CRA-E’s “Undergraduate Research Highlights” series showcases outstanding research done by undergraduate students at universities and colleges across North America. It is one of a number of CRA-E’s activities that foster and recognize talented computing researchers with the goal of increasing the research pipeline, promoting graduate education, and advocating research-based careers.
Each article features the story of a successful undergraduate researcher and offers personal insights into their experiences with finding an advisor, undertaking new research projects, and discovering how research can impact their personal and professional futures. In addition to helping students understand the process of getting involved in research, the articles also serve as a venue for students to pass along advice to others who aspire to become involved in research themselves. Students selected for the research highlights include those receiving recognition in the CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award competition.
This series is written and edited by CRA-E Graduate Fellows.
Reimagining Human Sensation
/In: Undergrad Research Highlights /Christian “Chris” Hill wants to transform the way we sense the world around us. His interest in human augmentation and sensory extension research began early in his college experience. During his second semester at the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU Boulder), Chris took a new course on children’s education, human augmentation, and transhumanism taught by Mike Eisenberg, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Institute of Cognitive Science.
Designing Search Engines & Recommender Systems for Children
/In: Undergrad Research Highlights /Currently pursuing a master’s degree at her recent alma mater, Boise State University, Ashlee Milton investigates problems related to information retrieval for niche user groups, especially children. Her work has resulted in four publications at ACM conferences and the Aslib Journal of Information Management.
Empowering Caregivers and Promoting Privacy
/In: Undergrad Research Highlights /Zaina Aljallad, a recent University of Central Florida (UCF) alumna, researched ways to empower all users, regardless of technical background, with strategies to protect their personal data while using a multitude of apps and services. She published two papers and presented her work at ACM conferences and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
From COMP105 to Programming Languages Research in Haskell
/In: Undergrad Research Highlights /After taking an Intro to Programming Languages class, Marilyn became interested in programming languages. Her teaching assistant participated in PL research and recruited her to their project. Over a period of two years starting in her sophomore year, Marilyn collaborated with her research advisor, who is also chair of the CS department at Tufts, Kathleen Fisher on research problems in Haskell optimization.
Overcoming Adversity and Finding a Path to Research
/In: Undergrad Research Highlights /Diego showcases the persistence and determination of a researcher. As an immigrant from Venezuela, finding financial support and resources during his academic pursuits has been difficult given the current status of his home country. This has created uncertainty at times, but Diego has been able to persevere. He balanced his studies with a full-time machine learning developer position.