{"id":5713,"date":"2019-12-18T11:50:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T16:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/?page_id=5713"},"modified":"2021-09-07T11:53:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T15:53:36","slug":"etienne-meunier","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/alumni-profiles\/etienne-meunier\/","title":{"rendered":"Etienne Meunier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When Etienne Meunier arrived at Boston University Metropolitan College to study computer science, he couldn\u2019t have imagined the strong connections he\u2019d build with his peers and faculty there\u2014let alone the research opportunities he\u2019d encounter for his future career. From developing technology to detect the presence of sharks in the water to presenting at the Machine Learning in Computational Biology (MLCB) conference, his time in Boston inspired him to \u201ccontinue into research, cultivate curiosity and get open to new fields of study.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment5716\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment5716\" style=\"width: 265px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_0105-255x300.jpg\" alt=\"Etienne Meunier\" width=\"255\" height=\"300\" class=\"wp-image-5716 size-medium\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_0105-255x300.jpg 255w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_0105-768x905.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_0105-869x1024.jpg 869w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_0105.jpg 1803w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment5716\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Etienne Meunier got a second master&#8217;s degree in computer information systems through the BU MET International degree pathway program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Etienne chose to get a second <span style=\"color: #cc0000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/programs\/graduate\/computer-information-systems\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cc0000;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">master\u2019s in computer information systems<\/a> <\/span>through the BU MET International degree pathway program because of its quality of content and the University\u2019s excellent reputation. But his experience exceeded his original expectations. By doing a concentration in data analytics, he was able to build upon his education at partner institution <span style=\"color: #cc0000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ece.fr\/master-paris\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cc0000;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ECE Graduate School of Engineering<\/a><\/span> in Paris. It also allowed him to focus on his career goal to use technology and computer science to help solve significant problems.<\/p>\n<p>Much of Etienne\u2019s professional success as a freelance IT consultant is owed to his willingness to reach out to others and build strong relationships. He credits MET professors Dr. Eric Braude and Dr. Eugene Pinsky for \u201cenhancing [his] experience at Boston University greatly.\u201d In fact, during his time researching shark detection technology for the Centre de Ressources et d\u2019Appui (CRA), a research center at La R\u00e9union, he worked with Dr. Pinsky to \u201corganize a directed study on that subject.\u201d Additionally, he credits Dr. Braude and his machine learning course for pushing him \u201c to evaluate the use of new techniques for this project and [helping him] to structure [his] ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like many MET International students, Etienne is motivated by getting involved in research and \u201cinvesting in challenging projects,\u201d which he thinks is the key to mastering a domain of study. For example, he worked as an intern for the CRA in 2018 and then was later hired as a consultant to help create a shark-detecting algorithm. \u201cMy goal was to build a classifier using weekly labeled images (for each image the presence of a shark is known, but not its position),\u201d he explains. \u201cThis is a tricky task, because the images are very large and the shark can be very small or far away. But if we managed to do that, it would reduce a lot of the manual labor needed to do the labeling.\u201d In addition to machine learning, Etienne credits the IT strategy and management course at BU MET for informing the project launch and the organization of the labeling by operators.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment5717\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment5717\" style=\"width: 277px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_20190310_135144-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"200\" class=\"wp-image-5717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_20190310_135144-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_20190310_135144-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/files\/2019\/12\/IMG_20190310_135144-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment5717\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">While attending BU, Etienne traveled around the USA (including Washington DC) with friends.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of course, Etienne\u2019s MET International experience wasn\u2019t just academic. He says he forged many strong bonds with his peers in the program, which he cultivates by phone and periodic visits to Boston. He also fondly remembers attending BU hockey games at Agganis Arena, recalling, \u201cI was very impressed by the passion showed by the students for their team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Etienne now works in the field of genetic technology as a research assistant for <a href=\"https:\/\/cmmt.ubc.ca\/mostafavi-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mostafavi Lab<\/a> at the University of British Columbia. With plans to pursue a PhD in bioinformatics, he reflects, \u201cI think that subject will tend to become significant over the next years, and it is intellectually fascinating to work on that kind of data.\u201d He adds, \u201cI am sure that will be a wonderful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Etienne Meunier arrived at Boston University Metropolitan College to study computer science, he couldn\u2019t have imagined the strong connections he\u2019d build with his peers and faculty there\u2014let alone the research opportunities he\u2019d encounter for his future career. From developing technology to detect the presence of sharks in the water to presenting at the Machine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10280,"featured_media":0,"parent":4631,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5713"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6328,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5713\/revisions\/6328"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/metinternational\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}