Spotlight on Undergraduate Research : Carson Crawford

Carson Crawford
Carson Crawford

Undergraduate researchers are an essential part of faculty projects. Not only do they help with ongoing research, they gain experience that can help them in graduate school. Read the following to learn about Carson Crawford, a Senior in Computer Engineering, and his research for Dr. David Swanson, an Associate Professor in the CSE Department.

What research are you conducting? Can you explain how this fits in with your mentor’s research interests?

I am conducting research concerning heat distribution in a super computer cluster. My mentor's (Dr. Swanson's) research interests include parallel computing and optimizing super computers clusters.

How does the research fit in with your coursework?

The research requires me to write code across multiple platforms using various languages as well as work with embedded systems, so my research is very helpful in learning how to apply coursework to real world problems.

What do you hope to do with this experience?

I hope to gain a better understanding of how to successfully do research so I can determine if I would like to pursue graduate school.

What do you think you have gained from being an undergraduate research assistant?

I have gained lots of experience in working to overcome obstacles both independently and with the help of a team.

For more information on how to get involved, visit http://www.unl.edu/ucare/home.