Marian George: "It was one of the happiest days of my life when I was accepted to pursue my PhD at ETH"

What did you want to become as a child?

I remember that I had many interests as a child. Whenever I learned a new subject, I would be interested to grow up in that domain. My aspirations included being a doctor, an architect, a linguist and a scientist. By middle school, I was set on becoming a scientist. Then, I started learning about computer science from my mother, who is a computer scientist herself. I admired how it involved a lot of problem solving, mathematics and statistics. I knew then that this is what I really want to do for the rest of my life.

You did your PhD at ETH. Why did you choose Zurich?

The first time I visited Zurich was during my senior year at university. I was one of the recipients of the Anita Borg scholarship organized by Google, and was invited to visit Zurich for three days to meet other scholars and finalists. The minute I set foot in Zurich, I thought to myself "wow, this city literally looks like a postcard!". I was incredibly fascinated by how beautiful Zurich is and knew then that I definitely want to come back. I came back the next year for three months during an internship and got the chance to experience living in Zurich and visiting other Swiss cities, which solidified my admiration.

In turn, when I started applying for PhD, Zurich was on top of my list. I read a lot about ETH and loved how highly ranked it is, and how it excels at research at many fields including the one that I was interested in; computer vision. When I visited ETH for the first time during my interviews, I admired everything about it: the research labs, the facilities, the classrooms, and the libraries. I am incredibly inspired by the professors at ETH, and thinking that I would work with them and learn from them was a dream to me. It was one of the happiest days of my life when I was accepted to pursue my PhD at ETH.

What are your memories of your time in Zurich?

I am always nostalgic for my time in Zurich and hope to visit Zurich again soon. I always remember my walks by Lake Zurich, the delicious cheese and chocolate, and the fantastic views from the train rides. For me, Zurich is such a unique city in how it offers scientific excellence, mesmerizing nature, beautiful architecture, and enriching culture all in a single place. I cherish the memories I share with my close friends in Zurich, whom I am longing to visit in the next few months.

When I look back, I remember how I was always inspired by the state-of-the-art research and academic excellence I was exposed to at ETH. I am grateful for how supportive my advisor and mentor were, for all the excellent classes I attended, and for how much my time in Zurich helped me grow into who I am today.

Has your PhD from ETH helped you with your job hunt?

Definitely, I cannot stress that enough. I would not be where I am today without my PhD from ETH. It equipped me with research and analysis skills, computer vision knowledge, presentation skills, and exposure to inspiring professors and researchers in the scientific community, that all paved the way for my next career adventure.

Now you live in the USA and work for Amazon. What does your job involve?

I am a senior applied scientist with the Amazon Go team. At Amazon Go, we are building the world's most advanced shopping technology using computer vision and machine learning. It is a new kind of store with no checkout required, so customers never have to wait in line. Customers simply use the Amazon Go app to enter the store, take the products they want and leave, without any lines or checkout. I work every day with brilliant scientists and engineers to solve highly challenging problems and deliver products that people love, through pushing the boundaries of state-of-the-art techniques. I am still strongly in touch with the academic community through joining conferences, talks by renowned researchers who visit Amazon, and reading groups at our team.