December Newsletter: Reflections and Achievements

✨ Reflecting on a month of progress, collaboration, and personal growth as we close out 2024.

✨ Projects & Achievements

1. IKEA Challenge

I participated in the IKEA challenge with my team this month. We analyzed the limitations of IKEA’s current recommendation system and proposed innovative features to enhance user experience:

  • The existing system relies on Recommendations AI by Google Cloud, knowledge graphs, and manual tagging.
  • Our proposed solution incorporates a CNN to filter recommendations based on stylistic similarity of item images, making the system more hip and personalized. 💡 Key Takeaway: A deep understanding of underlying systems can lead to state-of-the-art improvements.

2. Focus Project Progress

I made significant progress on my robotics project, designing a gripper/walking robot. The robot uses an innovative walking method, avoiding the conventional step-sway-step pattern:

  • The design incorporates two joints per leg, reducing complexity and enabling efficient movement. 🎥 Videos demo coming soon!

Mindsets & Reflections 🧠

Figure-It-Out Mindset

I embraced the figure-it-out mindset, approaching challenges creatively and effectively.

Power of Teamwork

The IKEA challenge highlighted the importance of teamwork:

  • Communication, psychological safety, and team vibes were key to success.
  • Inspired by insights from Smarter, Faster, Better, I learned that open and respectful communication fosters extraordinary results. 💡 Reflective Thought: Always prioritize good team dynamics over individual brilliance, as collaboration drives success.

Emotional Awareness & Motivation

Balancing emotions with commitment was crucial this month:

  • I focused on making my goals bigger than my feelings, improving consistency and productivity.
  • The IKEA challenge emphasized the importance of team dynamics and setting high-focused intentions.

“Productive days often follow those with high-focused, intentional planning.”

Looking Ahead 🚀

As this year comes to an end, I look forward with excitement to further innovations in robotics and AI-driven solutions. Here’s what’s next:

  • Build on the teamwork lessons of this month for stronger collaboration in the future.
  • Continue refining my ability to balance emotions, productivity, and long-term vision.

Thank you for following my journey. Here’s to an even more productive and impactful 2025!

Best regards,
Malek Hammoud