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12 April 2018

Informatics Student Attends MIT Bootcamp

The MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp is ‘an intensive, week-long new ventures leadership program that gives bootcampers a taste of drinking from the firehose that all MIT students experience.’ The goal of the programme is to expand the knowledge of the [MIT Bootcamp] MOOCs and to build a powerful network of extraordinary innovators from all around the world.

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Razvan
Razvan

Razvan, who specialises in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision and Machine Learning has also held positions as the president of the Romanian Society 2015-2017 and Vice-President of the Robotics Society 2016-2017. He is currently part of the King’s20 Accelerator Programme at the Entrepreneurship Institute working on his startup, Mila.

Razvan said: ‘I have always been passionate about technology. It really makes me happy to see how well it integrates in our lives. Steve Jobs once said that the computer is a bicycle for the brain, which is amazing. I love cycling and manipulating the bike to be faster, more efficient or just better. That also means I am looking forward to being part of the next disruption, imagine a car for the brain, a plane, a spaceship! I could not be more excited for the future.’

Razvan explained why he wanted to take part in the bootcamp: ‘I always wanted to be part of the MIT community. In my first year as an undergraduate I met Dorian who participated in 2016 at the bootcamp and won the pitch event. That inspired me to apply in my final year.’

In order to win a place on the highly selective programme Razvan had to submit a CV, record a one minute video about himself and video answer around ten questions. He was part of an exclusive cohort of 140 people from 39 different countries, selected out of 1600+ top applicants worldwide. He was also the only Romanian attendant and the second youngest. He also had to raise funds for the tuition fee of $6000.

Then, one week before bootcamp, Razvan was rejected for the Australian eVisitor visa: ‘I told MIT and they offered me different options and I chose to reapply. I added more information, got a letter from MIT, went to the Australian Embassy, called them three times and with 36 hours before the scheduled departure I contacted the High Commissioner of Australia in London on LinkedIn with no response. Next morning, 24 hours before the departure, I received the visa, purchased my tickets and left to Brisbane, Australia!’

What followed was a week of networking, pitching, researching a problem, market research, building a business and implementing a solution. Razvan explained: ‘The programme provided a life-changing week with almost no sleep, globally renowned CEOs, top coaches and incredible people.’

Razvan said: ‘I never thought I could engage with hundreds of people, learn a year course, build a business from the ground up and see kangaroos in just one week. The bootcamp is a life-changing experience, the learning and the incredible network shapes all parts of my life and opens so many doors I did not even think…existed before. I love hackathons and the bootcamp is the next level which combines all areas to bring together innovators and passion-driven people at the top of their field. It has been an extraordinary experience and it was worth every moment I chose not to sleep.’

And what’s next for Razvan? He told us: ‘I am proud to be part of the MIT Bootcamps Global Alumni community of 600+ legendary people from all backgrounds and at the top of their fields. This is so valuable in my journey as an entrepreneur and in my career. Two days after the bootcamp I applied the concepts and everything learned to the second part of the Allesch-Taylor Scholarship where I won £1000 for Entrepreneurship with my current venture, Mila. One week later I won another £2000 from the Soyoye Technology Innovation Scholarship.’

To find out more Razvan suggests you enrol in the MOOCs that can be found on the MIT website and apply to the next bootcamp.