SUPERB-ITS 2013 Participants

Sonya Badigian 
University of Rhode Island

Sonya Badigian is a Computer Science major at the University of Rhode Island.  She is interested in cybersecurity.  Her interest in cracking codes began as a young child.  Her passion for sustainability, conservation, and community led her to pursuing a degree in sustainable agriculture. However, after taking an Introduction to Computer Science Course she found her true calling and changed her major to Computer Science.  The University of Rhode Island is currently developing their Cybersecurity program and Sonya has been a TA for many of her professors.  Last summer she participated in an REU Program at her university.  She also received funding from her department to attend the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Computing last year.

Faculty Mentor: David Culler

Graduate Mentor:

Shantonio Birch
Georgia Institute of Technology


Shantonio Birch is a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.  He began his undergraduate studies at Georgia Perimeter College (GPC) and later transferred to the Georgia Institute of Technology. In the Summer of 2012, he conducted research in the Bio/Organic Electronics Research Laboratory at the University of South Florida.  This is where he had the opportunity to explore fields of interests in clean energy and sustainability.  While working in the lab he became more interested in sustainable solutions using advanced/organic materials such as conductive polymers. He has a publication currently in progress along with his faculty and graduate student mentors.  He has won numerous awards for his excellent academic record.  He is active in several organizations such as MESA, LSAMP, and the First Lego League (FLL), which are geared towards broadening participation in STEM. 

Faculty Advisor: Ana Claudia Arias

Graduate Mentor:

Christine Dierk
Elon College


Christine Dierk is a junior double majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics .  Christine is the first female honor student to major in Computer Science at Elon College. Elon is a small, private liberal arts in North Carolina. Last summer she was in an REU Program at the University of Notre Dame.  Here she conducted experimental research and created a fully functional program focusing on a number of topics including iPhone development, animation, Bluetooth, Open Sound Control, and Kinect Programming.  Last year she was selected to participate in a Skype Beta Testing.  This was Skype’s first university Beta testing group and she worked with unreleased Skype software in order to test and find bugs, submit bug reports via Jira and community regularly with software developers. Christine is interested in applying to an MS/PhD program

Faculty Mentor: Bjoern Hartmann

Graduate Mentor: Kurtis Heimerl

Sophie Libkind
Swarthmore College

Sophie Libkind is a junior at Swarthmore College, majoring in Mathematics and Computer Science.  Last summer, she worked on Carnegie Mellon University's Tiramisu Transit project to develop an algorithm that uses crowd-sourced data to predict the bus route on which a commuter is riding.  She hopes to be part of a generation that redefines the culture of Computer Science to be more diverse and inclusive.  In particular, she aspires to become a role model for young women interested in the sciences. She is currently an active member of Swarthmore's Women in Computer Science club and was the keynote speaker at Swarthmore's Expanding Your Horizons conference this year. 

Faculty Mentor:

Graduate Mentor:

Meredith Moore

Drake University


Faculty Advisor: Jose Carmena

Graduate Mentor: Helene Moorman


Meredith Moore is a sophomore at Drake University double majoring in Neuroscience and Computer Science. She has been a peer reviewer for the International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities. One of her recommendation letters reads “Meredith is among the top students I’ve encountered over my career, and has the potential to be the very best.”   She is passionate about both of her majors and is hoping that SUPERB will allow her the opportunity to combine both majors. She is interested in computational biology.  

Mark Watts
University of Texas at Austin

Mark Watts is a junior majoring in Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin.  He is proficient in the following Programming languages C, Scheme, Java, Ruby, Haskell, Python, and Perl.  SUPERB is his first REU and h is very interested in a career in research.  One of the things he hopes to gain from SUPERB is information about the graduate school application process. He is involved with Empowering Leadership Alliance at UT Austin.

Casey Mackin
Arizona State University


Casey Mackin is an Electrical and Computer Engineering Major at the University of Arizona.  He will be graduating in December 2013.  He is interested in earning a PhD.  He has participated in two REU Programs; One at Duke University and the other at the University of Arizona.  One of current professors is Dr. Jonathan Sprinkle formerly a post doc at Cal who supervised students in the CHESS center.  Professor Sprinkle has a good idea of what it takes to be successful at Berkeley.  Professor Sprinkle is quoted as saying his “capacity for self-learning, and his work ethic to produce research results, exceeds those of almost all graduate students with whom I have ever worked.”   

Faculty Advisor: Claire Tomlin

Graduate Mentor:

Antonella Wilby
University of California at San Diego



Antonella Wilby  is a junior majoring in Computer Science at UC San Diego.  She began her career at Glendale Community College and transferred to UC San Diego. While at Glendale College she started a Robotics Club and raised thousands of dollars through grant writing and securing donations of parts/funds from businesses and private parties.  Last summer she was accepted to a ten- week REU at Harvey Mudd College.  Antonella was one of 5, out of 200 applicants.   She was so engrossed with her research that she stayed on an additional 2 weeks.  She demonstrated her work at the Association of Artificial Intelligence’s robotics exhibition in Toronto.

Faculty Mentor: Laura Waller

Graduate Mentor: