For interested grad students

My research group is essentially a guild; you learn as much by "hanging around" working on projects and with me as you do from classes and more formal learning experiences.

I look for someone who

• Can demonstrate familiarity with and passionate for our work
• Has a history of excellence
• Wants to have the first or best solution to a meaningful problem
• Enjoys connecting the dots between disciplines
• Will be grounded in artificial intelligence and cognitive engineering
• Expects to go into academia or a major R&D position

All funding is conditional on availability of funding and maintaining satisfactory performance in the CSE department and in my group. Funding is generally reserved for PhD students.

I do not consider students for funding unless they have:

• Taken my robotics course (offered each Spring) or equivalent survey of AI robotics OR completed a challenge project OR worked for me as an undergraduate
• Two references
• Attend the weekly research seminars for at least one semester prior to funding

The shortest path to funding for a new PhD student is to immediately join the research group seminar and begin assisting with a project, including helping prepare papers.

These expectations apply to all graduate students in the group, whether funded or not.

• Produce 1 paper a semester after the first semester. Initially assist as co-author, but after the first year, serve as first author.
• Produce 1 journal article a year. Initially assist as co-author, but after the first year, serve as first author.
• Attend weekly research seminar and take turn as chair and a/v support.
• Submit a research plan for the semester within the first week of the semester.
• Meet all requirements for the university, college, and department.
• Review papers or journal articles a year. Expect 1 to 5 papers in the first year and around 10 thereafter.
• Assist with demonstrations and eventually design a demonstration to help educate pre-College students and attract them to computer science.
• Serve as a mentor to newer students in the guild.
• Assist with one workshop administration.
• Intern or work at least one summer with industry or an agency. (Yes, I will help you find a position.)
• Teach a mini-course on an area related to your PhD thesis and podcast it or teach a full academic course.

I expect everyone to the support the guild internally (be a team player) and externally (go team!), and to maintain the highest software engineering standards, scientific rigor, and personal integrity.