Long overdue update

So I have finished my MSc in Computing Science at Imperial! It was a pretty hard slog right to the end, but in the end totally worth it. It does feel like it opened the door to some pretty cool and interesting topics, and has given me the tools to actually explore them in some fashion. Having finished the MSc, I finally have time to investigate some topics of my own choosing, rather than frantically trying to keep pace with all the course material. I did some more research into EEG wearable devices (see previous post), am reading up on Occulus Rift again, WebGL and Raytracing. However, before I get ahead of myself, here’s a brief recap of the last few months.

I wrote the exams at the end of May. There was quite a bit of pressure, since failing any of them would mean a necessary resit the following year, and a maximum pass mark for the whole course. Writing the exams went mostly okay (except some late nights and nervous last minute cramming), but I had a real concern about failing the Algorithms module. However, everything turned out well in the end, and I received the grade of Distinction for all my exams, which was a huge relief!

Almost immediately afterwards, work on my final project started. I spent three months writing a Medical Image Viewer, based on the XTK Library (see full infos here). This turned out to be quite fun, except for having to write a massive report about it at the end. I presented my project to the Medical Imaging Group at Imperial College, and the presentation went really well! Some of the Phd students came up afterwards for a chat, and proposed extensions like integrating the Leap Motion Controller into it (which coincidentally I own but have not had the chance to do anything useful with yet).

Finally, having finished this project, I immediately jumped on a plane the next day for a gruelling 30 hour journey to New Zealand, where I’m now working at Weta Digital again. I have been here for 2.5 weeks now, and am enjoying being back and seeing old friends. I also do not have much work to do currently, so it gives me time to look into various topics and possible job opportunities. My job here ends around the end of October, so I am planning to apply to a number of tech companies by then for any jobs. So I’m currently in full swing with writing applications, resumes, etc. I also changed my website, which was in need of a serious overhaul. Check it out here.

Once that’s done, I’m hoping to have more time for my own projects, such as wrapping up PhysioDB, and hopefully starting some new projects. Today I thought it could be fun (and very challenging) to write a bidirectional path tracer for WebGL, since I worked a little bit with WebGL for the Medical Image Viewer, and we went through the principals of raytracing in the graphics module at Imperial College. Will report progress when there is any. Must also not forget that I'm now working on The Hobbit 3, which is why I am here in Wellington in the first place. But it’s nice to be feeling excited about starting to code again, and finally put all the skills to use that I have picked up over the last year.