Magnus
Magnus comes from Germany. Before coming to Sweden, he completed his bachelor studies in Electrical Engineering and he interned at the Munich robotic startup. In his free time, he enjoys being outside and doing sports, or having fun with his friends.
Why did you choose this master’s programme at KTH?
During my bachelor's, I developed my interest in the vast field of robotics and wrote my thesis in a safety lab for human-robot collaboration at my university. After my internship at Sewts, I was even more sure about wanting to dive deeper into robotics through a robotics master's programme. While searching for the best universities offering such a programme, I came across KTH. I was happy to discover that the university offers a wide variety of courses, many of which are practice oriented. After reading about other students' experiences, I was convinced this would be the right university and programme for me.
Have you chosen a specialisation track within the programme? If Yes, which way and why?
The Systems, Control, and Robotics programme offers two specialisation tracks: Learning Decision and Control Systems and Robotics and Autonomous Systems. I chose the latter as I want to specialise more in computer vision applications to help robots become autonomous. I have selected many courses within my track to help me achieve my goals.
What are some of your favourite courses so far?
My favourite course has been the Project Course in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (DD2419). The course ran through a whole semester as we developed the software of an autonomous mobile robot called Grumpy entirely from scratch. This required our group to combine our knowledge from all the previous courses we had taken, which was exciting and a great way to see what amazing things could be done with the knowledge we had gained. Additionally, I gained experience with deep learning in computer vision for the first time to make Grumpy detect and classify toys it should pick up. It was exciting to see how the different groups dealt with the problem of solving the task, and it showed that there is never one proper solution but that many approaches can achieve the same goal. I will never forget when our robot autonomously completed its task for the first time. Another exciting and interesting course was the deep learning course (DD2424). I took it parallel to the project course mentioned above. The course gave a perfect introduction to the broad field of deep learning and its applications while allowing students to consolidate what was learned by implementing a simple neural network from scratch to classify images and improving upon that network to increase the accuracy throughout the Course. A final project evaluated the course, encouraging students to explore methods more thoroughly. Each project group could decide the project scope based on their interests to make each project unique.
How would you describe your time at KTH so far?
I must admit that studying at KTH is very challenging and sometimes requires you to put in a lot of work and effort to achieve good grades; however, as KTH is a highly ranked technical university, I did not expect anything else. I have gained valuable knowledge and can apply it in practice, so I am more confident in my skills. Aside from the academic aspects, I have met many great people and friends at KTH through the courses I have taken and through social events during my first year as a student at this university.
How is student life in Stockholm?
Student life in Stockholm offers many different activities for everyone, whether you like sports, being outside or enjoying the culture. The various student chapters at KTH have a chapter hall hosting pub nights and other events. On top of that, many other student organisations like THS MAIN (Master's and international students) and THS Sports organise events like game nights, pub nights, hikes or even trips. Last winter, for example, I joined a ski trip to Åre, Sweden's largest ski resort. These events are significant for having fun with friends and meeting new people from different backgrounds. As Stockholm is surrounded by beautiful nature, many options exist to explore, hike or relax. Only 45 minutes south of Stockholm, Tyresta national park offers excellent hiking trails and the opportunity to camp within the city. For all the party people, Södermalm offers many nice bars where you will meet many locals. On top of that, there are many cultural events in the city, like the Kulturnatt (cultural night), where museums offer free access for one night in spring.