My name is Linh Tran. My home institution is the University of New Mexico (UNM) . I am currently a rising senior majoring in Computer Science. My expected date of graduation is Spring 2018. I have an extensive research background for two summers working in Dr. Melanie Moses / Biological Computational Lab.
Last summer I was a part of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program in the Summer 2016. The McNair program helps prepare underrepresented students for graduate school by providing mentoring support and research opportunities. I worked closely with Matthew Fricke who is now an adjunct professor at UNM implement the Distributed Deterministic Spiral Algorithm (DDSA) into ROS (Robot Operating System) using C++. The DDSA acts are a benchmarking algorithm that measures the efficiency of collective search algorithms. We were able to published the research paper as well (Fricke, 2015). The experience gave me the opportunity to attend multiple conferences to present my work as well as graduate schools.
Computer Science has been a challenging yet rewarding part of my life. I choose it because it is an interdisciplinary degree that involves problem solving, innovativeness, and creativity.
I am proud member of the UNM's National Society of Black Engineers as of year 2015 and is the current treasurer for the year 2017-2018. I aspire to influence younger kids to be active in school and pursue careers in engineering and participating in numerous outreach events.
I joined DREU because I am interested in narrowing down my research interest for grad school. I also want to experience an out-of-state summer internship. This experience will enhance my ability to adapt to a new environments and challenge me to work independently and with a team. I want to experience designing, developing, and conducting my own research. I want to learn more about Human Interactive Systems, machine learning, and how they influence children's cognitive learning. At the end of summer, I hope to build a stronger mindset, determination, and understanding of my research interests.
Fun Facts:
I use art as my alternative way to express my thoughts and emotions.
I enjoy skateboarding, singing, dancing, and playing guitar.