Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, Pensacola, FL
For nine weeks over the past summer, I have been fortunate enough to work with the Data Visualization/ Cybersecurity team at the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC). The bulk of my work concerns with laying the groundwork for the visualization of Bitcoin transaction data. Through close collaboration with my supervisors and fellow intern—Daniel Yu ’20, I have had the chance to gain deep knowledge in asynchronous programming, database design, and blockchain technology. Moreover, the overall experience at IHMC has provided me with a better understanding of the daily work of computer science researchers.
IHMC is a truly diverse and multidisciplinary research institute; key research areas range from mechanical exoskeletons, to unmanned underwater and aerial vehicles, to natural language understanding, to marine ecosystem surveys. Researchers’ expertise also includes both theoretical work and applications. It is clearly an exciting time to do research there, and I learned a lot through interacting and working with the different employees. There is also an overall laid-back, friendly workplace culture at IHMC; the dress code is casual, everyone is on a first-name basis, and gatherings, meals, and talks are occasionally organized. I additionally have benefitted a lot from a close working relationship with my supervisors—Larry Bunch and Michael Vignati: despite their hectic schedules, they frequently encouraged me to provide opinions/directions for the project as well as to proactively come to them for help. This allows me to learn a great deal, to contribute meaningfully to the team, and to take ownership of my own assigned project.
The main project of the IHMC Data Visualization team is the Observatory—a tool for visualizing large amounts of sequential data adaptable for many different purposes, including visualizing network traffic as well as national loans. This core project aligns well with the motto of IHMC, which is to build technology that leverages and augments human ability. In this case, the team aims to depict data in efficient, elegant ways so as to facilitate human agents in deducing temporal trends and abnormal patterns. My project focuses on creating a system to extract Bitcoin transaction data and format them in a proper form that the Observatory could efficiently query and render. The hope is to contribute to the current wave of researches that look into how the Bitcoin transaction network is constructed and what analytical network properties could be studied through data visualization.
My work with the team has been both rewarding and enlightening. The entire project demanded me to develop competency in various areas: these include conducting literature reviews to survey past Bitcoin research papers, writing asynchronous scripts with JavaScript and node.js, understanding and unrolling the Bitcoin blockchain, as well as designing efficient SQL databases to warehouse the large amount of data we extracted. This newfound knowledge complements greatly the Computer Science curriculum at Williams, which provides a sound theoretical foundation but often includes fewer courses on applications. I definitely have had the chance to see how concepts I learned in class are employed in a research setting, as well as how academia and the industry are often closely intertwined in the tech scene. Together with my fellow intern Daniel, by the end of the summer, I have successfully set up the infrastructure to automate the process of extracting and visualizing Bitcoin transaction data on the pre-existing Observatory engine, creating a foundation for future exploratory and analytical works by the team.
One small realization I had during my time at IHMC was that STEM researchers have to consider the social implications of their work much more often than I thought they would. In my specific case, for instance, Bitcoin and blockchain technology have the potential to effect real change in the society and economy, with finance being only one example. Thus, it is helpful for researchers to have broad background knowledge on the social context of the technology they are working with. This really encourages me to continue taking a diverse set of both STEM and humanities classes at Williams to properly prepare myself.
Perhaps the most important thing I acquired from the internship is a better sense of what sort of career I would like to pursue after graduation. At the beginning of the summer, I was very set on going to graduate school right after college and subsequently joining a research lab. My ultimate goal still remains to become a researcher at either a university, public or private institute, but I have realized that I should delay going to graduate school for a few years. The researchers I have met at IHMC all did not have a clear, simple trajectory through their research careers; most spent some years working in the industry or as post-bachelor fellows in labs around the country before getting their Ph.D./MS. Learning about their experience really helps me re-evaluate my post-graduation plan. Seeing that graduate school is a great commitment, I have come to understand that I should work in the industry or in a research lab for a few years first before pursuing further education. This would not only allow me to find out which tech area I am most suitable to work in, but also provide me with some more time to build up my CV. Moreover, I am constrained by the OPT student work visa, so I would definitely have to consider graduate school or some other programs after three years of post-grad work.
As I reflect on the things I picked up over the course of this internship, I am also thankful for all the people who have made this experience possible. Firstl, I am most grateful to Mr. Ted McPherson ’67. It was through Mr. McPherson’s work with the ’68 Center for Career Exploration that I became aware of the opportunities at IHMC; without him, I would never have had the chance to meet and work with all the wonderful IHMC researchers. For all of his continuing support as an alum, I am so deeply grateful.
I am also of course thankful to the people at IHMC for welcoming me, especially my supervisors; Larry and Michael have taught me a tremendous amount, both in terms of web and database technologies as well as in terms of proper programming habits. Additionally, my summer would not have been as smooth-sailing without Daniel Yu ’20—my fellow intern—who shared housing and accommodations with me, as well as worked directly with me on the Bitcoin project.
Finally, my internship would not have been at all possible without the generous support of the Williams Alumni Network. In particular, I would like to thank the Class of 1972 for sponsoring my internship. I would also like to thank the Williams College ’68 Center for Career Exploration for organizing the Alumni-Sponsored Internship Program. As an international student, I often find it rather difficult to garner the different types of support necessary to intern in the States; the ’68 Center for Career Exploration has not only made this process possible, but also connected me with a supportive alumni network who assists me every step of the way.
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