CVPR Daily - Tuesday

You really never give up? That’s very difficult! You can reformulate your goals. Life is challenging. We change. Always try to do what you think at this moment will make you happy. What at this moment makes you happy? I just joined IBM Research. There are some goals I want to achieve professionally. Can you tell us about your teachers in Greece? My first mentor during my thesis in the electrical engineering department taught me how to formulate the problem mathematically and find solutions. What is the nicest solution that you have solved so far? I’m sure you have solved many. In general, when there is a problem, when I formulate it mathematically, I try to solve it. When you actually verify that it works, this makes me happy. When the mathematical model that you have introduced to solve your problem holds in the end. Do you have an example? The model-based approach for super- resolving the appearance of 3D objects during my PhD was one project where I followed this kind of thinking. There was the problem, and I formulated it mathematically. I solved it, and then I saw that it works. It actually works how I was expecting it to work. I love this answer! Would you like to replicate this success? Yes! I’m sure you will. If you hadn’t been a scientist, what would you have been? I also like sports. I also used to play piano. At some point, when you need to make some decisions to focus the studies, at least in Greece, we have to give up some of the activities. This is how it works. Maybe I would have continued with piano and become a piano teacher. Or a concert pianist. You never know! I like setting high goals. What sport did you do? I was running. To be honest, lately I have started running again. I have done some long distance, like half marathon… Are you below 2 hours? No, 2 hours and 20 minutes So I am half hour faster than you. Congratulations! Full respect! Well, long distance running is for old people. You arrive to maturity later than with short distance running. I hope that I will one day achieve your time. What do you like about running? It’s like meditation for me. It’s time to think, to release the tension, and to isolate myself a bit from life. It gives you a chance to relax a little bit. Exactly. It’s funny that people do things which makes them tired in order to relax. In my case, I want to run to release energy and tension, and to get some time for myself. What is the next challenge you will set for yourself? To run a marathon! [ laughs ] Not just any marathon! A marathon in Athens! Read more interviews with women scientists 22 DAILY CVPR Tuesday Women in Comp. Vision