A research summer in robotics, and two years in a classroom

Over the summer I joined the UCSB Summer Research Academies in the Robotics Revealed track. My work centred on localization for autonomous driving: I reviewed 10+ research papers and compared the state-estimation principles and computational complexity of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and the Particle Filter (PF).

I then ran localization simulations in MATLAB, setting up seven types of test scenario — including GNSS signal interruptions, severe weather and different sensor noises — to evaluate localization error, robustness and computational overhead. With two teammates I analysed the results and found that the UKF offered the most balanced overall performance while the PF carried a higher computational cost; I took the lead on the 10-page technical report and the final research presentation. Alongside the project I took university-level courses in rigid-body dynamics, coordinate transformations and robotics control, earning an A+ grade.

As a teaching assistant I assisted instructors in organising study materials, facilitating classroom discussions and managing assignments, while providing after-class tutoring in both language learning and physics.

I took part in 10+ after-school tutoring sessions, giving targeted explanations based on each student’s knowledge gaps, and supported approximately 120 students in total. The work taught me how much of teaching is diagnosis: the same topic had to be explained differently depending on where the misunderstanding had started.

As president I determined the weekly physics topics from member votes, and designed experiment demonstrations, teaching materials and interactive discussions that connected physics concepts with real-world applications.

The part of the role closest to professional teaching was the tutoring programme: I formed a five-member peer tutoring team and worked with two upperclassmen to develop two volumes of study guide covering AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2 and AP Physics C, distributing 74 copies. Through after-class Q&A sessions, one-on-one tutoring and online discussion groups we supported 150+ students, concentrating on conceptual understanding and problem-solving rather than answer-giving.