Change of Leadership

One month deep into the 2008 spring semester, a major change in leadership has taken place within Cornell MineSweeper. As of February 15, Hamzah Sikander ’09 has become the new CMS team leader after Vikas Reddy ’08 decided to step down. Reddy felt that Sikander’s promotion from the power team was a natural progression as Sikander has not only demonstrated the actions and traits of a strong leader throughout his time with CMS, but he also possesses the knowledge used by the five CMS divisions and has been at the forefront for installing mine detection systems on CMS’s vehicles.

There are two main differences Sikander sees in his style of leadership that sets it apart from Reddy’s. First, CMS will focus on short-term goals more than long-term goals. The project team, for instance, will devote more time to establishing an autonomous platform that can integrate any type of mine detection technology, as opposed to developing general mine detection system technology. Second, Sikander advocates a hands-off role in leading CMS—while Reddy involved himself in each aspect of CMS, Sikander prefers to advise the group on a broader level.

Regardless of this change in management, CMS still remains committed to its charity, humanitarian goal. Engineering, Sikander finds, is one of the few fields that guarantees a win-win situation for all parties involved in any given scenario. CMS is no exception: students who develop the robot gain valuable experience, people who use the robot will lead safer lives, and those who sell the robot will make a profit.