By Melanie Buset, Master’s Student, Human-Computer Interaction (MA)
Throughout my university career I have always been told about the importance of being published and attending conferences in order to get recognition within your field.
After completing my BA at Brescia University College at Western University, I worked on a research project, which granted me second authorship and a publication. I believe this publication and my other RA experiences were my way into grad school because my grades were never very strong.
Keeping all of this in mind and with the encouragement of my professors at Carleton, I decided to submit a final paper I wrote last semester to two conferences. My paper looks at the issues with using virtual reality for social interactions. I thought this topic was relevant and important for several reasons, one of them being the recent purchase of Oculus by Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg’s hope that people will use VR just as much as cell phones as a means to interact with others socially.
To my surprise, my paper was accepted and I was asked to present it at the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) VR (Virtual Reality) conference in Arles, France. I immediately tried to find ways to go because I knew this experience would be extremely valuable and fulfilling. I went to my department (Human-Computer Interaction) and asked what my options were. With the support of my thesis advisor (Chris Herdman), former professor (Robert Biddle) and other staff and faculty in my department, I was given the proper information and overall support to apply for the FGPA travel bursary and was successful!
I was extremely nervous as this was my first conference but again, having the support from the Carleton community, family, friends, and enough sleep once I arrived in France, I felt prepared when it was my turn to talk. I received some positive feedback from the conference organizers and some suggestions of papers to read, talks to watch, and future conferences to attend.
When I arrived in Arles, I met some people at the train station who were also attending the conference. The next day, while exploring the city, I ran into some more students who were attending the conference and ended up having dinner with some of the organizers, professors, and students. That also helped calm my nerves for the next day.
During one of our many coffee breaks, I noticed two people standing together who were from Torino, Italy. I introduced myself and started talking about my previous time spent in Torino as an Au Pair and how much I loved the city. Once we started talking about each other’s research, we realized that we are all doing similar things. I was invited to tour ALTEC (Advanced Logistics Technology Engineering Center) to see what is currently happening in their lab. It just so happened that I was going to Torino the next day so it all worked out sort of serendipitously.
Having the experience of writing a paper, submitting to a conference, having it accepted, and going to speak at the conference was the highlight of my university career thus far. As mentioned, my strength in university was never exam writing and that affected not only my average but also my confidence in my abilities.
However, I’ve realized that one of the most important things in university, if not the most important, is networking. Attending the IEEE VR conference allowed me to meet so many people from all over the world and inspired me in several different ways. Visiting ALTEC also helped me decide what my plans are after my master’s and allowed me to see my field from an industry perspective. Staying focused and present at university is important but I also think that branching out of the university bubble is really valuable as it helps you realize what the “real world” is like. Attending conferences and trying to tour other labs is a great way to see all of the theory you’ve been taught over x amount of years come to life.
My paper Can Living in Virtual Environments Alter Reality? will be published in the IEEE Digital Library.
Monday, April 13, 2015 in Grad Student blogs
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