Meet Frederic Garcia

If I had to pick just one word to describe my experience, I would say “opportunity”

Dr Frederic Garcia is a computer vision scientist at IEE, and an SnT Alumnus. As a PhD student and later research associate he specialised in the depth accuracy of low-resolution 3D cameras. He was recommended to our PhD programme by IEE, and while at SnT he worked on research partnerships with IEE, finally becoming a fully-fledged member of their team in 2014.

How did you end up in Luxembourg?

Originally, I came to Luxembourg for just one semester to do my master’s thesis at IEE. After that project wrapped-up, my supervisor asked me to join the company, and I was interested, but I had intended to leave Luxembourg to pursue a PhD. That is when I found out about SnT, as he said I could do my PhD there and keep working with IEE through my doctoral research. It was a fantastic opportunity as SnT made it possible for IEE and me to continue a very fruitful collaboration.

What is your current job?

I work on a number of research and development projects, including driver monitoring, 3D cameras, and 2D cameras. We keep a startup spirit alive at IEE, and I really enjoy working on the small, energetic research and development teams we have. I am part of what we call the accelerator team, responsible for suggesting new innovations and developing proof-ofconcepts from scratch.

How has SnT defined your career?

SnT encouraged me to expand my horizons and that influences the way I think and work still to this day. The culture of SnT focuses on collaboration both internally and externally, which really supported me to get out and bring my ideas to peers around the world. I traveled frequently to conferences to present my work, and that helped me develop a unique international network.

And, of course, I still enjoy working with a small, dynamic team, which is exactly what we had at SnT. We weren’t colleagues, we were friends. I have many fond memories of my time there, yet if I had to pick just one word to describe my experience, I would say “opportunity”. SnT and everything it offered translate into a world of opportunity for me •