Khai Yi Chin – Human of SIERA.AI Talks About SIERA AI’s Company Culture

What is your name and title?I’m Khai Yi Chin, an Autonomous Robotics Engineer. What does a typical day look like?The day starts off with group Morning Meetings to organize our thoughts and goals for the day. Then I spend the majority of the day collaborating with colleagues to set up physical and simulated robots, as well as writing code and reading/replying emails. Most importantly, a typical day doesn’t go by without a substantial amount of caffeine! What was the last big achievement that was celebrated?I don’t think it was celebrated (not that it’s something celebratory), but it was the few weeks of executing the demos for the customers. I was in charge of setting up the demo for the TurtleBot and self-driving forklift and we had a 100% demo success rate. Otherwise, the last achievement I had was the Peer-to-Peer nomination award. What has SIERA.AI done to help you grow professionally?Working at SIERA.AI helped me step out of my comfort zone in taking charge of projects, giving me responsibilities that would have otherwise been scarce at other workplaces. Furthermore, exposure to customers and their facilities allowed me to better understand the significance of our work, as well as the challenges that are present in the industry. What aspects of your job bring you joy?Seeing his/her robot move (well) is definitely one of the happiest things that can happen to a robotics engineer. Maybe it’s like seeing your child move for the first time? The other joyful aspect in my work is being a part of a successful collaborative project. When do you feel most motivated?Right after I have at least half a cup of coffee. On a serious note, I feel most motivated when I’m given a project, task or a problem to solve, because I get excited about being able to make a contribution. And robots; I’m always motivated when it comes to robots. How would you describe the culture?Friendly and relaxed, but everyone is driven and motivated: it’s really easy to get along with everyone, and it’s encouraging to know that everyone is so passionate about their work. What’s a fun fact about you that many people may not know?I have been playing the piano since I was 8, although I wish I could play it more nowadays.