AWAI to Paris

Kim Feenstra Kuiper

On Wednesday, March 13, the members of study association CognAC, from Nijmegen, departed to Amsterdam to start their journey to Paris. In Utrecht we joined up with the members of Incognito (study association Utrecht) and later when we arrived in Amsterdam also the members of Cover (from Groningen) joined us. The group of 47 AI-students was complete. As many of us knew each other from previous AWAI trips, it was nice to see each other again.  Also the new students (who hadn’t been on an AWAI before) were introduced.

As soon as we stepped from the cold into the warm bus the annual Gocha-game started. To win this game you have to ‘kill’ as many people as possible. Everybody gets a card with someone else’s name on it, and a word. To kill someone you have to make the person on the card say the corresponding word. This game really helps mixing the different groups, and getting to know new people from the other study associations.

Around eight in the morning o‘clock we arrived at the hostel. After we did some refreshing and got a baguette for breakfast, we headed towards the Eiffel tower. From there we split up and different groups went their own way to visit some highlights in the neighborhood. My group visited the Montparnasse to get a better view of the Eiffel tower. We then walked through the Parc Luxemborg (which is really nice when the weather is beautiful) to the Pantheon. Opposite to the Pantheon is the University of Paris. Of course we also paid a visit to the University where we got a student-lunch. I think it would be amazing to have your classes in such monumental buildings. At around 2 o’clock we visited the Notre Dame with the entire group (all 47 students) and we went inside. In the evening there was a visit to the Sacré-Coeur, after which we all went to sleep at the hostel.

The next morning we split up into two groups. One group first went to the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre, to go to the AI-company Spirops afterwards, and the other group did the same program only the other way around. I was in the second group.

Spirops is a small company (8 employees) located at the center of Paris. To me they appeared very modest for the large projects they had. For example, they introduced one project like ‘I do not know if you know Disney? They have theme parcs all over the world’. The company models different types of human behavior, like queuing behavior (for new attractions) and fleeing behavior in case of fire. These models were used to test the efficiency of emergency exits. Some other project they were working on was the smoothening of robot movements. This appeared to be important for the comfort and work-performance in working environments where both robots and humans have to work together. Also this smooth motion is used in games. The talks were found very interesting by the students and the employees were very open to answer questions. I also think that students in search of an internship will consider Spirops an option.

After Spirops we went to the Arc de Triomphe. From there we walked to the Champs- Élysées. This became even more beautiful when the sun started to shine. Unfortunately there was not enough time to visit the Louvre the same day.

In the evening there were different groups going to a café, making an evening walk or having a drink at the hostel. Everyone went to bed early, as it was very impressive but also quite exhausting to be in Paris.

 The last day there was no program, most people gathered in groups to go to a museum such as the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Musee D’orsay etc etc. At around seven o‘clock we went to a small restaurant near Saint Michel to have dinner with about twenty people, which was a nice ending of a great trip. The journey home was quite exhausting, since it was by nightbus. At 7 o’clock in the morning we arrived in Amsterdam and from there everybody went to their home cities. It was a great weekend. Especially to see that AI can also be found in the streets of the beautiful city of Paris!