Computer Systems Research
General Course Description
With the relatively extensive hardware and software resources available in
the Computer Systems Lab, students have an opportunity to explore both
theoretical computer science and computational science topics. Because students
are encouraged to utilize high performance computing techniques to investigate
some topic of primary interest, related subject areas can be quite diverse
including physics, mathematics, biology, medicine, chemistry, art, music,
sports, English, foreign languages, social studies, and more. As an
alternative to working on the school campus, some students may complete the course through the Mentorship program where they work
under the guidance of a mentor based at one of the business or research firms in the region. Students
often enter their research projects in the various science competitions
such as the
Intel Science Talent Search, state and local science
ThinkQuest. One credit in Technology Independent Research,
such as this course in Computer Systems Research, is required for graduation
from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
The student in Computer Systems Research will
- pursue an individual research project in computer science or any related
scientific field that will utilize high performance computing as an investigative
- will write a formal research paper in LaTeX that presents the research investigation
- maintain a hard copy record of individual effort and progress in laboratory
activities using an organized laboratory notebook.
- develop computer skills appropriate for summer employment such as proficiency
in UNIX (Linux), mastery of languages such as C, C++, Java or Perl, and
familiarity with Web technologies and Internet resources.
- refine technical communication skills including technical writing, oral
presentation, and visual display techniques.
- assist in the successful operation of major hardware components in the
lab with possible supervisory role as a UNIX system administrator.
- display mature judgement and appropriate
ethical standards with respect to computer use and network access.
- Writing Your Technical Paper
- Artificial Intelligence
- Evolutionary Computation
- Context Free Grammars and Languages
- Java Servlets
- Sample table showing your interest
Last Update -- August 24, 2000
Donald W. Hyatt
Randy D. Latimer