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Sigh...I emailed Trevor last year about my desire to work there but never heard back from him. Now that I'm going to Stanford's ME grad program this fall maybe

Sigh...I emailed Trevor last year about my desire to work there but never heard back from him. Now that I'm going to Stanford's ME grad program this fall maybe I can weasel my way into some other robotics startup...

aston 19y ago
Why not try again for Anybots?
ivankirigin 19y ago
Companies are generally very open to collaborate with universities. I've been on both sides of this for robotics -- doing research at CMU and doing research at robotics companies. The best approach would be to troll available grants, pick something that you think would be fun to work on, and work on a proposal with a company. Some grants are really easy to get, like SBIRs. Some are designed for collaboration between universities and companies, like STTRs. If you're a self-funded student, you should seriously consider working on whatever you find most interesting, and dedicating serious time to it. Inferior alternatives include focusing on classes and splitting time among a few projects. The ideal grade in a class is the minimal grade needed to pass. That means you're actually spending time on research. Contact companies you think might be interested, and ask what they'd like to see made. Treat it like market research, and not a sales pitch. Don't even ask about a job. Making good things is all you need to do to get a good job. Proposal writing is also a good way to practice both technical writing and product design.
- darragjm 19y ago
  Thank you for the excellent suggestions! I've been working on bigger DoD contracts at my current job, so I'm pretty oblivious to the small company/university grant process. Since I'm entering Stanford with the intent to obtain a terminal Master's, I'm not sure how much research I'll be allowed or encouraged to participate in. Continuing for my Doctorate is certainly still an option, but I think I'm leaning towards getting my Master's and finding/founding some small company to work with. Any other insight you have into my situation would be appreciated!
  - ivankirigin 19y ago
    If you don't want to do pure research for more than a few years, don't bother with a PhD. Building real things is more valuable. If you happen to be researching something very related to the real world, like some farm robot or robo soccer, you can trust a PhD will demand enough practical and operational skills to be useful even if you don't continue doing research. Big defense projects are very, very different than SBIRs and STTRs. Most importantly: you don't need permission to do cool work. It would be better to add a semester and do research than to just do coursework. I can't stress this enough.

aston 19y ago

Why not try again for Anybots?

ivankirigin 19y ago

Companies are generally very open to collaborate with universities. I've been on both sides of this for robotics -- doing research at CMU and doing research at robotics companies. The best approach would be to troll available grants, pick something that you think would be fun to work on, and work on a proposal with a company. Some grants are really easy to get, like SBIRs. Some are designed for collaboration between universities and companies, like STTRs. If you're a self-funded student, you should seriously consider working on whatever you find most interesting, and dedicating serious time to it. Inferior alternatives include focusing on classes and splitting time among a few projects. The ideal grade in a class is the minimal grade needed to pass. That means you're actually spending time on research. Contact companies you think might be interested, and ask what they'd like to see made. Treat it like market research, and not a sales pitch. Don't even ask about a job. Making good things is all you need to do to get a good job. Proposal writing is also a good way to practice both technical writing and product design.

darragjm 19y ago
Thank you for the excellent suggestions! I've been working on bigger DoD contracts at my current job, so I'm pretty oblivious to the small company/university grant process. Since I'm entering Stanford with the intent to obtain a terminal Master's, I'm not sure how much research I'll be allowed or encouraged to participate in. Continuing for my Doctorate is certainly still an option, but I think I'm leaning towards getting my Master's and finding/founding some small company to work with. Any other insight you have into my situation would be appreciated!
- ivankirigin 19y ago
  If you don't want to do pure research for more than a few years, don't bother with a PhD. Building real things is more valuable. If you happen to be researching something very related to the real world, like some farm robot or robo soccer, you can trust a PhD will demand enough practical and operational skills to be useful even if you don't continue doing research. Big defense projects are very, very different than SBIRs and STTRs. Most importantly: you don't need permission to do cool work. It would be better to add a semester and do research than to just do coursework. I can't stress this enough.