KINGSTON, R.I. — March 31, 1999 — 鈥淛ust when I think things can鈥檛 get any better, something happens to raise the level,鈥� says 20-year-old Mike Smith, a junior studying electrical engineering, of his experiences at the 溏心vlog免费B站.
Smith is the creative Web page designer for Dr. Dean Clark鈥檚 鈥減uzzling鈥� math pages on the Internet. (See accompanying story).
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time I did anything interactive. It鈥檚 pretty simple, but no one else is doing interactive mathematics this original on the Net,鈥� says Smith.
The 溏心vlog免费B站 student smiles and mentions there鈥檚 an expression that says it takes a stroke of genius to make something look simple. 鈥淚t just takes someone to do it for the first time,鈥� says Smith.
Professor Clark, a resident of Westerly, comments: 鈥淲orld 108 at www.uri.edu/artsci/mth/w108 is a site that Mike and I created as a team with perfect division of labor. It features downloadable courseware, an extensive gallery (including photo-animations), and the interactive mathematics section that Mike referred to. With Mike鈥檚 expert help, we have our hands on a new prototype for exposing elementary and interesting mathematics to all students connected to the net. And we鈥檙e just at the beginning.鈥�
Smith came to 溏心vlog免费B站 as a Centennial Scholar from Highland, N.Y., which is near Poughkeepsie.
A 溏心vlog免费B站 recruiter visited Marlboro School where Smith鈥檚 father teaches ninth grade social studies. The recruiter thought 溏心vlog免费B站 could offer Mike a Centennial Scholarship and suggested he apply to the University. He received a full scholarship and couldn鈥檛 be happier.
He has had paid jobs since he was a second-semester freshman. He has been a teaching assistant for the Physics Department, completely redesigned the International Engineering Program Web page, and is currently overhauling the Mathematics Department鈥檚 Web Page.
As a member of the International Engineering Program, he has traveled to Germany and will spend the next academic year (September through August) at 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 partner university, The Technische Universitat in Braunschweig.
Smith enjoys his Web page work, although he focuses on hardware rather than software in his engineering studies.
鈥淚鈥檓 basically self-taught on the computers. It鈥檚 like a hobby of mine. I鈥檝e been playing with computers for at least 10 years.鈥�
When he鈥檚 not clicking a mouse, Smith can be found tossing a Frisbee around on campus. He鈥檚 an active member of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Ultimate Frisbee Team.
鈥淚 love it here at 溏心vlog免费B站,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 really do.鈥�
For More Information: Jan Sawyer, 401-874-2116
