Probability and Statistics

I couldn't help it. I had to take a picture of our blackboard at the end the 3-hour Probability and Statistics class. This is what school is all about: blackboards, chalk, and some very confused people (me included).
I love probability and statistics, but after being out of school for 12 years, my knowledge is a bit rusty in this area. Sometimes my brain gets so confused that coin tosses appear less random then they really are, confidence intervals are... hmm, not so confident about them, and normal distributions are anything but normal. Arghhh, it hurts! My notebook is full of notes like these:

Time to scrape that rust and get to work. I've got some catching up to do.

Mind Maps

If you're wondering what this "left-brained vs. right-brained" business is all about, I've been reading Tony Buzan's book, "Use Both Sides of Your Brain", an interesting book that taught me a few lessons which I'm now trying to put in practice (this is why I love MIT; I get exposed to so many new things).

One of them is speed-reading. The basic concept is that our minds work by connecting things together. When we read something we connect the words in our minds and that's how understanding emerges. But during normal reading, we tend to read only one word at a time. This doesn't really take advantage of the brains immense power of connecting things in real-time (not to mention that it leads to more eye fatigue because our eyes have to stop on each word). Buzan's speed-reading approach is to try to capture 2 or 3 words at the same time. Our brains are capable at looking at a set of words and process them simultaneously. So I tried this techniques and it really works! I still have to get used to it, and sometimes I revert to normal reading, but at least now I know how Miss A was able to read so much faster than me.

The other thing I learned is how to do mind maps. Again, the brain doesn't work in a linear fashion, but when we typically take notes or write down our thoughts, we write them nicely one line at a time. Mind maps are spiderweb-like notes that match the way our brain thinks: by making associations between elements. So I'm now firing my neurons in all directions with mind maps that perhaps only I can read. Here's an example of a mind map I did while searching for the apartment. I wanted to write down what was imprtant to me, but instead of using traditional notes, I did a mind map using a program called Mind Mapper.

A Right-Brained Approach to Finding an Apartment

Cambridge, MA churns out students like your grandma's ice-cream machine. Students come in, they get "processed" and then leave (hopefully with a few lessons learned and a different perspective on the world). Despite what some economists may tell you, students are Cambridge's most important contribution to our nation's GDP.

And when the students come in, the first thing they do, is look for a place to live. If you're a landlord in Cambridge, you're guaranteed a constant stream of revenue (what's the chance that Harvard or MIT will go out of business?). Innevitably, this phenomenon creates a whole industry with a bewildering array of offerings: apartments of all sizes, shapes and living conditions. And with that you get all sorts of people who are cashing in on this bonanza by offering to walk you through this confusing maze. These are the apartment brokers.

When I started looking for an apartment back in December, I quickly found one that would've suited my needs. It wasn't perfect, but it was convenient and cheap (never mind that the bathroom was the size of a small closet; I tend not to spend much time in my apartments, let alone the bathroom). But miss A didn't think it would be a good place. She's much more atuned to her surroundings and prefers to look at all the available options before making a decision. Her decisions never seem to be based on formal logic (or at least not initially). The most important thing is for the place to just feel right. I call this the right-brained approach to finding an apartment. Well, I decided to take this approach and I must say that after viewing countless apartments over the last few weeks, after living through moments of hope and despair, I finally found one that just feels right.

It's in a classy old building with a wooden staircase. From the instant I walked in the building I had a good feel about it. The hallway has a musty wood smell that welcomes you like a beautiful old church. The apartment, located on the second floor, has hardwood floors, high ceilings, a marble (decorative) fireplace and bay windows that look out to a small park accross the street. Accross the park I can see the Starbucks and, next to it, the Broadway market (where I'm sitting right now), a Whole Foods-like store that sells everything from fresh veggies to hot bread and cooked food. Harvard Square is but 5 minutes from here and on my way to the T-station (the subway station, for those of you unfamiliar with Boston) I can cut thorough the Harvard campus, a collection of classic red-brick buildings. Going the other direction, I can be in Central Square in about 10 minutes and from there I can get to MIT in another 5-10 minutes. But rather than walking to MIT, I will probably bike there in the summer along some one-way streets with dedicated bike lanes. All in all, I feel pretty good about this place. I'm glad I listened to miss A and took the time to find the right place.
Oh, and yes, I did have to pay the piper. The apartment broker who pointed me to this place charged a third of the first month's rent for his services, less than most brokers charge for the same service. A reasonable (if unavoidable) price, I guess.

And the Winner Is...

... us! We won! It was unbelievable. My hope was that we would at least pass the first stage. I would've been happy with that. But, no, our robot kept on running over those obstacles and made it into the final where it beat a very tough competitor (Aesop) for first place. Needless to say, we were thrilled!


This was all fun and everything, but there were plenty of lessons to learn out of this exercise. I think it's interesting to note that the top two designs were based on the same principles: simple and efficient. We didn't try any crazy ideas, didn't use after-market software packages, didn't build any custom circuits. To be sure, our design wasn't even close to being perfect, but for the given context (obstacles, rules, etc.), it was just a bit better than the competition (or luckier, depending on your perspective). But there were some really creative designs out there (the compass robot comes first to mind) and I wish there were multiple categories and winners to highlight the diversity and creativity.

In the end, I think everyone had a good time and we all got to know each other better. I will always appreciate Shelley's ambition ("Come on guys, we need to work harder! This IS MIT!"), Dhiman's brilliant software suggestions and ideas, Bob's precision and methodical approach, Will's mechanical genius and Shantnu's flare for storytellling. Good job, team!

Desing Challenge 1

It didn't take long to meet a few like-minded individuals. We were quickly split into teams of about 5 or 6 people for our first cohort building exercise: the infamous design challenge #1. I ended up with a great group of people. If random assignments can be so successful, imagine what it's like when you seek out people that share your thoughts.

For the uninitiated, Design Challenge 1 (DC1 for short) is a team-building exercise that requires each team to build and program a robot using a Lego Mindstorms kit. This year, they asked us to build an autonomous vehicle that could navigate a randomly-placed set of obstacles. The challenge was modeled after the DARPA Grand Challenge to build an autonomous, unmanned ground vehicle.

Our team gelled quickly and we had a great time building the robot. We realized early on that our goals should be to get to know each other, have fun, build a cool robot and maybe, win the race. And that's exactly what we did!

First Day of Classes

The System and Design Management (SDM) program at MIT is an interesting program. It blends both business and engineering courses and it's targeted for people with more years of experience than a typical MBA candidate. I discovered the SDM program by accident while doing research on MBA programs. It sounded perfect for me: one year instead of two, emphasis on management AND engineering, lower cost than typical 2-year MBA at one of the Ivy schools. And, on top of it, I would finally get a chance to go to MIT (I had dreamed of attending MIT as an undergraduate, but my parents couldn't afford the tuition back then - we had just emigrated to the US and a one-year tuition fee probably cost as much as my dad's salary for an entire year).

Well, here I am twelve years after I finished my undergrad. I finally made it! I must admit, I was as nervous as a schoolboy on the first day of classes. What will school be like? What would the people be like? Will I fit in? Will I enjoy this whole experience? The night before, I tossed and turned all night pondering these questions. Finally, the morning arrived to put me out of my misery.

Walking into the Tang center I noticed the sign at the entrance and tried to imagine all these bright minds coming to MIT to learn not how to build better rockets, but how to become better leaders and managers. Can leadership really be taught? Or is it in us already and just needs to be awakened and stirred? I guess we'll find out...

New Beginnings

It's a cold January morning in Boston. The cruel weather prompts me to consider what the hell am I doing here in Boston at this time of year? I gave up sunny California for freezing Boston, a nice apartment near the beach for a (yet to be found) grungy apartment in Cambridge, a well-paid job for a negative income. All this for a chance to do some... homework? Ahh, but these are exicting times! You see, I'm fulfilling a long-standing dream of getting a graduate degree. And what a better place to do it than MIT, the pinnacle of geekdom, a place where I could fit right in with other left-brained engineers and scientists like me. Despite the freezing weather I'm thrilled to be here in Boston. I'm back in school!

Encouraged by my blogging experience in Romania, I decided I should keep another blog about my times here at MIT. The next year should be a unique experience in my life and through this personal memoir I hope to capture, for my own benefit, some of the more interesting moments, lessons and observations (if nothing else, I could keep my family updated with how I'm spending my hard-earned money).