MIT University Interview Report

Noura

Noura could be deemed a passionate Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) candidate. This particular candidate was born and raised in Canada and Jordan. However, when she was 6 years old, she moved to Ramallahm, in Palestine. Noura attended the American School of Palestine.

There are a number of factors that drew Noura to MIT. To begin with, she found the University’s community spirit enchanting. Although she appreciates the relevance of academics, she appears convinced that the learning environment can be greatly enhanced by other factors such as how people relate and connect with each other. Noura was categorical that this was the kind of environment capable of fostered her growth as a person. Noura was also drawn to MIT by the institution’s AI oriented research as well as its robotics club.

Noura has been passionate about robotics. Indeed, she had been part of the robotics club back in Palestine. She had also been part of the national robotics team for a period of 2 years where they took part in international competitions. As an indication of her inclination towards tech, Noura embraced computer science at the age of 12 and immediately partook in the development of software for robotics. This ended up triggering her interest in the physical workings and aspects robotics as well. She indicates that she would be interested in combining the ‘software’ and ‘hardware’ aspects of robotics in the future.

With regard to engagements she had taken part in - in the realm of robotics - Noura indicated that she had taken part in an international robotics competition requiring the resolution of a practical problem using robotics. The specific problem they had focused on was environmental littering – in which case they were to build a robot capable of engaging in garbage collection in an efficient manner.

Noura feels that there are various societal problems that robotics could help address. At a personal level she is especially passionate about the deployment of robotics solutions in hospital settings. For instance she felt that the distributed robotics laboratory at MIT could aid her research on surgical AI in robotics.

Some of Noura’s hobbies are inclusive of, but they are not limited to, making of soap/essential oils and bread baking. She also appears to have an entrepreneurial spirit in her as she was able to identify an opportunity to come up with better essential oils after noticing that the essential oils available in nearby stores were watered down versions of the ones available in Pakistan. She promptly enrolled for an online aromatherapy class to sharpen her skills in essential oil making.

Noura also appears to have superior problem-solving skills. For instance, when she encountered resource constraints that threatened to ground the operations of the robotics club in school, she was able to formulate creative ways of cutting costs. The projects survived. Secondly, back in Canada, Noura was able to build a personal home library from scratch after finding out that there weren’t many libraries in her home area. The said library was large and diverse enough to serve her friends as well.