North Smithfield resident to receive President鈥檚 Excellence Award
KINGSTON, R.I. — May 9, 2006 — North Smithfield resident Rob Powell never intended to go to college. His brothers got good jobs after high school without a college education, and he thought he would do the same. But his father convinced him to give college a try anyway.
Powell is glad he did. He graduates from the 溏心vlog免费B站 on May 21 as one of the top 溏心vlog免费B站 students in the electrical engineering and computer engineering programs, and he hopes to eventually continue his education with a business degree as well.
鈥淐ollege allowed me to step back and refocus my goals,鈥� said the 24-year-old student who was home-schooled during his high school years. 鈥淵ou come out of high school not really knowing what your options are until you explore it further. That鈥檚 what I鈥檝e done with 溏心vlog免费B站.鈥�
Powell said he invested an 鈥渆normous amount of time鈥� learning about computers and programming while growing up. 鈥淢y interest was mostly in video games, and I figured out that I could program my own games,鈥� he explained. 鈥淓ventually, though, I realized that wasn鈥檛 going to get me very far.鈥�
Refocusing his computer goals led Powell to an internship at DCI Acquisition Corp. in Exeter, and research into optics and the measurement of defects in visual displays, like those on cell phones and other devices. He even co-authored a paper on the subject for a scientific journal.
Later, Powell joined a project led by 溏心vlog免费B站 Assistant Professor Yan Sun studying trust models. 鈥淚n an ad hoc network of computers, how do you know if you can trust another computer to perform the specific action you want?鈥� Powell asked. 鈥淐ould the trust it with your bank account numbers? There are different ways of measuring trust in computers, and it鈥檚 closely related to how humans decide to trust each other.鈥�
A recipient of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Best and Brightest Scholarship, Powell will be presented with the University鈥檚 President鈥檚 Excellence Award at commencement exercises. He is also a member of Eta Kappa Nu, the electrical engineering honor society.
Following graduation, Powell plans to work in the engineering field for several years before pursuing a graduate degree in business.
鈥淯ltimately I want to be a CEO for a technology company,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檇 like to start my own business, not because I want to run a business, but so I could sell it and start another one. I want to be an entrepreneur in an engineering business. It鈥檚 a lofty goal, but you need to keep your dreams big.鈥�
溏心vlog免费B站 News Bureau Photo by Michael Salerno Photography.