An Aspiring Technology Leader's Next Educational Stop is STEM Powerhouse ETH Zurich
Roberto Adamson, an aspiring technology leader who aims to create AI-driven convenience and efficiency for peoples’ homes and workplaces, will begin the next stage of his professional journey at one of the world’s preeminent STEM universities.
Named the “Outstanding Senior” for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Adamson will move to Switzerland this fall to pursue a master’s degree in electrical engineering at ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) Zurich, where he will specialize in control systems and artificial intelligence.
“What intrigues me about AI, automation and control systems is the ability of machines to make smart decisions in less time than it would take a human, and to have the power to learn and adjust to new information more efficiently than we could,” he notes.
On the efficiency front, he says, “At home, it would be great to have all systems and devices connected and the ability to control them – to have the heat turn up a half hour before you return home, for example, rather than wasting it throughout the day.”
He gained hands-on experience working on smart and connected devices during an earlier study abroad program at INNOV@INSA in Lyon, France, which was funded by the NCE Dean’s office, as well as a travel prize from the Office of Global Initiatives. “We built a smart environment with interconnected temperature, humidity, and GPS sensors controlled by users’ smartphones via Bluetooth and through an online interface,” he recounts.
As to the coming move to yet another country, Adamson says he savors the challenge of the new: “New cities, meeting new people and finding new places to live – these are all challenges.”
An Albert Dorman Honors College scholar with a 4.0 average, he cites classes on feedback systems, electronic devices and linear systems as some of his inspirations.
“Continuing my electrical engineering education turned out not to be a complicated decision in the end. Having reached my senior year, I have come to realize that EE is undoubtedly the field that I want to work in professionally, which made it simple to choose it as the main program for my graduate degree,” he explains, adding, “I really liked the professors in my major. They are so invested in you and their focus is on you learning. I felt this especially in my third and fourth years.”
At NJIT, Adamson balanced his passions for engineering and soccer. Winner of the Joseph M. Fitzgerald Award for the student athlete with the highest GPA, Adamson, a defender, helped lead the Highlanders in 2019 to their first ever championship in the ASUN Conference.
“We were down one-to-nothing in the first half, scored a goal in the second, and then, out of nowhere, a teammate showed relentless effort and forced a mistake from the goalkeeper, allowing Regsan Watkins to score again at the 86th minute of the game. We were just ready to take advantage of the situation, and wanted it more, I believe,” he recalls of the game, adding, “Coming to NJIT has proven to be the best decision that I have made. I wouldn’t change these four years of friendships, experiences, competitive soccer and intense learning for anything else.”
His proudest moment academically was his first publication in a peer reviewed journal, “with my name on the same line as the other authors,” including his research mentor, Professor Xuan Liu.
Working with optical coherence tomography (OCT), their research focused on developing new ways to automate imaging technology to precisely characterize breast tissue to assist in cancer diagnoses. They found, among other observations, that breast specimens affected by different pathologies had different structural characteristics that were not strictly correlated with the change in the amount of dense or porous tissue. Liu’s team developed an artificially intelligent network able to distinguish, classify and properly stain OCT breast tissue scans.
“The experience of working with such accomplished researchers has been unforgettable, and was definitely a defining factor in my choice for my career path,” he says.
Adamson says he became proficient at the programming language MATLAB in the process, noting, “I knew little about it before we started and it was a steep learning curve, writing code line by line until there were hundreds of lines.”
Driven and determined, he has little trouble seeing into the future.
“In five years, I see myself as a top engineer in a technologically driven company, with a special interest in being in charge of the technical aspects of the firm’s processes. I expect to be tasked with the design and implementation of new electronic products that will make a difference and improve some aspects of human life,” he says. “Ideally, I see myself working in an artificial intelligence firm, whose goal is to provide users with the best possible solutions to their problems and limitations.”
