Garett Tok Ern Liang ’22

Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, Pensacola, FL

Over the last summer, I had the amazing opportunity of working at the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), a not-for-profit research institute which focuses its efforts at leveraging and extending human capabilities, ranging from mechanical human exoskeletons, human augmentics, 3D printing buildings, and many other interdisciplinary areas. My stint was conducted with the Data Visualization/Cybersecurity team, mentored by my internship mentors Larry Bunch and Micael Vignati on two projects.

The first project revolved around the main research effort of the Data Visualization team—the Observatory, a tool which allows for the three-dimensional visualization of large amounts of sequential data, ranging from network traffic flow to loan data and bitcoin transactions. My project was to extend the possibilities of human interaction with the model by creating and allowing for Virtual Reality controls, which would see users being able to interact with the model, scale it up and down, translate it, and do a 3D selection of multiple data points of interest. This aligned itself with the goals IHMC had with the project—to depict data in elegant and efficient ways to allow human agents to detect temporal trends. Rather than limiting users to interacting with three-dimensional data with conventional mouse controls on a two-dimensional screen, we hoped that we would unlock a more intuitive, freer method of working with the data to allow greater flexibility and thus facilitate further manipulation of the data for easier detection of trends.

My major takeaways from this project were not the technical aspect of its implementation, but rather the amount of thought and consideration that has to be awarded to the users, as well as the constant engagement that is required to create something that is easy to use. A particularly illuminating thought occurred when a control I designed to rotate the visualization was thought of as unintuitive and hard to use, yet when I changed nothing about the control except add a smaller model of the visualization at the user’s hand, suddenly most users were able to navigate the control with ease.

My second project involved the exploration of machine learning approaches to model and learn the network traffic originating from a particular computer on the office’s network, and using that data, train a predictive model to be able to flag suspicious network activity. Should this research work, we would be able to detect intrusion events, such as remote hacking or a nonstandard user using that computer even with the appropriate login credentials. While I was unable to produce a complete product by the end of my internship period, I made sure to document the procedures for obtaining and processing the data, as well as sample code highlighting the various approaches that I have tried.

While I was intrigued about the idea of delving into computer science as a major, this internship helped me realize that what I wanted to achieve, beyond the fun challenge of translating an idea to reality, was that I was capable of creating feasible, real products that other people could use to extend their working capabilities. As such, I am determined to further look into how I might better craft my Williams journey to pursue this ideal.

As a whole, I found the working environment at IHMC to be relaxed, although this is more indicative of the trust that my internship mentors have of us, rather than a suggestion that our work was any less valued. Whenever I needed advice or the guidance of my mentors, they were more than happy to drop what they were doing to help me bounce ideas and point me in the correct direction. I found that I was more than happy to be working in an environment where my work was valued and trusted, and the support was there whenever I needed it, which gave me the confidence to charge on bravely with my work. The atmosphere was very welcoming, and IHMC’s CEO, Dr. Kenneth Ford, took time off his busy schedule to arrange for a lunch session to get to know us interns better. I deeply appreciated the care he showed, as well as the chance to talk to someone who has thought so deeply about the role of technology in improving human life, a vision I was very much behind.

Looking back at my experience this summer, I wouldn’t have imagined that any of this would have been possible just a year ago. Particularly as an international student, there are often less resources available to us with regards to support in both searching for these internships, as well as financial support to make these opportunities viable after they are found. As such, I am immensely grateful to the ’68 Center for Career Exploration for making me aware of the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program. Without their informational sessions and promotional materials, I might still not have known that such an opportunity was available to me. My thanks are also extended to the generous support of the Public Service Internship Program Fund for making all of this possible. I would also like to thank Mr. Ted McPherson ’67, who connected me to IHMC and checked in on me to ensure that my internship experience was a meaningful journey. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge Larry and Micael for their patient guidance and support as I oriented myself with their projects and sought places to make meaningful contributions. They warmly received and welcomed me into IHMC, and always made themselves available to help me with my queries. The large strides I have made with regards to the breadth and depth of my understanding in the field of computer science over this summer can largely be attributed to them.

In sum, the experience in IHMC had been wonderful, and one that I was grateful to have had the blessed opportunity of undertaking.