Year-ending Group Lunch

Rishi proposed that we should have a group lunch to celebrate the end of the year. So, Prof. Winslett and our whole group went to El Toro for a group lunch on Saturday, December 17. I was interested in meeting Arash, another student of Prof. Winslett, whom I am yet to meet. However he didn't show up. Lars was also missing.

Anyway, the lunch was good. I was surprised though, because I thought El Toro would be a costlier restaurant. It turns out that El Toro is a chain restaurant, and this is one of the two branches in Champaign.

We had a nice chat during the lunch. Everyone recounted where we have travelled, the different anecdotes from the travel experiences, and also where we want to go. I haven't travelled to too many countries. The only two I've been to are India and USA. But if I get the chance, I want to visit Europe and South America. My cherished place is the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. I also want to visit the Pacific Islands like the Easter Island, Tahiti etc. I've read so much about them since I was a kid.

It was great to have such a nice gathering. It enhances the interaction among the students of our group (although already we have a lot of interaction going on). 

M.S. Conferral Ceremony

I got my Masters Degree on December 18th, 2005. This was my first commencement ceremony. I had missed my undergraduate convocation (that's what the ceremony is called in Bangladesh). That was a great loss ... as the ceremony was a grand one ... with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh giving out the certificates. I got 2 gold medals for my undergraduate results (passing Summa Cum Laude). My wife, Jaria, attended that ceremony and got the awards on my behalf. Anyway, that's why my MS graduation ceremony was so important to me.

I took Jaria and some of my friends to the ceremony. I was impressed ... the ceremony was smooth and flawless. We didn't get the actual certificates, those will be mailed in about 2 months. But to attend the ceremony with the cermonial gowns and the orderly procession was a great feeling.

After the ceremony, we celebrated at our local Indian fast food restaurant.

I put more photos in my website's album pages. 

My poster at the ITI Dependability Workshop

This is my poster from the ITI dependability workshop at UIUC on December 6, 2005. Basically, this shows my Master's thesis work. The system is still a work in progress, so not all bits and pieces of information are there, and not every sort of details figured out, but still it was a nice experience to work on the poster and also to build the system.