KINGSTON, R.I.– May 19, 2005 — Nathan Burnell started his undergraduate studies at the 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1997, but dropped out after his first semester because he did not want to be in college without a goal.
After two years off to work and travel, he returned to 溏心vlog免费B站 with aspirations of entering the computer technology field.
This Sunday Burnell, 25, will graduate at the top of his class and receive the President鈥檚 Student Excellence Awards in both computer science and computer engineering for his academic achievements.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the icing on the cake,鈥� he said of the honors. Burnell also received the
Caldwell Award for his academic excellence in computer science. He also found time to get married two years ago to Amanda Burnell who is a 溏心vlog免费B站 student.
A native of Jamestown, he says he chose the computer field because computer technology pervades our everyday lives and can be applied to almost any problem.
鈥淭he industry is constantly evolving so there are always opportunities to learn something new or, perhaps, create something new,鈥� he said.
His time at 溏心vlog免费B站 has been filled with a variety of research projects and classroom experiences. He worked with Professor Peter Swaszek of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to create a simple camera controller program; he assisted Professor Victor Fay-Wolfe at 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Digital Forensics Center to create a program that analyzes image files. He is currently working with Professor Jean-Yves Herv茅 of the 3D Group for Interactive Visualization to create a protein visualization application.
In addition to his research experiences, he has worked as a teacher鈥檚 assistant for the Department of Computer Science and Statistics for a number of courses. He has enjoyed the experience. 鈥淚t reinforced what I had learned in those courses, and it also provided me with the opportunity to meet many new students and help them learn and acclimate to the University鈥檚 rigorous computer science curriculum,鈥� he said.