Grid people

 
Hardwick, Kristen

Kristen Hardwick

Name: Kristen Hardwick

Age: 19

Project: Virtual Environments and MapReduce

Position: M.S. Student, Computer Science

Institution: Clemson University

Nationality: American

Favourite IT technology: The Internet
   
1. What's your role within grid computing?
  I am a Computer Science research assistant working with exploring the potential of virtual environments for use in e-science and education. I am also beginning to transition into experimenting with Hadoop and Map-Reduce.
 
2. Why did you get in to grid?
  I worked with Second Life and Protein Data Bank files to create an in-game object that create large-scale models of molecules for the user to explore during a summer semester at Clemson University. I had a lot of fun using HTTP requests to get the information for the specific molecule that the user requested from an online database, so I took a class on Cyberinfrastructure. After I learned that the game itself was an example of grid computing, I became very interested in learning more about other uses.
 
3. What did you study at university?
  Computer Science
 
4. What did you want to be at school?
  I haven't made up my mind yet. That's the main reason that I'm still in school.
 
5. What are the highlights of your job?
  Everyone in the office is working on different projects, so I enjoy being able to learn from the problems and successes that are involved with projects that I'm not working on.
 
6. What are the lowlights of your job?
  I'm very unfamiliar with the topic that I'm working on, so there's a lot of initial learning that has to be done before I can make any visible progress.
 
7. What do you do when you're not at work?
  Right now, I'm using XNA to make an RPG for the Xbox 360. Wish me luck!
 
8. What are your goals for the next year?
  I hope to excel in my graduate-level classes, decide which area of computer science will interest me most in the long run, and explore one of the mountain trails near Clemson.
 
9. Would you encourage your children to get in to grid and IT?
  I would definitely encourage them to get involved. There are a lot of advancements to be made in these fields, and I hope that future generations continue to be interested in participating in its development.
 
10. What do you want to be when you grow up?
  I want to be satisfied with what I have accomplished in life.
 
 
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