Former Student: Clare Heinbaugh

Image of Clare Heinbaugh

Clare graduated in 2024.  She is now studying for a PhD at Cambridge University.   

What was your background before starting the MPhil?

I graduated from the College of William & Mary in spring 2023 and started the MLMI degree in the fall. During undergrad, I majored in computer science and gained many software development and research skills through involvement outside the classroom. I was a co-first author on a Federated Learning research paper accepted for ICLR 2023 and won the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM), an international math competition. I also worked as an intern for a software development firm that consults with the U.S. government.

I first considered Cambridge after completing a project with Birdlife International, a group housed in Cambridge’s Zoology department, through a collaboration with a university consulting group that I started. I chose the MLMI program because it would allow me to continue machine learning research and branch into human-computer interaction through the course’s tracks.

What did you get out of the course?

The MLMI course filled many gaps in my grasp of machine learning, from learning how to derive an RNN to being able to read and discuss novel methods like diffusion models. I was able to explore human-computer interaction (HCI) through the track choices and merged my interests in ML and HCI for my dissertation project, which uses gestures to control multiple robot arms aided by virtual reality. Through the program, I became friends with many other like-minded ML researchers who continue to inspire my PhD research.

What were the highlights?

The project I talk about most from the course was a robot fish that was a group assignment for the Robotics course. What started as a joke about putting electronic components in water, received an honorable mention at an international soft-robotics-on-a-budget competition.

What have you gone on to do afterwards and what are your longer-term plans?

I started a PhD supervised by Professor Per Ola Kristensson in October 2024. I’m currently working on a project that uses large language models (LLM) to infer gesture meaning and execute corresponding code written at run-time to carry out that intent. I will tie this work into direct manipulation and base my thesis around direct manipulation applied to and using machine learning. After my PhD, I plan to move back to the United States and pursue a career in research and development, targeted to causes for social good such as improving women’s health.

What advice would you give to people applying for the course?

Compared to many of my classmates, I’ve had two quick turn-arounds: undergrad to a master’s and a master’s to a PhD. This was mostly due to the nature of my scholarship funding. If I could, I would have taken at least a year off between two of these degrees to avoid some burnout.

What advice would you give to people taking the course?

Find a study group!   You may be tempted to compete with others on your course but the MLMI course is too challenging to do on your own.  So find some classmates to study and learn with. My study group has stayed close even after the course and we’re currently planning a trip to Serbia together.

Second, participate in an activity that is not related to your degree in Cambridge. Especially when all your focus is on your dissertation in the summer, you don’t want your fulfillment to be dependent only on how your research is going, because at some point it will not go as planned and you will question your entire project (or it wouldn’t be novel research!). You want to have something else going for you during those moments. For me it was rowing and coaching on the River Cam. This year, I’m learning how to crochet and to speak Italian. Find something outside academics; you’ve got this!

 

4th February 2025