Myson C. Burch

Graduate Student

DDI Student Advisory Committee - Student

NSF GRFP Fellowship

Joined department: Fall 2017

Education

My first exposure to technology was through playing videogames. My enthusiasm for videogames evolved into a curiosity for technology. I began to explore various computer science topics in high school through courses and clubs that were offered. I was able to take some hardware and programming classes as well as participating in my schools Robotics Club. I decided to go to IUPUI and double major in mathematics and computer science.

As a student at IUPUI, I was heavily committed to programs that recruit students as well as improve scientific communication amongst students, faculty and the general community. Outside of academia, I volunteered through the honor societies at IUPUI coordinating community and various volunteering events such as Adopt-A-Family during the holiday. I am also now getting involved in the Black Male Excellence Network, Black Graduate Student Association, National Society of Black Engineers, and other clubs and organizations to continue my involvement in the community. I have found a lot interest and enjoyment in computer science both academic and social, and it is something I would like to continue participating in.

My research interests are focused on data mining and machine learning in interdisciplinary setting. As an undergraduate student, I began investigating research areas, mathematical modeling, in particular, during my sophomore and junior year. In 2015, I went to Michigan State University and was a part of their Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP). SROP is a program to increase underrepresented minorities participation in research related fields. I worked in the Institute for Cyber-Enable Research with my mentor and our project was about using molecular dynamics simulation to analyze the lifetime of an electric propulsion thruster. In 2016, I was in the REU at IUPUI and conducted applied mathematics research in medical sciences. For both projects, I presented my findings at respective capstone meetings and conferences.

I am now pursuing my Ph.D. and Master???s degrees in Computer Science at Purdue University. I am working on machine learning methods in genetics to draw inferences about ancestry and diseases. The reason I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science is to become a research scientist. I have really enjoyed working on challenging problems in computer science while engaging with student, faculty and the community alike. I believe that through academia and industry I would be able to continue working on challenging problems and engage with the academic and nonacademic communities to improve quality of life.