README.md

It’s 11;19 pm. A disheveled figure sits at its desk, hunched over its keyboard. Sweat is beading at its brow and streaming down its face in salty rivulets. The creature paws desperately at the collar of its shirt, desperate for some air. Desperate for an escape. This being has been given a task, a task it vowed to do never again after choosing its path, years ago. The poor, miserable brute had to write.

The brute is me, a CS student who hasn’t written more than a paragraph at a time in years. 

Who Am I?

My name is Ally. I am a Computer Science senior (though you already knew that), minoring in User Experience Research. I am a powerlifter, tap dancer, avid crocheter, literature enthusiast, film fanatic, and human. 

Why Computer Science? (this one may shock you!)

I used to watch so much House, M.D. that I thought I could very easily become a doctor. This was not the case at all because of a little thing called Chemistry. I took my first two years of college while being in high school and hated chemistry so much that when I transferred, I searched for a major that wouldn’t require any more Chem classes. My choices were very slim, and I decided that Computer Science sounded the coolest. I had absolutely zero computer science experience prior to my first day of class at OSU. This is a very serious story, and is really what happened, I swear. (sorry for the clickbait title)

Any Regrets? – A Computer Science Journey at OSU

Full transparency, I very much regretted my decision during my first year as a CS student. It was hard, and there were no shows I liked about computers to keep me going. I had always struggled asking for help, and I sometimes felt that I didn’t belong because I had no prior experience. Then I took Computer Architecture and Assembly and Data Structures and found the now-canceled British TV show I.T. Crowd, and I experienced a paradigm shift. 

The challenge of learning new things and solving complex problems started to excite me. I learned what RAM is and became obsessed. I was introduced to the language of control freaks dreams, Assembly. Most importantly, I met my true love: hash maps. Since then, I have only become more interested in Computer Science, and more dedicated to my education at OSU. 

So in short, no, I don’t regret it. 

The Project I’ve Got My Eyes On

The project I would like to do is Enhancing Localized Deformation Analysis in Materials Science Using AI/ML: A Comparative Study of Traditional DIC and AI/ML Approaches. In this project, we would create a ML model that would learn from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images to create a predictive model for material behavior as they near their weak points. 

This project immediately got my attention because of my interested in Machine Learning and Statistics. Becoming more familiar with some tools and techniques I have already been briefly introduced to would be an exciting experience for me. I love a good challenge and throwing myself into something new. I think this would broaden my horizons and push me to become a better developer and learner. Plus I could live out my dream of studying materials and their breaking points like Tony Stark in Iron Man II when he creates a new element in his basement. 

How Am I Preparing?

While I await my project and team assignment, I am keeping busy. As a refresher of main concepts, I did a speed run of Google’s Machine Learning Crash Course. It is a great introductory resource to the main topics and methods of Machine Learning.

I have also been spending a lot of time looking at data collections on Kaggle, like the LeetCode of ML, but have yet to make a model. I am still putting out feelers for all of my courses and getting a sense of their loads and requirements.

Foretold Obstacles

I can imagine quite a few challenges I may face as I work to finish the capstone. So I have created a list:

• Course load and life – I have other classes to take and other things to do! I struggle to find balance sometimes, and I can see it being a challenge with this project.
• Group work – I have improved a lot, but I still prefer to work alone. I will need to further improve my communication and collaboration skills.
• Lack of ML experience – I have some experience, but it is fairly basic. It will require a lot more for this project, so I will need to spend a lot of extra time learning about it and material science.

In Conclusion

My journey with Computer Science at OSU has been an interesting, if not enjoyable one. I am very excited to do any project that I get assigned to because they all look great. I look forward to (at a much, much lesser extent) to writing on this blog to improve my skills on this weird programming language called English? Inglish? I’m not sure, it’s been a while since I used it. And to keep everyone up to date on my progress.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or movie recommendations, please reach out.