👋🤓 Hi, I am Xuechao Zhang.

I am writing this page to express my motivation for pursuing a PhD. And I also hope to provide a more comprehensive introduction of myself to facilitate the mutual selection between potential supervisors and myself.

  • Q: Why I’m Taking the Leap?

    • The research training and rigorous thinking exercises during my master’s degree have benefited me greatly in life. Pursuing a PhD would enable me to collaborate with brilliant minds and learn from them.
    • My internship experience in the industry made me realize that the PhD experience is unique and can provide more opportunities for future career development.
    • Most importantly, I believe that exploring the unknown frontiers of human knowledge can bring me great spiritual satisfaction, which is the ultimate goal of my life. I believe that the PhD experience will bring me closer to achieving my life goals.

  • Q: Research Interest?

    • One-word answer: robots!
    • Ever since high school, I have participated in various robot projects and enjoyed building robots to solve real-world problems. Therefore, I am determined to pursue research related to robotics in any way possible.
    • For my specific research direction, I have been constantly searching for the intersection between “what I am passionate about” and “what I am skilled at”. Presently, my research interests are focused on robotics and AI, specifically leveraging deep learning techniques to improve the perception abilities of robots. Keywords: computer vision, neural rendering, grasping, localization

  • Q: Skills and Expertise？

    • I am proficient in coding and have developed good coding habits over time.
    • I am familiar with common libraries in robotics and AI such as PyTorch, ROS and Pybullet, as well as EDA tools like Altium Designer, AutoCAD, and Solidworks.
    • By gathering the right tools and organizing documents, I know how to make things done more efficiently (whether individual or team-oriented). And I am able to quickly grasp new concepts (now boosted by the power of ChatGPT).

  • Q: Work Habits?

    • Taking notes is an essential part of my learning process, as I believe it is an effective way to understand and build my own knowledge system.
    • I used to maintain detailed work logs to help me track issues and reflect on my progress whenever I want.
    • Occasionally, I also explore state-of-the-art open-source works in other areas to broaden my knowledge and skills.
    • I also like to maintain regular communication with mentors and senior colleagues, and hope to receive their ideas and advice.

  • Q: Weaknesses?

    • To be honest, compared with coding, my knowledge in theoretical mathematics is a little weak. But I am willing to learn and improve in this area.
    • I tend to hold high expectations for myself and sometimes my focus on details can result in time wasted on minor aspects of a project.
    • I also need to learn how to manage my time more effectively and balance the ratio of input and output of knowledge. Specifically, to balance reading, thinking, coding, and engineering.
    • In addition, I can be a bit shy at times, which may hinder my ability to communicate effectively with others or to seek out collaboration opportunities.

  • Q: Lifestyle?
    I am passionate about life and enjoy trying out new things. I maintain a regular exercise routine, which includes cycling, swimming, and badminton. Additionally, I am always on the lookout for opportunities to experience life in different parts of the world, which is one of the reasons I am pursuing a PhD program abroad.

Thank you for taking an interest in me, and thank you for reading this far. This page is inspired by Answers to the Ph.D. Advisor guide.