April 20, 2019

I don't really know how to start this. So much to tell, and yet I'm not a novelist and this isn't The Lord of the Rings, so I'll keep it relatively short. The state level competition was exhilarating, and I am simply overjoyed that I was able to be a part of it. The tale begins with my arrival in Darmstadt, where the competition was held.

Walking into the truly massive hall where I would spent the better part of the next two days (at least while awake), I felt an entirely different atmosphere from the regional competition. This wasn't a place for small side projects glued together by two friends who decided to participate a few weeks ago — this was serious, and everything around me reflected that. The booth was professionally set up, a staffed reception was built, and the demeanor of the staff was more aligned with a company fair than a casual get-together. No pressure.

Speeches were given, and I spent the remainder of the day walking around the fair, talking with peers and drnking coffee. Mostly coffee, to be honest. The scale and intricacy of the competition really blew me away. USB authenticators for online payments, firefighter HUDs and many more highly intriuging projects. I was one of the last to present that day, which really didn't help my nerves. More coffee.

Being away from the booth for too long, however, was not really an option, since the press came and flocked to the booths like flies. Radio shows, newspapers, televsion networks — you name them, they interviewed me.

The presentation went well, I mean, I had precticed it to death, but the jury reacted far different this time. They began asking questions that cut, asking me to explain the scientific relavence, asking me about intricat details and digging deep. I fielded the questions as best I could, but some really caught me off gaurd, making me rely on quick thinking and wit. As difficult and nerve-wracking as it was, I actually preferred the digging to the relatively harmless and surface-level nature of the questions asked during the regional competition. This jury had actually read, no studied, my research paper and my project and had relavent knowledge to get to the core of the project.

Without the presentation looming over me, I was able to relax and enjoy the remaining fair and even more coffee (hey, it's free!). Merck really spared no expense: they rented out an entire cinema for us to watch Ex Machina in, with a fotographer and full catering on top (mini burgers and more)!

The next day presented another source of stress: the award show. Here, fates would be decided, and those that succeeded honored. We even practiced our march into the hall, complete with music and flowers we each carried and placed into a central vase.

Before all that, however, was the public part of the fair. Parents, dignitaries, Merck employees — everyone was there. Chats with the on-site fire deparment were highly interesting and useful and hand shakes easy to provide.

Now to the final part, the award show. I won't draw this out, since, quite frankly, it would take paragraphs to describe the entire show, and, as far as I know, it can be found on YouTube (though in German). There was a famous moderator, a talkshow and so much more. In short, I didn't win (should be obvious, as the title does say "Conclusion"). I was awarded a special prize for working only an application-focused project; basically leaning more towards product development than fundamental research. The prize was a nice addition, though being at the state level was honestly fantastic by itself. I won't lie, I hate losing, even gracefully, but I'd be damned if I let that ruin such a great experience. I worked on this for close to 2 years know, and while I have loved working on this project, it's time to move on. I think.

I may look angry or grim, but trust me, I'm just focused.

I failed, at least partially. Sure, this was my first Jugend Forscht! project, my first project of this magnitude, and by all means a learning experience. However, not winning leaves a bitter taste, no matter how faint. I'm not angry, and I feel like the experience as a whole was a definite win, but the fact remains: I didn't win. Enough moping. This project is now going to be on hold, probably permanently. I have no real plans to continue it, and ANOTHER revamp is unlikely. Right now, graduation is near, and I will finally start my bachelor's at TU Delft. Hopefully I can use what I learned there, but even if I can, it will probably be a long time. The Turtlebot is school property, and it will remain school property, ready to perhaps be used another ambitious student in the future. My code is still on it, but, like all good code written for competitions, it is held together with metaphorical duct tape and is utterly unmaintainable, even by me. Patch jobs only last so long. If anyone actually reads this, I hope this blog has been useful, or at least entertaining, and I wish you a pleseant day. So long! (and thanks for all the fish)