ESP Biography



KATE RUDOLPH, MIT Senior studying Math & CS




Major: 6 and 18

College/Employer: MIT

Year of Graduation: 2014

Picture of Kate Rudolph

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Not Available.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

E8404: Peanut Butter & Jelly Robotics in Spark 2014 (Mar. 15 - 16, 2014)
Think you know how to make a PB&J sandwich? Well enough to explain it to an extraordinarily stupid robot? Then this class is for you. Work with your classmates to instruct a robot to make delicious sandwiches.


E8405: Egg Drop in Spark 2014 (Mar. 15 - 16, 2014)
I give you a limited amount of materials, a limited amount of time, and the following task: PROTECT the EGG! Work in teams to design and build a vehicle to keep your egg from breaking... when I drop it out the window. The winners earn eternal glory. The losers have to clean up their eggs.


P8406: Impromptu Speaking in Spark 2014 (Mar. 15 - 16, 2014)
I'm putting you on the spot: everyone who comes to this class will give an impromptu speech! Learn to think on your feet and come up with something coherent to say with little preparation. Get useful tips on how to be a better presenter.


H8166: Book Club and Knitting Circle in HSSP Spring 2014 (Mar. 01, 2014)
Come learn to knit, and then make something beautiful while we talk about books! Titles include The Hunger Games, Things Not Seen, Running out of Time, The Girl who Owned a City, Invitation to the Game, and more. We'll be discussing a different book every week, so this class is for voracious readers -- but don't worry, I'll give you plenty of notice so you can start early!


X8305: Sprinkler in HSSP Spring 2014 (Mar. 01, 2014)
Each week, you'll get to choose one of 4 to 6 classes. There'll be new choices each week! Classes will range from cool math and science topics to hands-on activities. It's like a very-mini-Splash every week!


P7915: Impromptu Speaking in Splash! 2013 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2013)
Quick! You have two minutes to think about the topic I choose--and then you have to give a six-minute speech! We'll talk about why this is a useful skill to have, and then learn how to work within this framework to write and present an interesting, organized speech under incredible time pressure. Finally, you'll try it out yourself!


X7916: Peanut Butter & Jelly Robotics in Splash! 2013 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2013)
Think you know how to make a PB&J sandwich? Well enough to explain it to an extraordinarily stupid robot? Then this class is for you. Work with your classmates to instruct a robot to make delicious sandwiches.


M6918: Edible Math in HSSP Spring 2013 (Mar. 02, 2013)
Come eat your way through the world of mathematics! We'll use food as a way to explore some cool mathematical topics, from exponential growth and decay to sphere packing to the Fibonacci numbers. Snacks always provided.


X6963: Teach for HSSP in HSSP Spring 2013 (Mar. 02, 2013)
You're an HSSP student... do you want to be an HSSP teacher, too? This is an experimental program where you get to teach younger HSSP students, instead of taking a class this block. This is NOT a regular HSSP class. We will train you and help you brainstorm your classes, but for the majority of HSSP you get to teach anything you want!


X6968: Sprinkler in HSSP Spring 2013 (Mar. 02, 2013)
Each week, you'll get to choose one of 4 to 6 classes. There'll be new choices each week! Planned classes include everything from Basic Swing Dancing to Enzyme Kinetics. It's like a very-mini-Splash every week!


X7057: P.E. in Spark! 2013 (Mar. 16, 2013)
Take a break from learning at Spark and come break a sweat. We'll stretch out and then do fun, team-based cardio activities for an hour. Be ready to get moving!


E7058: Peanut Butter & Jelly Robotics in Spark! 2013 (Mar. 16, 2013)
Think you know how to make a PB&J sandwich? Well enough to explain it to an extraordinarily stupid robot? Then this class is for you. Work with your classmates to instruct a robot to make delicious sandwiches.


E7059: Egg Drop in Spark! 2013 (Mar. 16, 2013)
I give you a limited amount of materials, a limited amount of time, and the following task: PROTECT the EGG! Work in teams to design and build a vehicle to keep your egg from breaking... when I drop it out the window. The winners earn eternal glory. The losers have to clean up their eggs.


X6455: Splash! Focus Group in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
Come to this Splash class to talk about Splash. As the number of students at Splash continues to grow, we (the Splash organizers) are facing more and more challenges. How do we get enough teachers? Enough classrooms? Enough volunteers? We've been thinking about these problems (and solving some of them!) but we want to know what you think! The class will be a small focus group. Current ESP admins (the people who run Splash) will talk briefly about our challenges, and then lead a discussion. Your feedback will directly affect the future of Splash.


X6659: Splash!: The Game Show in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
This is Splash! MIT's favorite game show! Learn the mechanics behind popular TV game shows! Win fabulous prizes! Learn how to win at those other, lesser game shows!


E6661: Peanut Butter & Jelly Robotics in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
Think you know how to make a PB&J sandwich? Well enough to explain it to an extraordinarily stupid robot? Then this class is for you. Work with your classmates to instruct a robot to make delicious sandwiches.


H6663: Impromptu Speaking in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
Quick! You have two minutes to think about the topic I choose--and then you have to give a six-minute speech! We'll talk about why this is a useful skill to have, and then learn how to work within this framework to write and present an interesting, organized speech under incredible time pressure. Finally, you'll try it out yourself!


X5674: Teaching Workshop in HSSP Spring 2012 (Feb. 18, 2012)
Learn how to teach! This class will help you develop teaching skills and a lesson plan on a topic of your choice, You'll learn how to pick a topic your students will enjoy, and present it in a fun and interesting way! Throughout the class, you will work with a partner to develop your lesson plan and teaching skills, and for the final class you will have the chance to teach your class to younger HSSP students!


M5675: Bootstrap: Program your own video games! in HSSP Spring 2012 (Feb. 18, 2012)
Learn to program your own video game! We'll learn a programming language called Scheme, and learn and apply algebra concepts to make our characters move, change, and collide.


H5783: Impromptu Speaking in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
You have 30 seconds to think... and 3 minutes to talk. Learn how to collect your thoughts quickly and organize your thinking to give a speech. Practice good public speaking techniques-- connecting with your audience, holding their attention, and making them care about what you have to say. Everyone in the class will be expected to speak.


A5784: Escher and Tessellations in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
In his artwork, M. C. Escher created amazing and beautiful tessellations. Learn the theory behind which shapes will tessellate, and make some tessellation artwork of your own!


S5785: Estimation workshop in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
How many grams does this textbook weigh? How many centimeters wide is the blackboard? How many milliseconds does it take to snap your fingers? Don't know? Just guess! We'll take wild guesses at the answers to a bunch of questions like these. Then, we'll try again, revising our guesses into good estimates by using benchmarks and comparisons. Finally, we'll carefully measure the answers. Through this class, you'll build intuition for how heavy, how big, how long, how cold, how fast, and how loud the world around us is.


S5786: GPEAC: the Gravitational Potential Energy Appreciation Club in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
The higher an object is raised off the ground, the more gravitational potential energy it has. If the potential energy of the object is allowed to be converted into kinetic energy, but then the object abruptly encounters an opposing force (which we'll call the "ground") how will the object be affected? Come appreciate gravity and potential energy with GPEAC!


C5787: Amortized Analysis in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
Amortized analysis is a method of determining the worst-case average runtime of an algorithm, without using probability.


X5788: Peanut Butter & Jelly Robotics in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
Think you know how to make a PB&J sandwich? Well enough to explain it to an extraordinarily stupid robot? Then this class is for you. Work with your classmates to instruct a robot to make delicious sandwiches.


E5791: Egg Drop in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
I give you a limited amount of materials, a limited amount of time, and the following task: PROTECT the EGG! Work in teams to design and build a vehicle to keep your egg from breaking... when I drop it out the window. The winners earn eternal glory. The losers have to clean up their eggs.


W5792: Learn to Knit in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
Scarves, sweaters, mittens, shawls, hats, socks... you won't be able to make any of these in one hour at Spark. But I can teach you how to get started on your first knitting project. Who knows, maybe it'll spark a life-long hobby of knitting beautiful things.


M5855: Edible Math in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
What can toothpicks and marshmallows teach us about math? How about m&m's? A chocolate bar? Twizzlers? Cheese sticks? Pineapples? Let me prove to you that I'm not crazy: there really is a lot of math in food!


X5856: P.E. in Spark! 2012 (Mar. 10, 2012)
Take a break from learning at Spark and come break a sweat. We'll stretch out and then do fun, team-based cardio activities for an hour. Be ready to get moving!


X4906: Cooking on the Edge in Splash! 2011 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2011)
You awake in an empty room with 20 other Splash students and an intense craving for chocolate cake. The only items available to you are a microwave, a mug, and a handful of ingredients. Can you satisfy your cake craving? More realistically, at some point in your life, in a dorm or a hotel room, you will be faced with the daunting task of cooking without a kitchen. But you don’t need to resign yourself to eating peanut butter and jelly. Come learn to create a few different delicious concoctions with only a microwave and a minimum of kitchen implements.


S4975: Elevator Science in Splash! 2011 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2011)
The only Splash class taught in an elevator! Use everyday objects, like bathroom scales and stopwatches, to take measurements, test hypotheses, and answer questions about the elevators at MIT. We'll spend the first half-hour in the classroom, talking about correct experimental design. Then it's out to the elevators of MIT for data collection. We'll head back to the classroom to do some statistical analysis and discuss future work.


X4865: How to teach a Splash class! in ESPrinkler Summer 2011 (Jul. 10 - Aug. 21, 2011)
Come learn what it takes to brainstorm, plan, and teach a class for ESP's Splash, held every November. You will work in small groups to design an exciting class, deciding everything from the length of the class, to the grade levels allowed, to the actual content of the class. Write a proposal for a great class-- and I will take the best ideas and try to find teachers to make them happen this November!


H4586: Impromptu Speaking in Spark! 2011 (Mar. 12, 2011)
Quick! You have two minutes to think about the topic I choose--and then you have to give a six-minute speech! We'll talk about why this is a useful skill to have, and then learn how to work within this framework to write and present an interesting, organized speech under incredible time pressure. Finally, you'll try it out yourself! NOTE: This class will end at 10:20, NOT 10:50 as it says on the schedule, because of a teacher conflict. During the extra 40 minutes, feel free to attend a walk-in seminar!


W4622: 3-D Geometry Workshop in Spark! 2011 (Mar. 12, 2011)
Sure, you know what a cube is. Maybe you know what a tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, or icosahedron is-- but regardless, the best way to learn about these shapes is to play with them and build your own 3-D models! Come use paper, cardboard, and whatever else we can find to make all these polyhedra and beyond. What happens when we put them inside each other? Connect or extend the faces or edges? Most importantly, how big of a mathematical sculpture can we create?


M4505: 1=2... not! in HSSP Spring 2011 (Feb. 19, 2011)
Grigori Perelman won $1,000,000 for writing a mathematical proof... and so can you! Learn how to use induction, contradiction, invariants and more to determine true from false... and prove it. Besides the fact that they are really important in math, proofs are really pretty.


M3864: Pictures and Proofs in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Rulers and protractors are for the weak! What lengths and angles can you construct using only a compass and straightedge? We'll start from the very beginning of mathematical constructions and see how far we can go, proving things all the way!


A3866: Psychedelic Knitting in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Learn to knit... in bright, ever-changing colors! Start from the basics of casting on, knitting, garter stitch, and binding off. Take your needles and leftover yarn with you to get started on your own projects!


A3867: Gnittink in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Psychedelic Knitting isn't enough for you? Try Knitting Backwards: Gnittink, or more commonly, Purling! Use your basic knitting skills and bring your needles back to learn Stockinette stitch and make nice, smooth patterns. And you're using the same yarn so it's still psychedelic!


W4156: Modular Knitting in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Knit something small... create something bigger! Together we can become more than the sum of our individually-knitted parts!


W4206: Trash and Textiles in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Knit, sew, crochet...make a soft and squishable thing...it's all so cliche. Ever considered ditching the yarn? Tossing the cotton cloth? Grab some needles and start knitting with a more exciting medium. Trash bags? VHS tape? Copper wire? You name it. Pick up an iron, and make a robust plastic "fabric" that you can sew... Come make crazy-weird things with us. This is *not* going to help you learn to knit...but if you know, come play with non-yarn materials with us! And if you don't, come see what you can make anyways.


S3789: SAT Prep Math - Java in SATPrep Fall 2010 (Sep. 26, 2010)
Math: Section A (Java)