Valuable lessons:

1. Difference between heuristics and observations

While heuristics imply a repeated pattern observed during the analysis process, observations imply the act of noting and recording something.

2. Valuable quotes

• If in doubt, do the least amount of work- Dr. Antón
• It is better to have and not need than to need and not have -Dr. Antón

3. Advice for people while they are still in school (Derived from my visit to Google: May 20-23)

• Teaching: whether formal or informal
• Make contacts with the Computer Science department of your school. Have a network of people
• Cover your basis while in school. Increase the breadth (as well as depth) of courses you take
• Be selective of people you choose to work with
• Don't wait for people to ask you to do things: Take inititave
• Pay attention to work life balance
• Ask yourself couple of times a year- what do I like about the work I am doing? What can I do to make it better?

4. Other valuable advice from my visit to Google: May 20-23

• "There is a special place in hell for women who do not support other women" - By Madlin Albright, Secretary of State under Bill Clinton's second term
• Masters helps gets higher salary but Ph.D does not because the operational cost of the years you have invested in Ph.D becomes low.
• "If you never hear 'no' you are not asking for enough" - Ellen Spartus
• Top graduate schools talked about are: UC-Berkely, Stanford, MIT, University of Washington
• Stanford and CMU do not require masters in order to do Ph.D
• Avoid conducting research with junior professors (without tenure) if you want stability
• When choosing an advisior don't be blinded by professor's fame
• Read papers with a critical eye. This actually might lead you for a Thesis topic
• Don't need to pick a big thesis topic. You can start from small and usually there are problems hidden within smaller problems
• Imposter Syndrome: "They all Think I am, but I Know I’m Not" by Paul Scherer.

5. After Ph.D

• Academia: research vs teaching focus
• Government labs
• Industry: research vs product/engineering
• Post Doc: though these are not common in computer science

6. Pros of being in industry

• Focus on building product because to undivided attention
• More time to program
• No tenure process
• No grants to write

7. Cons of being in industry

• You don't learn so much
• No stimulation of studnets working around
• No stability
• Less control
• East to fall out of the University environment
• Not enough time to explore side paths

8. New words

• Egregious: conspicuously bad or offensive,
• Concretize: To make real or specific
• Conjecture: Judgment based on inconclusive or incomplete evidence; guesswork