A Running Start into Research

Christopher Mackie, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of Washington Christopher Mackie had an unusual entry into computer science. As high school student in Vancouver, Washington, he participated in the Running Start Program, which allowed him to obtain a 2-year associate degree in computer science at a local college while finishing his last two… Continue reading A Running Start into Research

Texas to Tokyo: A Path to Graduate School

June Chen’s passion for learning was abundantly evident when she arrived as an undergraduate at Rice University. She pursued a triple major in electrical engineering (BSEE), mathematics (BA), and medieval and early modern studies (BA), and she sought additional opportunities to learn outside of her coursework. June realized that working on open-ended research problems was… Continue reading Texas to Tokyo: A Path to Graduate School

A Drive to Understand

Alex Ozdemir is intensely curious about understanding how things work.  Perhaps this curiosity is what drove him to pursue a self-designed major in “Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Theory” at Harvey Mudd College.  After completing two summer internships in industry, Alex decided to try research.  He began seeking research opportunities around campus. He remembered enjoying the… Continue reading A Drive to Understand

Beyond the Valley

Growing up in Silicon Valley, Lillian Tsai had always assumed that a normal career path for a computer scientist involved working at a company or, perhaps, launching a start-up. That was the path that she imagined for herself when she enrolled at Harvard University and chose to major in computer science.   Lillian credits her… Continue reading Beyond the Valley

From Passions to Projects: How Interest in Design and Art led to Computing Research

When Julia Woodward began her first year at the University of Florida, she did not know that her interests in design, art, and computing would ultimately merge to form an exciting path in computing research. During an introductory meeting for the Digital Arts and Science major, several professors gave presentations on  their work and research… Continue reading From Passions to Projects: How Interest in Design and Art led to Computing Research

Driven by Curiosity

While Gloria Kim’s interest in computing started in the classroom, her curiosity in deeper questions and desire to learn quickly took her outside of any curriculum. While taking an Introduction to Parallel Programming course with Prof. Vivek Sarkar at Rice University, Gloria found the topics led her to questions that fell outside the scope of… Continue reading Driven by Curiosity