Vicens to jointly present at IEEE Remote Sensing Symposium in Spain

CORPUS CHRIST, Texas – Like most college juniors, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi tennis student-athlete Marina Vicens Miquel will head home for the summer after completing her final exams. She will pack up her personal belongings, grab a ride to the airport and spend the next three months at home in Spain.
 
During the summer months, Vicens will spend time with friends and family. She will play in a couple tennis tournaments and enjoy family time which won't happen again until Christmas.
 
In late July, Vicens and her family will take a trip to Valencia, Spain, a 30-minute plane ride from her hometown. But this won't be for the typical family summer vacation. Her family is going to support Marina as she presents a research paper at the International Geoscience Remote Sensing Symposium, a meeting of some of the top minds in their field. The symposium runs from July 22-27.
 
"Everyone at this event is so important," said Vicens. "This is a great chance just to be around them, meet people and make contacts. When I start to apply for jobs, this will make for a great ice breaker. Talking in front of so many people will be scary but at the same time, it is motivating me to be better."
 
Using computers, Vicens and the other three students in her group uploaded photos of the flooding that took place in Houston last year. Looking at areas that were flooded and not flooded. The practical use goal of the photos is to provide real-time data on areas that are safe during weather emergencies. Giving police departments up to the minute updates on what areas to re-route and which to evacuate. The next step involves using drones to capture the data as it happens and provide updates every 10 minutes during a flood that can help enhance safety crew efforts.
 
Vicens recalls her first meeting with professor Maryam Rahnemoorfar. During the spring semester, the tennis schedule calls for student-athletes to miss classes for competition, so Vicens let her instructor know that she may have to make other arrangements due to travel during the spring semester.
 
"She told me it was going to be a tough class to pass and that maybe I shouldn't take this class right now," said Vicens. "For my major, taking a class with professor Rahnemoorfar was extremely important. When I got another 100 on her second exam, I think she started to like me."
 
Due to the amount of activities that Professor Rahnemoorfar employs during class, missing days at a time to compete in Division I athletics presented a major hurdle academically for Vicens.
 
"I usually have a lot of class activities in my courses to excel students' learning," said Rahnemoorfar. "Therefore, students who miss my classes usually do poorly on tests. This was especially the case for my athlete students who missed several classes however, Marina proved the opposite. She is a very hard working, determined, and serious student who is excellent not only in her sport but also in her courses."
 
Professor Rahnemoorfar brought the topic of monitoring flooding to Vicens and with her group, worked with the students to create a presentation worthy of publication. In March, they learned their submission was accepted and Vicens was selected to present with her professor.
 
"For the image processing course that she took with me, students need to a present a group project at the end of the course," Rahnemoorfar explained. "Marina and her group mate asked me about the topic and I suggested flood monitoring in Houston which was taken with UAV images. I shared the images with them, suggested the methodology and asked one of RA students in my research lab to help them on algorithm development. Marina was very persistent in this project and presented it very well in the class. Their project was the only project that I suggested to be pursued for an international conference presentation."
 
For Vicens' first international conference and her first research experience, Professor Rahnemoorfar is encouraging her to watch and learn presentations on these types of conferences. Her hope is that by future conferences, Vicens will be able to present completely by herself.
 
"I am grateful for the opportunity to go with someone who is so respected in their field," Vicens explained. "Someone who can teach me how to move in a conference, where we should go and what are some of the most important topics. It will be an amazing experience and I'm looking forward to learning from the world's top minds. Doing things that no one else has ever done motivates me and it's exciting to see when your hard work pays back in an experience like this."
 
Vicens capped a stellar junior season. She was named to the All-Southland Conference First Team and also garnered all-conference first team academic honors for a second-consecutive year. The Islander women captured their third-straight Southland Conference regular season title and Vicens hit a 3.81 GPA.
 
After she finishes her undergraduate degree, Vicens plans on working as a teaching assistant while she pursues her masters at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Her goal is to continue her research, possibly get some more studies published and find a job.
 
"I am thankful to my coaches and our university for the opportunity to be here," Vicens said. "We need to be good in three things, family, school and tennis, in that order. I've been a part of successful teams and I've been able to do my best in research and in athletics. I am so proud to be part of our academic and athletic programs."