Graduate Alumni Spotlight | Omar Aboul-Enein

There were several classes in the Hood graduate program that assisted in refining my technical writing skills. These classes included Operating Systems and Deep Learning, taught by Dr. Liu, and Perception in Artificial Intelligence (AI), taught by Dr. Sierra-Sosa.

Rather than assessing our knowledge through cumulative final exams, each class featured a final paper in which we were encouraged to write as though we were submitting the paper to a conference or journal.

Such projects not only allowed me to practice at conducting background research and explore project topics that, while still related to the robotics field, fell outside the scope of my work at NIST, but also provided an opportunity to receive more personalized feedback on technical writing than could usually be obtained from an actual conference submission.

The publication, which was initiated as an independent study report at Hood College and supervised by Dr. George Dimitoglou in the computer science department during the 2020 summer semester, primarily focused on conducting analysis on and comparing experimental data obtained directly from controllers of the measured mobile manipulator system and from an optical tracking system (OTS), which was used as a ground-truth system.

I am very grateful to my supervisors and co-authors, who’s flexibility and excellent communication eased the transition to telework and provided the needed support to ensure project continuity under rapidly changing circumstances.

Furthermore, I am also very appreciative that the structure of the Hood College graduate program was conducive to working professionals and collaboration with outside institutions, such as NIST. This environment assisted me in making simultaneous progress towards my degree and research goals at NIST.

My experience working at NIST through each step in their internship program, including two summers in the Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP), four summers in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program and three years as a Pathways Intern was wonderful!

I am especially grateful for my mentors and supervisors, who maintained a precise balance in providing assistance when needed, while also allowing me to experiment with my own approach to technical challenges.

My time in the NIST SURF program as an undergraduate played a significant role in shaping my career path. Each summer, I looked forward to experiencing new facets of our research goals, networking opportunities and exposure to the standards development process.

My mentors and supervisors played a huge role in inspiring my commitment to the mission of applying measurement science to the benefit of industry and the public.

In addition to my co-authors, I would like to express my gratitude to the Hood College graduate program and everyone else mentioned in the publication acknowledgments. These contributions helped to make the documented work the best it could be. I am also happy to share more about the NIST SURF program with undergraduate students who might be interested in applying.

Inspired by Omar’s story and ready to #GOFURTHER in your career? Learn about Hood College’s graduate programs, including the computer science program, by clicking here.