ECCV 2018 Daily - Tuesday

I liked the sense of community that they have. I had students of different ages. They helped each other so much. They were so respectful to each other which is not so common for 15-year- olds or 16-year-olds. They didn’t want the spotlight. They were just trying to work together. It was actually humbling. What about Germany? How does Germany fit into the story? I came here because towards the end of my Ph.D. at UMass Amherst, there was a funding crisis in the US. I was already collaborating with Michael Black so it made more sense for me to come and finish my Ph.D. in Germany at the Max-Planck. I was very excited because I like moving to new places. This was going to be a short period of about a year, but it ended up being three years total. Tell us what it's like to work with Michael Black . Not everyone has! The thing is everything I say to Michael won’t be very objective because I’ve known him for ten years now. He has been a mentor. He has had a very special impact on my career. I met him when I was a master’s student. He trusted me. He listened to me. He believed in what I was saying. He was critical, too. He was not thinking that you’re too young to even know what you are talking about. And respectful. Absolutely… really respectful and polite. Also, he knew how to push me in the right direction. He guided me through the years as a master’s student to now being a lecturer at Edinburgh. When you have students of your own, what will you take from Michael in helping to guide your students? I don’t need to make a big effort for that because I already had interns. I found myself doing things that Michael does. This is going to be the title of the interview: “ I found myself doing things that Michael does !” [ both laugh ] So there are two things. One is to get to, what he calls, “the nugget”. What is it that you are trying to tell the world? What is the principle of your paper? This is important, especially now, when there are so many papers. This community has exploded. Having this clear view of what you are contributing and knowing that this contribution is worthwhile, I think this is key. That is one thing. The second is to listen to your Daily Tuesday 11 Laura Sevilla 15