Posts Tagged ‘gradschool’
Let the games begin
This week was my first week of classes at McGill and my second in Montreal. Being a grad student is quite enjoyable at the moment: I have more freedom in my course selection than when I was an undergrad, I get to explore the topics I’m studying in a greater depth than before, and generally the whole feeling of starting at McGill as a new student is quite exciting. Living independently in Montreal has its perks: a very vibrant and creative European-like city with a large student population, plenty of interesting activities to engage in and lots of opportunities to learn French. For now, I want to write about something other than Montreal, though, which I am sure is going to come up frequently in future posts.
My coursework for this semester, which I hope I have chosen so that it is neither too easy nor extremely time-demanding looks like this:
- Computer vision. While there is no required textbook, I think I am going to consult a couple of recommended ones, namely Introductory Techniques for 3D Computer Vision and Computer Vision: A Modern Approach
- Computer graphics. There is no required textbook in this course either. The OpenGL Programming Guide is a recommended one, and I suspect it’s going to be quite necessary for our assignments, but I think I should also consult Fundamentals of Computer Graphics and some online articles and tutorials because I feel that the lecture notes leave me with many questions.
- Machine learning. Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning is a classic and so seems to be Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction. This course has about seven assignments and a big final project that will include a report and an in-class presentation.
Needless to say that all of these courses require careful preparation and equal attention. I should also keep in mind that I’ll have to start reading a couple of papers each week to familiarize myself with the work that is being done at the Mobile Robotics Lab. I’m still not sure whether I should spend the rest of the time learning French or experimenting with something I haven’t tried before — I’ll just have to see how the following couple of weeks will be.
