I am currently in my third year at Allegheny College in the Department of Computer Science.
2010 — 2011
[RESEARCH] Rescue Robotics in occam-π
Molly Mattis '12 (Allegheny) and Kathryn Hardy '12 (Centenary) collaborated year-long on this CREU-supported research. Developed fire-fighting robots in occam-π, and went on to explore genetic algorithms for the evolution of robotic controllers.
[FS101] Creativity and Leadership
This Freshman Seminar introduced students to writing, presentation, and discussion surrounding topics related to leadership and creativity as it pertained to their experiences in secondary and higher education.
[FS102] Making the Future
This seminar will involve starting a business to turn Operation: Stick Figure Army into a service, while exploring writings regarding end-user customization and the new maker economy.
[CMPSC303] Human Centered Design
This design-centric course involved two hands-on projects: website testing prior to the Fedora 14 fp.o refresh, and a longer-term interaction with a FOSS project of the students' choosing. Based on a previous offering of HFID at Olin College.
[CMPSC112] Data Structures and Algorithms
Similar to previous offering, but wrappers for Drake's programs allowing students to explore data structures in the context of games executing on the Motorola Droid mobile phone.
2009—2010
[RESEARCH] Operation: Stick Figure Army
Worked with Stephanie Cost '10 and Sara Doan '10 on this CRAW-supported research. Developed tools for the production of 3D artifacts to support blind readers of modern textbooks.
[CMPSC112] Data Structures and Algorithms
Using Drake's Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, students were supported by extensive use of video, so as to minimize lecture and maximize discussion and interaction time in-class.
[FS101] British Comedy in Translation
Developed and led this first-year seminar to introduce students to the fundamentals of writing and presentation by asking the question "What is funny?" in the context of British comedy through the ages.
[FS102] Technology and Activism
This Freshman Seminar explored topics related to technology, art, and activism (linked closely with FS102: Art and Activism taught by D. Miller). Students engaged in hands-on activities surrounding the construction of a cardboard computer and making contributions to the Fedora 13 release to anchor their writing and presentations in a meaningful, shared set of experiences.
[CMPSC220] Programming Languages
Similar to previous offering, but introduced a module on synchronous message-passing-based parallel programming. Students built a through-hole Freeduino and learned about parallelism in the context of embedded control.
2008—2009
[INDS] 3D Printing @ Allegheny
Worked with Maja Sweeney '09 (Art). Maja led a group of volunteers in the building of a RepRap 3D printer. Project weblog available at baseplate.org.
[CMPSCI 220] Programming Languages
A half-depth, half-breadth introduction to languages. During the first half of the semester, we developed interpreters in Scheme using PLAI by Shriram Krishnamurthi. During the second half of the semester, I presented a history of interesting languages and "mini-labs" exploring these tools, while students worked on a final project exploring deeply a language of their choosing. Course homepage.
[CMPSCI 580] Junior Seminar
Led this third-year seminar leading into the Allegheny senior comprehensive. Course homepage.
[CMPSCI 190] Virtual Worlds, Real Robots
Developed and taught this unique pre-intro to computing. Used StarLogo:TNG to study distributed systems and little robots to explore computing in the context of the world around us. Lab based.
[CMPSCI 111] Introduction to Computer Science I
Taught one section of our introduction to computing. Developed new materials to support introducing Java using Greenfoot, a Java-based microworld, as well as Objects First with Java. Lab based.