Six Binghamton University students participated in Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) this past summer, and two of them will have their results published in a journal this December.

The program is designed to generate interest in graduate school for computer science majors.

“If a student is interested in how research is developed, they should check out the REU program,” Miguel Nina, a senior computer science major, said. Nina was one of the two students to have his results published. “I decided to do research with Patrick Madden [associate professor of computer science], who introduced me to circuit design,” Nina said.

Nina’s research aims to create computer chips that are smaller and faster by organizing components of them.

“I want to reduce the size of chips and reduce wire length between each cell,” he said, adding that he has not yet decided in which journal to publish his research.

The REU program is funded by the National Science Foundation and lasts 10 weeks from May until August. The participants work 40-hour weeks alongside faculty advisers and receive a stipend of $5,000, as well as free housing on campus. The students are also required to attend the research career lecture series.

“If students are considering grad school, this program confirms that that is what they want; that this is a good career choice,” said Mike Lewis, director of REU and associate professor of computer science. “During the program the students spend all day in the lab together. They make connections and get to share ideas about their projects. The students end up building friendships.”

Lewis submitted proposals to the NSF and received funding for three years. Lewis plans to submit another REU proposal for the next three years to give other students a chance to experience hands-on research. As director, Lewis hand-picks the students for the projects and finds faculty in the computer science department who will guide the participants in the lab.

“The research program gives you a piece of what graduate work is like,” said Edward Kaplan, a junior computer science major who did summer research at BU as part of a separate NSF grant. “I learned that in the real world problems are a lot more open-ended and require a lot more trial and error.”

Kaplan spent the summer writing code and developing algorithms to use for robots. He is still in the process of developing research along with associate professor of computer science Kartik Gopalan.

“The goal of this project is to develop MiNT-2, the next generation of miniaturized multi-hop wireless testbed,” Kaplan stated in his project proposal.

Madina Latypova, the other student to have her work published, worked with Nina on automation of component placement for very large circuit design. Latypova noted that REU type programs are for students who are not sure if they want to go into the industry or do research.

“A previous summer I worked at IBM. I got the feel for the industry. I felt I could do more with my knowledge,” Latypova, a senior computer science and mathematics major, said.

Latypova feels that many computer programmers get lost in the technology industry.

“It doesn’t teach you to be a programmer. These people become code monkeys. I won’t be satisfied with that,” she said.

Latypova’s research is centered on recursive bisection where she resolved issues previous versions had. She is working on a tool that will, in the future, help electrical engineers.

“The goal of REU is to get more students to go to graduate school. I plan to get my Ph.D. and teach as a faculty member.”

Lewis encourages talented computer science students of any year to apply to the program.