S&E Guarantee Pilot: Christian Siman

To be more precise, however, what is sending Christian on his European escapade is his passion for engineering - and in particular building robots. “I was always into computer science, but there was a turning point when I saw the movie Iron Man. Since then, I sort of just wanted to build robots. I had a toy tank and remember constantly changing its wheels. Then I learned how to build a computer and turned my interest to digital…and haven’t really looked back since.”

Christian has just completed the first year of his Masters degree on intelligent autonomous systems at Polytech Nice Sophia, and is about to embark on his second year in Stockholm, as part of his EIT Digital Masters School studies. Autonomous systems refer to things like ticketing booths at airports and parking lots, that have no human input. “They can range from a small unit to a system that runs an entire factory,” Christian tells us. “It’s about learning how to create fully operational robots.”

Apart from his academic drive and curiosity, Christian relishes the socio-cultural experience as well: “I really like experiencing other cultures and taking the EIT Digital route allowed me to meet a lot of different people from different places - it’s the part I enjoy most. There’s a strong learning component in interpersonal relations. You can learn from basically anybody, even from a random refugee you meet at a tram stop. I’ve never been to Stockholm, so I’m really looking forward to it.” In the meantime however, he will be heading to Slovenia for a two-week summer school working on organisational resilience, as part of the Masters programme.

Pursuing this Masters degree was made possible by a deferred tuition payment plan, guaranteed in part by the EU. This allows people like Christian to focus on their studies and not worry so much about finance: “The deferred payment let me handle my finances better. It gives me a buffer to be able to live my life and not feel choked by the weight of the cost.”  

Looking ahead, Christian is certain that his future lies in artificial intelligence. “I think I will work in AI. A lot of this master is in AI. It’s a huge, growing field, and I’m really getting into it. Humanity has a lot to profit from AI. Automated processes can go faster than with human input.”