Category: Students

Posted on

Spotlight on Summer Research Scholars

Abdelrahman AboEitta ’23, CS Major
Abdel developed the latest version of ChemTutor (https://chemtutor.wlu.edu/), an online tutorial to help prepare students for college-level chemistry.  ChemTutor was developed by faculty and students at 4 small, liberal arts institutions and is funded by the Associated Colleges of the South.  Beyond developing new functionality for instructors, Abdel used Docker to deploy ChemTutor on Amazon Web Services so that it is easier for other institutions to deploy.

Sujana Basnet, ’23, CS Major
Irina Koleva, ’22, Neuroscience Major
Sujana and Irina completed a survey of academic research on video game experience categories, designed and conducted a user study to collect data based on the survey, and ran statistical analysis of the user study data. Also, they began work on an academic paper to be submitted to an appropriate venue in the Fall.

William Xue ’24
Will’s project name was:  Cloudsweeper: A Tool for Personal Cloud Management. The personal cloud is a convenient and affordable way to retain and share files over time. However, as time passes, some files lose their relevance. Crucially, some files that are no longer useful may still contain sensitive information, creating risks due to data breaches, lost devices, and account takeovers.  During the Summer of 2021, Will used his Python and web design skills to work both on the front and backend of the design of Cloudsweeper, a web application which incorporates machine learning to highlight potentially sensitive and useless files in individuals’ cloud accounts. The current version is live at: https://cloudsweeper.app.  Currently, the app only supports the Google Drive cloud platform. Will plans to continue work with the team to integrate the app with support across multiple cloud platforms and conduct future research studies by using the app as a data collection tool.

Billy Tobin ’24
Billy’s project name was : An Empirical Evaluation of Method Signature Similarity in Codebases.  Modern programming languages have revolutionized the way in which software developers design and develop computer programs. These languages provide individuals with user-friendly capabilities that enhance the productivity of developers while ensuring minimal code redundancy. One such feature of programming languages is method overloading.Billy spent the summer of 2021 empirically evaluating the pervasiveness of overloaded methods in large-scale repositories understanding their relationship over time, as repositories grow. Based on the initial results, Billy plans to extend his work to understand the usability aspects of overloaded methods and determine where they may have correctness, security, performance, and complexity implications.

Posted on

Honors Thesis: Evolutionary Control of Micro Aerial Vehicles in Simulation– Coletta R. Fuller ’21

Coletta, a Johnson Scholar, double majored  in computer science and music, and minored in creative writing.  She presented her Honors Thesis on Evolutionary Control of Micro Aerial Vehicles in Simulation via Zoom on Wednesday April 14th.

This thesis examined the challenge of safely landing quadcopters in simulation, using OpenAI gym environments to evaluate various machine learning algorithms. The two main categories explored were Deep Reinforcement Learning and Evolutionary algorithms. While the success of the DRL approach motivated this work, the evolutionary angle is of more interest due to its roots in more realistic biological inspiration. One specific evolutionary approach, NEAT, had success in the three-dimensional version of the problem, while none of the DRL attempts were successful. The dominance of NEAT on this challenge, while impressive in contrast with DRL, also had reasonably comparable success to a heuristic, human engineered approach.

Posted on

2021 PBK initiates from the Computer Science Department

Following are the Computer Science student inductees from the Class of 2021 and 2022 for Phi Beta Kappa/Society of the Cincinnati:

  • Allison Miller ’21
  • Merrina Lan ’22
  • Alyssa Vu ’22

CONGRATULATIONS!

Posted on

Computer Science Senior Celebration, 2021

The CS Department celebrated the Class of 2021 in a subdued, very-computer-science-y way this past Monday (5/17) at the Event tent in the Dell.  Senior gifts were handed out and a (slightly competitive) computer science  version of Pictionary was played… Fun!    Here are a few pics, courtesy of Professor Matthews:

Opening game of 10 Fingers
Opening game of 10 Fingers
Prof. Lu's team
Prof. Lu’s team
Prof. Lambert's team
Prof. Lambert’s team
Prof. Khan's team
Prof. Khan’s team
Prof. Levy's team
Prof. Levy’s team
Prof. Sprenkle adding up the scores
Prof. Sprenkle adding up the scores

 

 

 

Posted on

CS minors, Katie Cones and Callie Garst inducted into ODK

Alpha Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society, welcomed initiates at Washington and Lee University’s annual Founders Day/ODK Convocation on Jan. 19, 2021, at 5 p.m. Because of COVID-19, the convocation was held in a virtual format.  CS minors, Katie Cones and Callie Garst, both class of 2021, were among the inductees.

Katie Sue Cones (Montgomery, Texas) is majoring in math with minors in computer science and classics. She has spent several years as a STEM fellow, becoming a leader in her lab and continuing to use those skills now as a math teaching assistant. Cones was also active in several branches of FYOC leadership, helping the organization find ways to combat the challenges of O-week in a pandemic. She now focuses most of her time to running Indie Big-Little, marketing for Friday Underground, and preparing her art for the SSA conference.

Callan Jane Garst (Boones Mill, Virginia) is majoring in math and minoring in computer science. She is an active member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and has held the positions of large group coordinator, leadership academy coordinator and disciple. She currently serves as small group leader. She is treasurer of the Engineering Community Development Club and the social media chair and co-founder of Outreach Link, a club focused on raising money and awareness for victims of mass shootings. Garst, who has received funding to conduct research in number theory and algebraic geometry, serves as a teaching assistant for multiple mathematics professors and as a peer tutor for introductory courses in mathematics and physics.

For more info and a complete list of ODK initiates click here:  https://columns.wlu.edu/odk-to-initiate-three-honorary-50-student-members-at-2021-convention/

Posted on

Check out CSCI 319 Video Game Design Final Projects!

The students of CSCI 319 – Video Game Design have turned in their final projects!  See their hard work at https://student-games.academic.wlu.edu/ under the Fall 2020 Games Page. Instructions for how to run the programs can be found on the page, see individual game pages for how to play. Windows OS does not need to install anything, Mac OS may need to install pygame (instructions also on the page).

Posted on

CSCI major, Laurie Jones ’21, shares her W&L experiences

Laurie Jones, a double major (Computer Science and Physics & Engineering), is also an accomplished member of the university’s golf team.  Click on the link to learn more about Laurie’s W&L experience.

https://columns.wlu.edu/teed-up-for-success/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=features

Posted on

Spotlight on CSCI senior major George Barker ’20

George, a double major in both computer science and chemistry, worked this past summer with Professor Sprenkle to develop a web application that specializes in tutoring students in the basics of general chemistry.

Click the link to learn more about George and his achievements!

https://columns.wlu.edu/good-chemistry/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=features

 

Posted on

Some Pics from CSCI 335 at Spring Fest 2019

CSCI335: Software Engineering through Web Applications showed off their projects–the Ancient Graffiti Project and ChemTutor–at Spring Fest on May 17.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Posted on

CS Major Sarah Anne Troise ’19 is new ODK member

Washington and Lee University’s annual Founders Day/ODK Convocation was held on Jan. 22nd at 5 p.m. in Lee Chapel.  CS major Sarah Anne Troise ’19 was one of the inductees.  Her accomplishments are outlined below.  Congratulations Sarah Anne!

Sarah Anne Troise (Lexington, Virginia) is majoring in engineering and computer science. She is president of Women in Technology and Science, teaching STEM lessons to local elementary school girls. She was a member of the Student Financial Aid Committee and the Science, Society, and the Arts Advisory Committee. A Johnson Scholar and the 2017 president of Sigma Pi Sigma Honor Society, she has participated in research in the Physics and Engineering Department since fall 2016 and will present her findings at the American Concrete Institute Convention this year. She was the 2017 recipient of the H. Thomas Williams Jr. Undergraduate Research Scholarship, as well as the 2016 and 2017 recipient of a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship.

Click on the link below for details on all the initiates.

https://columns.wlu.edu/odk-to-recognize-new-members-at-2019-founders-day-odk-convocation/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=features