Yann Orieult, Intern at NASA, 2016

Hi everyone,

My name is Yann Orieult, I worked as a research assistant in the Human Systems Integration division at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View (California) from February to June 2016. Before that, I graduated with a master of science in October 2015 from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and with my engineering degree in February 2016 from the Arts & Métiers Paris Tech Engineering School. I have always been very interested in theoretical subjects. In 2015, to stick to my big interest in artificial intelligence and machine learning, I spent a long time thinking of the best way to enter this fabulous field. After several internships in these areas, I got a fantastic opportunity at NASA and was very motivated about the project even though there was no financing for me and life in California is very expensive.

The subject of my project was : Infer the knowledge state of a user based on their behavior reading a document, as tabulated by a data-logging document reader. Then
modify these documents through tools in order to make them more relevant to the user.

I am very happy with my experience there. Indeed I learned a lot in several different areas, thanks to the people I worked with, to the conferences I attended from NASA
or Stanford University and the people I met next to my project. 

California is such a nice place to live and people are very welcoming and friendly. Moreover, there is a strong community from AFAM in the bay area of California. Meetings and dinners at restaurants are often organized, which is very helpful to meet people and make friends. I did keep in touch with some of them. Their advices and supports were very helpful whenever I faced problems. 

Furthermore, having arrived in California without any grant, I was very pleased, a few months after the beginning of my project, to hear from Aurore Prevot that AFAM could provide me with a financial support. I did what was necessary and got a generous grant from AFAM. That was a very pleasant surprise because of the difficulty of my financial situation. I feel sincerely thankful to AFAM to have made this project possible for me in such good conditions.

This experience was amazing, I opened my mind and learned a lot. I want to thank all the people who supported me in this great experience.

Yann Orieult, Bo 211
October 2016