John Hynes

Name: John James Hyneshynes-photo.jpg

Hometown: Lancaster, PA

Anticipated graduation: Spring 2021

Major: Computer Science

Minor: Mathematics

 

Internships/Research/Projects:

Computer Science Department Honors Thesis:

This being my senior year, I’m tackling an undergraduate thesis with Dr. Killian. We plan to design and create a ray-tracing engine and optimize it using parallelism and artificial intelligence.

Summer Internship at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:

This past summer I worked at LLNL on the RAJA Performance Portability Layer. My project was to design, implement, optimize, and analyze the performance of dynamic plugin support in RAJA. Unfortunately due to Covid-19, the entire internship was online instead of over in California. I got to work on some of the world’s fastest supercomputers as well as with some very bright and talented individuals who were a privilege to work with. Despite the lack of in-person interaction, the whole experience was still very rewarding and exceedingly educational.

Computer Science and Mathematics Tutor:

I’ve been a tutor for both the Computer Science and Mathematics departments for a couple of years now. I work in group settings, helping several students with a variety of courses at the same time.

Inspirations (for major, research, internship):

When deciding my major, I picked Computer Science because it had the word “computer” in the name and I liked the vague idea I had of it at the time. I wasn’t exceptional at programming and had very little experience in it. My poor math placements meant I had to spend an entire semester taking no courses directly related to my major except for College Algebra. When I finally got into the introductory programming courses, I discovered a passion for Computer Science and everything that came with it. As I continued onto the upper-level courses, I found myself falling in love with learning as well as the problem-solving process. I genuinely enjoy the path I’ve walked and can’t wait to see where it takes me.

Highlights (from courses/internship/research):

I’ve gotten where I am today thanks in no small part to the amazing professors in the Computer Science department who I can never thank enough for their endless patience and guidance throughout my time here at MU. Dr. Killian, Dr. Schwartz, Dr. Zoppetti, just to name a few. Working with them has been an honor and a privilege and I’m proud to have been their student.

My favorite courses would have to be Parallel Programming, Computer Architecture, and Operating Systems. All of which truly helped shape my vision of the future and where I want to go in my education and career. They peaked my interests, tested my mettle, and pushed me to learn and grow as a computer scientist.

I should also mention my fellow students and friends that have brought me nothing except good times and endless laughs while stressing and studying over the past few years. You know who you are, equally deserving of this spotlight. Thank you.

Advice (for incoming freshman in your shoes):

Thinking of advice for incoming freshmen is difficult for me in that there is so much I want to say and I hate to condense it down into a few bytes of information. Freshman year is such a magical and rewarding experience, so much room to grow and so much to learn. I’d say my number one bit of advice would be to spend your time, not waste it. Spend it growing, spend it learning, spend it meeting new people, trying new things, hanging with friends, but don’t you dare waste it.

My second piece of advice would be to get to know your professors, even if you’re only going to have them for one class. Millersville has some outstanding professors in the College of Science and Technology, and to this day they still impress me with their commitment to their students’ education and future success. Never be afraid to walk into office hours or send them an email with questions or concerns about a course, you’ll thank yourself later.

My last piece of advice would be to set yourself up for success as much as you can. Be in class as often as you can and work ahead. There’s a surprising amount of free time in college when you don’t procrastinate.

Aspirations (upon graduation):

I hope to go to grad school to eventually earn a Ph.D. to eventually work in research.

If you are currently employed in your field, please provide professional information, where you work, when you started, etc.:

I’m still working as an intern at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory although in a very limited capacity. I started this position over the summer in July 2020 and as of right now I’m unlisted from any projects but any work I do for them is still paid.