From Programming Languages to Marine Microbes: Discovery Through Undergraduate Research

This Q&A highlight features Kiersten Campbell, a Finalist in the 2021 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers award program. Kiersten graduated from Williams College in 2021 with a double major in Computer Science and Biology and is now in a post-baccalaureate research position. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.  How did you find your research opportunities?… Continue reading From Programming Languages to Marine Microbes: Discovery Through Undergraduate Research

Discovering the (Virtual) Realities of Undergraduate Research

This Q&A highlight features Lauren Baron, recipient of an Honorable Mention in the 2021 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers award program. Lauren is currently completing her junior year at the University of Delaware in the College of Engineering and Honors College, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Cybersecurity. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. … Continue reading Discovering the (Virtual) Realities of Undergraduate Research

From CTF to PhD: Hacker turned Security Researcher

This Q&A highlight features Zion Leonahenahe Basque, recipient of an Honorable Mention in the 2021 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers award program. A Fall 2020 graduate from Arizona State University (ASU), Zion continues his studies at ASU as a Ph.D. student in computer science. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.  What originally influenced you to… Continue reading From CTF to PhD: Hacker turned Security Researcher

Supported Research Experiences Cultivating Confidence in Computing

This Q&A highlight features McKenna Lewis, recipient of an Honorable Mention in the 2021 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers award program. McKenna is a computer science major and currently works as an undergraduate researcher in the UCSD School of Medicine. In McKenna’s interview, she shares how she has benefited from showing resilience through faltering confidence and how supportive… Continue reading Supported Research Experiences Cultivating Confidence in Computing

Protecting Internet Infrastructure from Earthquakes

This month’s research highlight showcases Juno Mayer, an honorable mention recipient in the 2021 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers award program. Juno graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in Computer & Information Science and minors in Mathematics and Music Technology. He now works as a software engineer at Zais Group, a credit management… Continue reading Protecting Internet Infrastructure from Earthquakes

Demystifying Robot Plans, Discovering Her Own

This Q&A highlight features Ellie Mamantov, recipient of an Honorable Mention in the 2021 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researchers award program. Ellie graduated from Carleton College in June 2021 with a double major in computer science and psychology. She is now a computer science PhD student at Yale University. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. … Continue reading Demystifying Robot Plans, Discovering Her Own

Engaging in Research Through Researching Disengagement

Curious about summer opportunities in computer science, Courtney Miller learned about Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) in her first year at the New College of Florida. Having assisted in clinical trials in high school, she was eager to give research in computer science a try. “I really enjoyed that experience, so I figured it couldn’t… Continue reading Engaging in Research Through Researching Disengagement

Transferring Into Impactful Computing Research

When Sara Boyd transferred to Southwestern University (SU) as a sophomore, research was not on her radar. That quickly changed when she attended the symposium for Southwestern’s SCOPE program, a university-wide summer research opportunity for undergraduates from any major. “I was fascinated by projects that used AI to generate art, music and competitive Pacman playing… Continue reading Transferring Into Impactful Computing Research

Cutting Through the Noise: Improving Weakly Supervised Machine Learning for Practical Applications

Esteban Safranchik hopes to harness the potential of weakly supervised machine learning to impact fields beyond computer science. Now a PhD student at the University of Washington, Esteban got his start in research as an undergraduate at Brown University. His work was published at the 2020 Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Conference… Continue reading Cutting Through the Noise: Improving Weakly Supervised Machine Learning for Practical Applications

Goodbye Accounting, Hello High-performance Computing

Janaan Lake is living proof that it’s never too late to pursue a career in computing. After working 17 years as a Certified Public Accountant, she decided the time was right to pursue a computer science degree and enrolled at the University of Utah. “Although changing careers in midlife has been more challenging than I… Continue reading Goodbye Accounting, Hello High-performance Computing