Clemson Research Experiences for Undergraduates

About Me

I am Mokell Moses. I am 19 years old. I was born in Milton, Fl, and I was raised in Pensacola, Fl. I am a rising college sophomore at the great Norfolk State University. I am a Computer Science-Information Assurance major and I minor in Mathematics.

• My interests:

I like computers, sports and learning new concepts and developing new skills. I enjoy developing code and actually seeing it work perfectly the first time although that rarely happens. I enjoy watching my home school, Norfolk State University, play on the field and I enjoy watching Scandal and Supernatural.

• My Hobbies

My hobbies include playing sports, watching sports, cross-stitching which is basically sewing with thread and creating wonderful and colorful pictures. I also enjoy taking pictures. I wrestle and I occasionally dance if the song is right.

• Something interesting about myself

I am the oldest of five and I am the first person in my family to attend an University. I am studying Information Assurance which is defending against hackers and potential threats against networks and systems. I am very strong and I am also very athletic.

• Some classes I have taken and some background about me

Calculus I&II

Physics I&II

Computer Programming I&II

I completed computer classes and courses since elementary school. I worked in my elementary school's TV studio for the morning show and I operated all the equipment. In middle school, took a 12-week Robotics course and I learned how to use Lego's Mind genesis to program a robot to perform tasks such as: rescuing a "bomb" from the middle of a maze without touching the walls, beating another robot in a sumo competition, and following a complicated line without deviating from it. My team won the competition. In high school I took classes such as: Computing for College and Careers, Web Design I, and Web Design II.

• Awards/Recognitions

2012 American Legion Boys State

2012 Haiti Mission Trip

2010-2012 National Honor Society

2010 Youth Leadership Pensacola

2009-2012 Top Ten GPA in Class

Project Description: Intelligent River Viewing Room

My project is the Intelligent River Viewing Room. I am working to achieve the end goal which is to project the Savannah River Basin on the screen with representations on the map of the sensors that are in the water. When clicked upon, information about the river will come up on the screen with details about the water that the sensor collected.

Week 1

In Week one, I became familiar with my mentor and the Clemson campus. I received my first assignment, my milestones and I also received information on my overall project and I was informed on what was expected of me. The first day was confusing as I did not know where Barre Hall or McAdams Hall was located. I started completing Python tutorials and learning how to operate Python. I was extremely stuck on how to display images with click references on them and I tried different approaches discover how to perform this task efficiently and productively. By the end of the week, I was still perplexed and my mentor directed me to some sites with source code and helpful examples.

Week 2

In Week two, I was still confused on how to connect the different source codes that I had found that seemed helpful. I received notification that I had received a full travel grant to the XSEDE14 Conference in Atlanta. That was a bright spark for me. I had a talk with Dr. Byrd and she told me that even though I am the youngest in the program (being the only sophomore), she hand-picked everyone that was in the program and she had faith in me. I met with Dr. Gemmill and she gave some helpful advice and insight to point me in the right direction and achieve my task.

Week 3

In Week three, I completed my milestone #1. I created an image map of the United State with clckable references on it of different states Once clicked upon, information about the state pops up in a box. The next step I started working on was using a map of the Savannah River Basin in South Carolina instead of the U.S. map. I will include dots on the map that correspond with the sensors that are in the river. I am working on creating a hover function that will allow for information to be diplayed whenever an user hovers the mouse over the sensor. I have started researching on how to display an image using multiple projectors without warping or distorting the image.

Week 4

In week four, I visited the Intelligent River Viewing Room with my mentor and I was shown a demonstration of the projectors and screens. The projectors are expriencing slight difficulties and Dr. Hallstrom ans his associates are working to correct those issues. For now, I am operating from just my laptop until I can attempt to display my work onto those screens. My program that I use to compile, Eclipse, is malfunctioning due to me resetting my laptop due to freezing issues. I am ammending that situation and then I will stream the data from the river into my program. My mentor, Dr. Hallstrom is leaving next week but I still communicate through email. I completed my first ever abstract and proposal. It was a tedious rocess, as every word in the abstract had to have a purpose fo being there, due to a 250 word limit. The student proposal also took a toll because I had to plan it out and edit it and re-edit it to bring it as close to perfection as I could.I am preparing for my midterm presentation on Thursday.

Week 5

In Week five, I spent the majority of the week preparing for my mid-term presentation. I signed up to go first for two specific reasons; one, I wanted to set the bar and provide a good example of a good presentation as I have background in presenting, and two, I wanted to get my presentation out of the way early. In my opinion, the presentation went smoothly except for a rough point, where I was questioned about a picture that I did not have an answer for. It was a ball inside of a ball, inside of a ball, inside of a ball, inside of a ball. It was made by a 3-D printer. I thought that it looked pretty cool. I appreciate Shelby Solomon Darnell for bailing me out on the explanation. I am currently waiting for Dr. Hallstrom to get back into his office Tuesday so that we can concentrate on and approach the matter of the data stream. I am confident that the end of my project is near. I am just working to finish strong.

Week 6

Week six was a bustle of acivity for me. I met with Dr. Hallstrom upon his return and we discussed my project. We discussed how the summer was going for me and he informed that he was not satisfied with my demonstrations of Python and that he still wanted me to progress with that task. I am preparing to leave for the XSEDE14 conference in Atlanta.

Week 7

In week seven, I attended a conference. Previously when I thought of a conference, I pictured a meeting in a huge room with many old and professional scholars and educators. I considered a conference to be no place suitable for a young leaner such as myself or any other undergraduate. This perception changed once I received the opportunity to attend the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) conference this year in Atlanta, Georgia. I was funded to attend the conference as a student volunteer. While my duties as a volunteer were my first priority, I was able to attend some pretty interesting classes and sessions. I met plenty of new people and I also learned new concepts while also trying to get a grasp on a lot of the information that was taught in the sessions. I am definitely going to apply for XSEDE15 that takes place in St. Louis next year.

Week 8

Week eight flew by in a flash. I was busy preparing my poster and also my final presentation. These past eight weeks have been a endearing experience for me because I have completed my first Research Experience for Undergraduates. I am looking forward to pursuing further research in the future.

Last updated: 07/25/2014