Four students in Upper School Science Teacher Travis Menghini’s Computer Science Research and Development course presented their capstone projects to a panel of faculty, staff, and alumni last week, wrapping up a semester’s worth of work. The students selected their capstone projects within the field of computer science on a topic that interests them, developing a program around that topic adapted to their level, and working with a professional to help guide them and challenge them to do their best work.
- Jeffrey Ge ’24: Artificial Intelligence for Medical Care
- Eric Feng ’24: AI Facial Recognition
- Zach Schmitz ’24: Using AI to Predict Human Behavior
- Andrew Haas ’25: Boolean Satisfiability
“I choose boolean satisfiability because it feels like computers surround us: phones, calculators, weather forecasts, etc.,” said Haas. “These computers all use some form of logic. Boolean satisfiability studies this logic, helping to model the real world and aiding computer chip design. My biggest takeaway from doing this project is how important the things we never hear about are in designing things we use on a daily basis. I have gained an appreciation for the people who are otherwise unrecognized, developing technologies we use constantly but never hear about and likely never will.
Feng was motivated by personal experience to study the use of artificial intelligence in facial recognition. “I was moved when I learned about burglars who broke into my dad’s office who ended up never getting caught,” he said. “This led me to researching the process of facial recognition because it is one of the most used technologies in law enforcement to identify individuals. My biggest takeaway is how easy this technology can be implemented, as it is a fairly simple process and only takes a few lines of codes to write. I really enjoyed the process of making the posters and paper because that was when I began to see my work come together.”
Each student first submitted a one- to two-page proposal for their project, detailing the topic and defining the scope. They wrote about why their projects were important and why they chose those topics, what has driven the technology in the past, what is the current state of the technology, and what they planned to research and develop.
Then, students found a professional mentor in the software development industry and met with them in person or via Zoom at least three times. They worked diligently throughout the term on their projects, and drafted a paper that outlined the rationale, organization, and key contributions of the project. They also included a good literature survey that contrasts different approaches to their topics, and four to five key assertions about how the topic pertains to computer science. Several of Menghini’s former students served as mentors to the current Rams, and two were able to watch the presentations. Many thanks to Frankie Trampe ’08, who joined the class on campus, and Michael Gira ’19, who watched via Zoom.
Students also created a capstone project poster, using charts, clear and concise language, and consistent design to effectively highlight key findings and communicate about their work.
Congratulations on creating wonderful capstone projects, student researchers!