{"id":400912,"date":"2019-10-09T12:03:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T16:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=400912"},"modified":"2019-10-11T09:15:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T13:15:09","slug":"students-thrive-at-the-intersections-of-engineering-computer-science-and-humanities-400912","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/students-thrive-at-the-intersections-of-engineering-computer-science-and-humanities-400912\/","title":{"rendered":"Students thrive at the intersections of engineering, computer science, and humanities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

What engineers and humanists can learn from one another<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"Joan<\/p>\n

To Joan Shelley Rubin, the Ani and Mark Gabrellian Director of the Humanities Center, left, and Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, engineering and the humanities are strongly connected.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Jarrod Young \u201920 wanted to study computer science at a university where he could also pursue a \u201crange of studies\u201d in the humanities and arts\u2014especially Spanish.<\/p>\n

Nathan Nickerson \u201920 chose the University of Rochester<\/a> because of its open curriculum. It has allowed him to study mechanical engineering, minor in art history, and still spend \u201cmost of his time\u201d working at the student radio station, WRUR.<\/p>\n

Melissa Wen \u201920 initially intended to major in brain and cognitive sciences (BCS) and also in studio arts. Then she discovered computer science during her first semester at Rochester. She\u2019s added that as a major along with BCS and will now minor in studio arts\u2014thanks to \u201cthe flexible curriculum we have here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, all three seniors are doing well. They have been named recipients of the Wells Award, given each year to high-achieving students in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a> who also excel in the humanities, as determined by highest GPAs at the end of their junior year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll three students are at the top of their class and have gone above and beyond to pursue a minor or second major in the humanities,\u201d says Anna Alden, an academic advisor with the Hajim School.<\/p>\n

The award is named after Robert W. Wells \u201939, a mechanical engineering alumnus who became a top executive at Westinghouse\u2014and felt strongly that engineers \u201cneed the balance of the humanities\u201d to be competent in their field.<\/p>\n

\"Jarrod
Jarrod Young \u201920 is a dual major in computer science and Spanish, and president of the Inter-Class Living Community. (University of Rochester photo \/ Bob Marcotte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All about language<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Even when pursuing dual majors that, on the surface, seem to have little in common, Wells Award recipients often find that those majors indeed complement each other in some respect.<\/p>\n

Young, for example, has found that communication skills are critical to both of his majors. \u201cSo much of Spanish or any language program involves writing and communicating well\u2014and you also have to communicate well in computer science. It helps to be able to describe things precisely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young first became interested in Spanish in high school. However, a one-month IES Abroad<\/a> summer study program in Quito, Ecuador the summer before his junior year at Rochester \u201cwas my first time being completely immersed in a Spanish-speaking environment,\u201d Young says. \u201cMy host family didn\u2019t speak any English. I was able to learn a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he especially enjoyed trips to museums and hiking in the mountains near Quito. \u201cIt was such a rich cultural experience every single day there,\u201d Young says.<\/p>\n

He is president of the Inter-Class Living Community (ICLC)<\/a>, a special-interest housing group that fosters a sense of community on three levels: within the hall and its members, across the River Campus, and in the Rochester community. For example, ICLC has sponsored game nights, movie nights, and a letter-writing program at which the group provided stationery and postage stamps for students who wanted to write a letter home. \u201cIt drew a lot of people,\u201d Young says of the letter-writing event. \u201cI think they really liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spent this past summer doing research at Johns Hopkins University, applying machine learning to natural language processing in the Human Language Technology Center of Excellence.<\/a><\/p>\n

But as much as he enjoyed the opportunity to do research in an academic lab, his eyes are set on the private sector. As graduation nears, Young will be looking for a job as a software engineer in an AI or data science startup company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Nate
Nathan Nickerson \u201920 is a mechanical engineering major and art history minor who has worked as a producer, general manager, and chief engineer at the University\u2019s radio station, WRUR. (University of Rochester photo \/ Bob Marcotte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Structuring his time<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen I was four years old, I was too scared to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge,\u201d Nickerson writes at his Linkedin page. \u00a0\u201cI couldn\u2019t understand how a mile-long section of road could be supported with just a few small wires. Fifteen years later, I study them in school. I\u2019m not too afraid of them anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nickerson, who is from Wilmington, Delaware, has taken full advantage of the opportunities the University of Rochester<\/a> offers to students.<\/p>\n

In addition to pursuing a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in art history, he:<\/p>\n