Michael Gruen '06 (Englewood, NJ) has always been an avid gamer. So when given the opportunity to combine his love for computer technology with his academic studies, Gruen took full advantage.
Gruen will spend the summer researching and executing an Emerson summer collaborative grant project titled "Advanced Computing Educational Simulation" with Hamilton College Professor Doug Raybeck. The project is a continuation of their work in their sophomore seminar class, where the class was responsible for building and maintaining a colony on Mars. In the classroom, Gruen, as chief of computers and communication, was responsible for creating a model of the compound on Mars both manually and virtually. Unfortunately, according to Gruen, the class did not take full advantage of the virtual Mars colony because of the program's limited capacities.
This new project will allow Gruen and Raybeck to build an immersive model to create a more life-like computer simulation that would help students play a more active role in re-creation exercises. By including real-time limits, as well as better communication mechanisms, the program will give participants more responsibilities in their cybernetic system.
Gruen is majoring in computer science.
| Summer Research 2004 |
Created in 1997, the Emerson Foundation Grant program was designed to provide students with significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty members, researching an area of interest. The recipients, covering a range of topics, will explore fieldwork, laboratory and library research, and the development of teaching materials. The projects will be initiated this summer, and the students will make public presentations of their research throughout the 2004-2005 academic year.
-- by Emily Lemanczyk '05
