Reflections in a new environment

I enjoy maths. I wouldn’t say that I am the best at it, but I try to be. After starting at UCD, I’ve had more exposure to the Maths & Stats department than I have had to Computer Science. It’s mainly due to the proximity – in distance and friendship. I have a few friends in M&S and they’re across the hall from me, while the CS department is three floors down, on the opposite side of the building. It’s not far, it’s just a hassle. Anyway, being around researchers from M&S has made me realise that I have a lot of catching up to do.

I did my PhD in AI, more specifically, in Reinforcement Learning. I tried to study RL when I was in my third year of undergrad, but I lacked the necessary smarts, resources, and time to bounce over the learning curve of maths involved in RL. I eventually found my way back to RL during my Master’s when I met my PhD supervisor teaching me one of the agents + RL modules. I had tried for a couple of PhD scholarships before I took this module and met him, but I knew that after our first conversation, I really wanted to do RL.

I enjoyed studying RL. It was one of those video game bosses that instantly kill you on your first encounter with them. So you then reload and set off doing a bunch of random side quests, until you know you’re ready to face them again. But this time, you slay them (barely surviving!)

Now, it’s time for a new boss. Quantum Computing (oooh fancy!) There is so much maths involved in this, and I like it? I don’t consider myself a genius. I don’t get all the concepts, maths, and intuition right on my first reading. But I think that I enjoy the process. I think that I also enjoy watching my peers – whom I am getting to know better every day – struggle with their own problems, yet somehow finding time for camaraderie and every other little thing. I think I’ve developed a case of benign envy.