Matt Martin: Navigating to an NWP First

Any graduate will tell you that the road to convocation always has a few curves. There are more than usual when you begin a degree years before it officially exists. That’s the case for Northwestern Polytechnic’s very first Bachelor of Computing Science graduate, Matt Martin.

Matt will cross the stage as a graduate this spring, completing an academic path that began more than a decade ago and included detours into industry, a return to NWP as both a student and an employee, and at least one robot.

When Matt began at NWP back in 2013, he knew he liked computers but didn’t have a firm plan to study them. Enrolling in CS1140, Introduction to Computing Science with Professor Libero Ficocelli was a turning point, and the beginning of a long and productive relationship between Matt, the faculty and the program.

At that time, students could complete a two-year diploma in Computer Systems Technology at NWP, with the option to pursue a degree by transferring to a university. After completing his diploma, Matt dabbled in distance learning through Athabasca University, but decided it wasn’t for him, which meant a degree wasn’t in the cards at that time.

“A lot of us walked away with a diploma and still got good opportunities,” Matt recalls. While still studying part-time, Matt had found related work at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital and in NWP’s Research and Innovation department (now the Office of Applied Research and Innovation.)

Diploma completed in 2018, Matt began work at Geomata Machine Control. “My role was to design digital files used in machine control systems on earthwork machinery,” he explains. 

”I developed a custom software suite that automated most of the design process — a solution made possible by the skills I’d learned at Northwestern Polytechnic.”

Matt’s path forked again in the fall of 2022, when NWP received long-awaited approval to offer the province’s first Bachelor of Computing Science degree. Matt is grateful that his employer at Geomata, Ken Drysdale, encouraged him to complete his degree while continuing to work. Matt had maintained contact with his instructors, and was excited to return.

“Not a lot of people realize how awesome the Computing Science program is, and a lot of that has to do with the instructors,” says Matt. He counts Professors David Gregg, Libero Ficocelli (both now retired) and Franco Carlacci as mentors and friends. “They changed my life,” Matt says. “I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.”

NWP’s Computing Science degree requires a Capstone project, which is where Matt’s most recent robot comes in. “Under Libero’s supervision, I built a robot capable of estimating its position in a navigable space using low-resolution data and cost-effective hardware, using a probabilistic localization algorithm called a particle filter,” he summarizes. The project culminated in a successful demonstration to an impressed group of faculty, students and supporters, including his wife Allie, in April 2024. “It did exactly what it was meant to do,” says Matt.

Today, he’s back in NWP’s Office of Applied Research and Innovation as a research assistant and programmer. He applies his computing skills to an Applied Research and Technology Partnership project, directed by lead investigator Nathan Parlee, exploring data-driven precision agriculture technology. “It’s more or less a stationary robot,” Matt jokes as he describes his current project.

With a decade’s worth of experience and education behind him, Matt is happy to celebrate this spring alongside NWP’s first cohort of Computing Science graduates. For a student who began without a firm plan, Matt has navigated a path to success that can serve as a roadmap for those who follow.