CompSci 108 : Fall 2009
Daphne Ezer
Name: Daphne Ezer
Hometown: Plainsboro, NJ
Education: Duke University Class of 2012
Major(s): Biology (Genomics concentration) and Computer Science
CompSci108: Software Design and Implementation
Biology118: Molecular Biology and Genetics
CBB220: Genome Tools and Technologies
HEB063: Intermediate Hebrew (I'm speak Hebrew at home, but I'm illiterate)
CompSci149S: Problem Solving Seminar
Mentoring Durham Public High School students in Science
Coaching a Durham Public School Science Olympiad Team (Founder)
Duke Undergraduate Bioethics Society (Founder)
Biology Majors Union (Officer)
ACM (Officer)
Research in Computational Biology
My first computer experience that I remember was playing a black and white game on a Mac the size of a Cinder block with a screen the size of the palm of my hand. I don't remember how old I was, but knowing how my dad always buys things 2 or 3 years after they're out of fashion, there were probably much less archaic computers around at the time. Other then that first Mac (which is now on display in my dad's office alongside his brick-sized cell phone), I've usually used PCs. Just like nearly every teenager of this generation, I use my computer daily to check e-mail, check facebook, and catch up on webcomics such as xkcd. I think computer scientists program and/or design programs for a company, consult multiple companies about how to improve their computer programs, or do research in math-based computing/algorithm theory or in interdisciplinary fields. I took my first "programing" class in 8th grade, in terrapin logo. After drawing pretty pictures with a cool-looking turtle, I was motivated to continue taking real computer science classes throughout high school. My favorite programming experience was making an AI tictactoe java applet, because it was the first real project I had done in java, and it was much more fulfilling than the mini-projects done during class or for homework. I have two favorite programming projects. The first was actually for my chemistry class. Our teacher had forced every student to participate in a competition where you have to pretend you have come up with a chemistry invention that would shape the future. My partner and I made a genetically engineered fish that could turn mercury into a less toxic form. We took the Marine Biology Simulation Java Case Study from AP class and adapted it to model mercury distribution in a lake with and without the fish that we designed. We won 1st place in the Princeton region and in the multi-state, mid-atlantic regional tournament. My second favorite project was a free-for-all post-AP large-scale assignment. While most of my peers made games, I decided to create two applications that would be useful for the genetics/microbial ecology lab that I was working at. I used the program to analyze data that I presented at the Science Fair and Science Symposium, and was first runner-up for going to ISEF and was selected as a delegate to the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. I liked both these projects the best, because they had real-world applications and because they integrated my love of pure science and research with my love of programming. For this reason, I wish to go to graduate school in computational biology and bioinformatics and become a professor at a university. I really enjoy both teaching and research, so this would be my ideal profession!