From Cambridge Engineering to a Career in AI

Engineering alumnae from Cambridge can end up in very different careers. 

Ana-Maria Marcu is an AI researcher working on embodied intelligence at Wayve in London. During her time at Cambridge as an Engineering student, she chose to study Electrical and Information Sciences, which sparked her passion for computer vision and machine learning.

Engineering at Cambridge aims to give students a strong foundation across many areas - mathematics, mechanics, materials, thermodynamics, electronics, computing - before gradually giving them opportunities to specialise. The first two years are deliberately broad because when you start an engineering degree, you may not yet know which branch of engineering you want to pursue; the later years then let you focus on areas such as mechanical, electrical, civil, aerospace or information engineering, alongside more advanced modules and a substantial project. 

Read on to find out about Ana-Maria’s inspiring journey into the world of AI and hear her valuable advice about studying Engineering at Cambridge.

How it started

More than five years ago, during a computer vision lecture at the Engineering Department, Professor Roberto Cipolla demonstrated how a single neural network could learn how to drive a car on the busy streets of London. That lecture had a lasting impact on me. I started reading more about deep learning, building small projects in my own time, and eventually secured an internship at a small start-up that was willing to take a chance on me. From that point on, I knew that AI was the field I wanted to pursue.

My journey since graduation

I graduated in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, spent a year in technical consultancy working on computer vision for defect detection, then joined Wayve. Since then, it has been incredibly rewarding to watch both the company and the field evolve. When I first rode in one of our autonomous vehicles in 2022 in London, I could see the impact it can have. Today, Wayve is preparing to launch a public self-driving service in London in partnership with Uber and has established partnerships with several of the world's leading automotive manufacturers. It has been a privilege to contribute to that journey. 

Projects Highlights

One of the projects I am most proud of is Lingo, a vision-language model that can drive while simultaneously describing its reasoning in language. The project was featured in the Financial Times and by MIT Technology Review, and our research was published at the European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV). More recently, I have had the opportunity to lead our compression and deployment research, developing more efficient AI systems that can run on vehicles while maintaining strong performance.

Future Aspirations

Looking ahead, my research will focus on long-term memory for embodied intelligence —developing models that can decide when, what and how to remember. I am excited to continue contributing to the next generation of intelligent autonomous systems. Beyond research, I am also passionate about supporting more women to join the artificial intelligence field and am an active mentor with the Women in Computer Vision community.

Advice for Future Students

Pick your courses and projects for the final two years thoughtfully. This is your chance to develop deep expertise in machine learning at Cambridge. The courses are worth the effort because, as with the computer vision lecture, they can form the foundation of your career. Solid foundations compound over time. Depth still matters: while modern AI tools make it easier than ever to build impressive demonstrations - developing intuition, deep technical understanding, and good research taste takes time and remains incredibly valuable.

Acknowledgements

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the contribution the College had to my journey. In particular, the Mary Dyson Scholarship that helped me secure an industrial placement and the Paula Browne Scholarship that was a catalyst to enabling my studies at Cambridge.

Learn More

Watch out for our next alumna in engineering story coming soon, learn more about Engineering at Cambridge and read about our Scholarships and Awards