This page presents my statement of purpose in computer science as required for the ICS Ph.D. Portfolio.
In 2009, while on deployment with the Canadian Army in Afghanistan, I fell into the world of robotics. Although I had a background in Astrophysics and Mathematics, I joined the Army looking for adventure. I found myself in a very precarious job hunting for Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) trying to keep my fellow troops safe. While serving, I constructed my first robot, the Prairie Dog. This robotic platform remotely fed video and gave me GPS coordinates of objects of interest. It turned out to be the first robotic platform used in combat by Canada and is now on display in a Military museum in Calgary. After leaving the Army, I decided to study robotics full time. I enrolled in a M.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary. I pursued studies in sensor networks, artificial intelligence, signal filtering, and stochastic mathematics. I designed and constructed a second robotic platform with the concept of augmenting guards for private security applications. I produced two conference publications with Unmanned Systems Canada, where I won the best student paper competition in 2011. I applied for and was awarded Alberta Innovation Grant for marketing research of my robotic platform. I spent a summer working with Dr. Wettergeen at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where I developed an Android tablet user interface for robotic platform using a Distributed Data Service (DDS) communications system. During this time, I was also selected for the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) experiment to be conducted in 2013 as the Crew Engineer. I spent four months in the dome working and living as a simulation-astronaut pretending to live on Mars. Upon my exit I was invited to apply for my PhD at the University of Hawaii. I started working with Dr. Binsted and I helped run a subsequent five more HI-SEAS missions and conducted research on energy consumption and robotic companions. I also completed my Masters by linking up my HI-SEAS research and adding Dr. Binsted as a co-supervisor. I successfully defended my Master’s thesis. I worked as a GA and spent two years as a TA assisting for several courses. I worked hard and I have published 2 journal peer review papers, 7 conference proceedings, and 2 technical papers.
I am nearing the time to graduate and I aim to complete PhD in the Spring of 2020. I have a growing interest in Deep Learning after having used machine learning in my Masters thesis. Also, with the HI-SEAS experiments finished I am interested in looking at Astronomy as the application for my research topic. I have been studying machine learning methods and have been having conversations with astronomers about potential research avenues. Upon the completion of my candidacy I aim to complete my Dissertation Proposal in January next year and aim to defend in 2020.