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Madelyn Gatchel
DREU at Brown University
Summer 2019

About Me

Hi! My name is Madelyn Gatchel, and I am from New Bern, North Carolina. I am a computer science and mathematics double major at Davidson College, and I will be a junior next fall. I will graduate in May 2021.

Overview

This website is a record of my DREU* summer research experience at Brown University in Professor Iris Bahar's robotics lab. Feel free to explore the website by clicking the links above to see what I was up to this summer!

This summer was a summer of many firsts--my first time north of D.C. (well Maryland, to be exact), my first time moving to a new city and not knowing anyone, my first time living entirely on my own, and my first time doing research. Even though I was in a completely new place doing something I'd never done before (which brought anxiety at times), it was still a great summer!

When I started this program, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do after Davidson. However as the summer progressed, I began thinking about the idea of pursuing a PhD (and becoming a professor), and the more I have thought about it, the more it seems and feels right. I've known for a while that I wanted to teach, but I didn't really know what CS research would be like. Doing research this summer (i.e. getting to learn for learning's sake) has been both fulfilling and intellectually stimulating, and I'm looking forward to sharing about my research experience with others when I return to Davidson.

When I was not doing research, I spent my time at the gym (I went to a class almost every day!), cooking (I'm slowly learning), and watching the Women's World Cup (#USWNT). On the weekends, I tried to explore as much of New England as I could. Click on the "Photo Gallery" tab to see some of the places I visited!


*Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Madelyn Gatchel
magatchel@davidson.edu
madelynegatchel.com