going to San Jose for CHI

Me, Christian and Nick sent in an entry to the Student Design Competition. And well, we got in. While there are many sensible reasons to be happy about this, I want one thing – the beach. Its snowing outside right now, but I am in a “happy place”. I grew up in Madras, India and the beach was a constant in my life. And I cant wait for a warmer climate, and the beach, even if it is for a short trip.

CHI should be a great place to meet people and discuss ideas and the like. People reading this on planetinfo, comment on this entry. You all have been there before, share your experiences again, if you want to. While we are excited to be there, and have not really thought about this yet, it is still a competition and we are going there to try and win it. So, your suggestions and tips and pointers will be extremely useful. And we will probably run into a few of you there, which should be fun.

One good thing about the competition this year was that we did not have to turn in a poster. That is due only in March or April, which I think is much better for everyone involved. Why did a bunch of second years send in an entry? For one, this year’s topic is one that we all care about. And I wanted to use this opportunity to try to analyze a problem close to my heart. And Nick and Christian were obviously up for the challenge. And I got my girlfriend to shoot some videos and photos of buses in India, and we got started. And well, we got in. The paper is available here.