Courses Informing Topic
My coursework reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the Data, Information, and Society pathway, drawing from different fields to explore the role of synthetic data across different perspectives.
Thematic Inquiry
DAT 201 ● Pathway Introductory Course ● Spring 2025
This class is the introductory course for the pathway. The class introduced me to the role of data in generating knowledge across disciplines. Through hands-on work with data analysis, and ethical data practices, I learned how to collect, interpret, and communicate data responsibly. The course also guided me in planning my pathway experience and refining my interests for my animating question. As you look through the selected coursework, you can see how my interests shifted as I learned more about data use through this course.
Selected Coursework
Examining The Implications Of Ethical And Social Bias In LLMs
This paper analyzes the implications of ethical and social bias in Language Learning Models. At this point in my process, I was generally interested in artificial intelligence.
Data Breaches Over Time: Trends and Impact
This presentation reports statistics on data breaches over time and analyzes the trends and impacts of those breaches. At this point in my process, I was generally interested in cybersecurity.
Utilizing Synthetic Testing Data to Enhance Software Reliability in the Medical Field
This paper argues that synthetic data is a powerful tool in the field of developing medical software tools because of the potential to create more reliable, inclusive, and representative datasets. At this point in my process, I was interested in the potential of synthetic data.
Advancing Medical Software: The Role of Synthetic Data in Developing Predictive Models
This presentation argues that synthetic data is a powerful tool in the field of developing medical predictive models because of the potential to create more reliable, inclusive, representative, and privacy-protecting datasets.
Database Systems
COM 303 ● MOIC ● Spring 2025
This course taught me about the core structures of database design and management, including relational theory, query languages like SQL, and the tradeoffs involved in choosing and implementing database systems. I gained hands-on experience working with structured data and I learned how to design systems for efficient, secure, and meaningful data storage and retrieval. As the final, I created a database system and an interface to interact with the database. This class informed my animating question because as a part of the coursework, I created a program to generate synthetic testing data to test my database during the design process. This experience allowed me to directly interact with synthetic data generation, giving me a new perspective on my animating question.
Selected Coursework
Database Design Write-Up
This shortened project description outlines my experience creating the database for my final project. For my topic, pay special attention to the section titled “Data Generation,” which outlines my experience creating synthetic data to test my database.
Data Generation File
My and my partner created a program to create synthetic data, added it to a text file, and loaded it into our database. This document shows the data generation text that I loaded into my database to test it.
Entertainment Software Design
COM 217 ● MOIA ● future semester
This course will introduce me to the fundamentals of designing and programming entertainment software, with a focus on real-time graphics, gameplay mechanics, and human-computer interaction. In this class, I will explore how synthetic environments are created through procedural generation and how game systems rely on simulated data to drive NPC behavior, world-building, and player experiences. This class will inform my animating question by giving me a perspective on how synthetic data is used creatively in entertainment software development. I will be able to take this knowledge and use its use in scientific research for simulation, testing, and model training.
Introduction to Sociology
SOC 103 ● MOIE ● Fall 2023
This course explored the foundational principles of human society, focusing on social interaction, structure, and change. Through the coursework, I thought critically about how knowledge is constructed and whose perspectives are represented in societal systems. This class informs my animating question by helping me think about the social aspects of data: how synthetic data is created, who it includes or excludes, and how it can either reinforce or challenge existing biases. This perspective informs an important part of the need for data generation because of existing biased and uninclusive datasets that can benefit from synthetic data generation.