Arrival
I was awarded for my contribution “Static and dynamic evaluation of wind potential in the Kara region of Togo using artificial neural networks” at the 2nd German-West African Conference on Sustainable, Renewable Energy Systems 2021.
The prize includes a 3-months scholarship at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau.
I arrived in this warm and welcoming land of Germany on 02 August 2021 at around 11am accompanied by my compatriots Nitale and Serge, winners of the 2020 edition.
Accommodation
We are accommodated in Niederlehme (148a Karl Marx Street) in a modern, quiet residence for students staying less than one semester. We have WI-FI 24 hours a day which allows us to continue our research work at home.
I would recommend this place because we have everything nearby. It is only a 4 minutes’ walk (300m) to withdraw cash via visa/MasterCard from the ATM. The Deniz Grillhaus restaurant is the closest and is only a 6 minutes’ walk away. We can easily get supplies from two supermarkets (Supermarket REWE) which are 10 minutes away. To get to the train, it is a 15 minutes’ walk to the nearest station.
However, the university is 2.8 km away (35 minutes’ walk) and could be tedious for those who are not keen on walking. Nevertheless, I enjoyed walking for the first month as I crossed the river every day. It was also an opportunity to admire the landscape and the animals that came out of the small surrounding forests.
Bicycles were made available to us to facilitate our travel from September. This made it possible to get to the university in 20 minutes. I also discovered new areas on my bike rides.
Food at Wildau
No one can say they don't know doner kebab in Wildau. I will say that the appetite comes with eating because at the beginning I had a hard time finishing it. But I will tell you now that it is one of my favorites.
You might wonder if it was only doner kebab that I was eating? Well, no. There is also Chicken nuggests und pommes frites, doner in Brot, Turkish Pizza which I also like.
Work
I am working with Serge on a project including computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics. Overall, it's about creating and labeling datasets. Then Building a gripping application that detects certain objects on a table and helps to identify their location and orientation. This information will be used in order to automatically grip these objects using a robot.
I just regret not having reached the robotic part of the project given the time allotted.
Nevertheless, I would like to say a sincere thank you to Sebastian, Dominick and Franck who introduced me to the thing.
Relationship with colleagues
I have a very nice relationship with the colleagues who are always available to help us.
In Wildau, it's not only work, it's also lunches in group, competitions (solar boat) and also barbecues.
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those who have contributed to this cooperation especially to those in charge of the universities of Wildau and Kara.
To Prof. Kodjo Koffi Mawugno and Dr. Adanlete Adjanoh Assiongbon, thank you for being guides in my early research.
Thanks Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Reiff-Stephan for welcoming us in his research group à TH-Wildau.
Thanks to Simon Devos-Chernova and Carolina Winkler who have spared no effort to support us both administratively and in terms of health.
I cannot finish without saying a sincere thank you to Ron Van de Sand who was always present from the beginning of this adventure and who contributed greatly to the success of this research trip. Thanks also to Alexander, Mateusz and Constantin.