George Nasr

Majors: Computer Science, Mathematics

What kinds of opportunities have you found in the Computer Science program? 

My impression of the department is that the professors very much care for your success and want you to learn and understand the material, but they’re not going to babysit you. They want the student to be fully responsible for there own work, as being a self-starter and being able to follow through on an assignment is extremely important to being a computer scientist. By far, I feel my initiative to start projects and ask questions when I didn’t understand concepts has been why I’ve done well so far.

Side projects, and the desire to work on stuff just for fun, is really important. It’s the reason I know I picked the right major. One of the greatest things about CLU is how available the staff has been for me. I always feel bad about “bothering” them about my side projects I do for fun, but a common response I’ve gotten, from more then one professor, has been “If the door is open, I’m in office hours”, inviting me to come in and ask about questions I have, even when I’m not in a class with said professor.

I also managed to land an internship early second semester of my sophomore year with a company called Spirent. They do a lot of network testing, and my main job was to test the software to be used on the testing cards (yes, I tested the testing equipment). I would say my experience with the Computer Science department at CLU very well prepared me, especially since the used a different programming language but I was still able to catch on thanks to my strong programming background.

What has inspired you at Cal Lutheran?

Spheres Shading Project

Being a Mathematics and Computer Science double Major, I am simply inspired by the idea that I can take a mathematical concept (be it complex or simple) and try to use my programming experience to either simulate or calculate my topic of interest. I think the biggest inspiration I’ve received from a class here at CLU was Computer Graphics with Dr. Reinhart. In the class, we utilized some Linear Algebra tricks to perform some pretty cool graphical manipulations. For example, my favorite two topics were rotating cubes and performing lighting effects on a sphere. The math and programming behind them required some amount of time and patience, but it was very worth while.

Besides that, almost every Math class I’ve taken has given me most of my project ideas. That’s really my motive for wanting to program, asking “mathy” questions and wanting to see what the power of Computer Science can do.

What has surprised you about your experience?

I am really impressed with all the help I’ve gotten from the faculty at Cal Lutheran. They are very helpful and have been very inspiring to me. They have helped me whether I didn’t understand a concept in class, or if I just wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the material by exploring concepts not covered in class.

What’s next for you?

I am a double major, in Mathematics and Computer Science. While I love Computer Science and programming, my interests lie in learning more about Mathematics. So I plan to go to Graduate School in Mathematics, and while I am unsure of what I truly want to do, I am very interested in using programming as a tool to do some very complicated mathematical concepts. Well, that’s not entirely true – sometimes the easier ideas are fun and overly rewarding.

Romello Goodman

Major: Computer Science

My name is Romello Goodman, and I am from Corona, California. I am currently a junior studying computer science.

What projects are you currently working on?

This year, I began student research in the area of web development. My research consists of a piece of software—an HTML pre-processor called HyperTxt—and a research paper that explores the history of HTML and its future.

HTML is the language all websites are written in. Since its creation in 1989, it has seen little change in contrast to the way that the Internet has evolved. HyperTxt hopes to change this by making HTML more powerful and adding on features that other web tools offer.

What are your goals for after graduation?

After graduation, I hope to enroll in graduate school and further develop my knowledge in the field of computer science. In addition to graduate school, I also hope to either start my own software company or join a company that is striving to solve complex problems.

How has Cal Lutheran helped prepare you for those goals?

Doing research has prepared me for these next steps because I was able to apply many of the lessons that I learned during my studies in a very hands-on setting. By reenforcing these concepts that I learned and applying them to real world stations, I feel more confident that I will be accepted into graduate school and find employment.

How have you made the most of your time at Cal Lutheran?

Beyond research and academics, there have been many other activities that have shaped my time at Cal Lutheran.

My freshman year, I was the starting running back for our Kingsmen Football team and helped them capture a conference title. This year, I will returning to the team after a two-year leave of absence and I hope to replicate my previous success.

I have also had the opportunity to work with many of the amazing professionals that are a part of the university’s staff.

What work have you done on campus?

During my time at Cal Lutheran, I have been employed at the Forest Fitness Center as an Attendant and the Fitness Center Intern, the Student Life department as a Marketing Intern and Orientation Staff Member, and with the Computer Science Department as a Department Assistant.

Working in all of these different positions has allowed me to interact with so many different and amazing people on our university’s staff and they all have taught me many things.

Do you have advice for incoming students?

In addition to my work experience, I am also studying abroad in Washington, D.C., this upcoming spring. I would recommend that all students check out Cal Lutheran’s study abroad options.

As you can see, a number of different factors have shaped my time at Cal Lutheran and with the help of all these experiences, I feel that I am discovering my purpose in life and feel well prepared for life after graduation.