Wednesday, June 15, 2011

More Micromouse: Live Chat with Minji Kim, Outgoing President of UCSD IEEE

We hosted today a live chat on Facebook with Minji Kim, the outgoing president of UCSD IEEE. She told us about her organization, life at the Jacobs School and the micromouse competition. The transcript of the chat is below.
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering We asked Minji Kim, the outgoing president of UCSD IEEE to tell us more about the competition. Minji: What was the most exciting thing for you at this event?
      38 minutes ago ·
    • Minji Kim It was very exciting to see students interact with each other and share their own approach. Not only do they learn by themselves before the competition, but they also learn from others at the competition - perhaps implementing new ideas for next year!
      34 minutes ago ·
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Tell us a little bit about the Jacobs School teams and how they did.
      33 minutes ago ·
    • Minji Kim Sure! We started with 6 teams this year, and 4 participated in the California Micromouse Competition. Out of those four, 2 robots made it to the center, and placed first and second. :)
      29 minutes ago ·
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering That's great! What do you think are some of the learning experiences students take away from the micromouse competition?
      28 minutes ago ·
    • Minji Kim Generally speaking, students get to "build" something on their own from scratch. These are some experiences they don't necessarily get from classes. For more detailed (and technical) answers can be provided by our first place winner, Alex Forencich .
      24 minutes ago ·
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Thank you! Alex, if you're online, feel free to chime in! Meanwhile, Minji, how can students get involved with next year's micromouse competition and with UCSD IEEE?
      23 minutes ago ·
    • Minji Kim
      Any student (with IEEE membership) at UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering can join our Micromouse team here:http://ieee.ucsd.edu/projects/micromouse/. Any of those emails under "contact" would work.
      Aside from Micromouse, we also have 5 o...See More
      19 minutes ago ·
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Thank you so much for doing this Minji! I know you graduated this year, so I was wondering if you had any advice for students here at the Jacobs School: What should they make sure they do before they graduate?
      18 minutes ago ·
    • Minji Kim Haha, no problem! I'm not sure if I'm qualified to answer this question, but I think they should make sure they find their passion before they graduate. And you only get to find out what you like by trying many things, and sorting "like" and "not like". So take the opportunities and try things when you're young! :)
      16 minutes ago ·
    • Alex Forencich
      A small note on building a micromouse:

      In building a micromouse, students learn all sorts of hands-on skills that range from electronics design and mechanical fabrication to embedded software development and debugging. All the little bits a...See More
      15 minutes ago · · 2 people
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Great! Jacobs School students out there, take note!
      15 minutes ago ·
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Alright, this concludes our live chat with Minji Kim, the outgoing president of UCSD IEEE. Minji: Thanks again for doing this! Everyone: make sure you read our story if you want to learn more about the competition.
      14 minutes ago · · 1 person
    • Minji Kim Thank you! And thank you, Alex, for the awesome answer!

      For more information about the California Micromouse Competition, visit here: http://ieee.ucsd.edu/micromouse/
      13 minutes ago ·
    • UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Alex: Thanks so much for your insights! This is great!
      12 minutes ago ·

Don't Pick Up That Mouse!


Teams that recently took part in a robotic mouse competition at the Jacobs School of Engineering faced a 30-second penalty if the picked up their micromouse to reboot it. Two UC San Diego teams won first and second place. Read our story about the competition to find out more.