Mentor's Bio: Jessica Hyde

Hello! I'm Jessica Hyde, currently a sophomore at MIT studying physics. My academic interests and experience are also very computer science based, and since coming to MIT I've taken classes on software construction as well as topics in physics such as relativity and quantum mechanics, and some astrophysics. My research interests usually revolve around combining the two worlds in some way, by using computer science to model or analyse physical phenomena. I love breaking down reality into statistically significant pieces and seeing how they fit together. In the past I've worked on a project to take data from CERN and convert it into an audible medium. Currently my research has me involved with the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) experiment, which is a large-scale experiment intended to directly measure gravitational waves (and as of recently, it may have succeeded!)

Outside of the classroom I am a part of the development team for Battlecode, MIT's longest-running programming competition, in which teams design an AI to compete in a game provided by the dev team. Game development and theory are some of my pet hobbies, along with AI and machine learning, so if you're interested in either of those topics I'd love to work with you on them. Otherwise I enjoy Latin and Roman history, reading old novels and fencing.

While my own research experience lies in areas that are difficult to work on independently due to scale or needing access to equipment, I'd be happy to try and help you plan a project that's more feasible. Some examples of projects I would be able help with include:

• Examining released LIGO data, such as looking closely at results from recorded events (maybe their predicted locations in the sky?).
• An independent study of concepts in a field of physics that you're interested in and that seems challenging but accessible.
• Designing a strategy game, virtual or otherwise! (Or just developing any cool piece of software that strikes your fancy.)
• Translating Latin text(s) from the source and doing a study of the historical context.
• Pick a part of the world that you want to know more about, plan a way you can gather data on it (through experiment, survey, or just searching published records) and we can search for fresh statistical insights.