching algorithm to handle 3D sonar scans. This will help us generate a more accurate representation of the cisterns as well as help the visualization team generate more realistic models.

Goals

This will be my first time going to Europe, so my cultural goal is to experience and learn about the differences in lifestyles between people in Malta and people in the United States. I think it will also be very exciting to learn about the rich histories of the places we will visit.

As for the technical side, I am interested in co-operating with everyone and seeing how all of the different projects fit together. My personal goal is to develop my skills in working with new API and learn more about the algorithms involved in autonomous vehicles. Professor Clark's class was my first experience with robots, so I would also like to see how everything is going to work in the field.

I look forward to getting to know everyone working on the project!

My Learning Goals

My overall goal is to walk away with a priceless experience that I would try to have again. I want to learn as much as I possibly can both culturally and academically, so these experiences can help to shape me as I move forward through college and my future career.

Some smaller goals I have are to learn more about the robotics and computer science fields. I don't know much about robotics or computer science, so I'm very excited to learn about them and then to compare them to my own engineering field.

My last goal is kind of cliche but I want this program/trip to help me become a better leader and teammate. I know that always seems to be a goal for everything, but I really do think that this would be a great experience to learn something new about being a leader or a team player since we will be working with people of all ages, interests and beliefs.

Going with what Bret did. One of my favorite quotes is "Don't let your schooling get in the way of your education." by Mark Twain. I want to learn as much as possible through this experience, but as I already said, that doesn't strictly mean academic knowledge. I want to learn the culturally stuff too.

I am so excited for this and I hope you all are too!

Erik's Pre-Trip Learning Goals

Using what I know so far about ICEX, I have developed a few goals that I would like to have accomplished by the project's end. I'm sure that these learning goals will be revised as the quarter progresses, and I accept that there will be events that change my aim along the way that I have not yet considered. With that said, my pre-trip goals are the following:

I would like to gain enough knowledge of robotics and computer science principles to become a more well rounded systems engineer. In other words, I would like to be able to understand complex processes and systems that involve a variety of engineering disciplines. This is not a goal that can be perfected, but rather one that must be continuously worked towards. It will be difficult, and it does not end once ICEX is over (in fact, it never does)! I think it's safe to say that by partaking in the ICEX project, this is a goal that everyone on the team is working towards. I guess I'm in good company!

I was assigned two sub-projects to complete along the way. These projects are developing an interactive Google Earth (or other) copy of our findings for documentation and educational purposes, and keeping track of the curriculum that we will share with the kids at Pacheco Elementary and any other schools that we may be working with. My goal is to educate as many people as possible such that they will be interested in what robotics has to offer. Hopefully, if we do our job at Pacheco, a handful of the kids will use our labs as an incentive to work harder in school so that they can do the same things in their future. While the details of the Google Earth database are not as clear as of yet, I hope that the outcome of this sub-project will be just as beneficial.

Just like every other human, I have a knack for adventure. Malta will feed that knack! I'm ecstatic to be on another side of the planet learning about things that I have never encountered! When I'm on my deathbed and I ask myself if I lived a complete life, this is one of the things that I will use to convince myself that I did. Happiness is something that everybody strives for, and this is the best way that I can think of to be happy. My goal is to make the trip as fulfilling as it can possibly be; to jam it with adventure, to have a mind opening experience, and to bring back as many stories as I can cram into my brain.

Goals for the Program

Earl Nightingale once said that "People with goals succeed because they know where they're going." It is only fitting that each of us have goals for the ICEX project and our trip to Malta. I have a main goal and two learning goals.

My main goal is related to the project I am assigned to lead. I am in charge of acquiring, analyzing and displaying the marine data (salinity and temperature) for local marine biologists. My main goal is to accomplish this in a way that the result is helpful to the research of the marine biologists.

Of my learning goals, one is technical and one is cultural. My technical goal is to leave the program with real world experience in graphics programing, interface design, application and analysis of algorithms, and autonomous robotics. My cultural goal is to leave Malta with a better understanding of the culture and people so that I feel it has impacted the way I think and look at the world.

Greetings All

I am Tim Peters, a 3rd year computer engineering student at Cal Poly. When I am not inundated by school, I enjoy playing the cello, voiding warranties, and (surprise, surprise) working on programming projects. I find traveling quite rewarding. In addition to visiting northern Europe, I have studied in both Ireland and Sweden. I continue to practice my Swedish with friends, however my Irish Gaelic suffers from neglect.
I am planning to pursue an advanced degree in computer science but I have yet to decide on a specialized field of study. As an ICEX participant, I look forward to expanding my skills in the field of computer graphics. I am excited about participating in this year's project and I look forward to getting better acquainted with everyone next quarter!