Eric Wheeler
Franklin Tennessee
Final Project Site: Vooga.
My hobbies include playing basketball and football, gaming, reading, and computer animation.
I like reading Kotaku and its sister site Gizmodo.
I am a Junior here at Duke majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
My classes are Software Design and Implementation, Linear Control Systems,
Introduction to Computer Architecture, and 3D Design and Animation.
I am trying to build up skills that software and hardware designers will find attractive.
1. I got my first computer for Christmas just prior to my Freshman year in high school.
It is still around and plugging along in my room at home. I haven't upgraded it much since
I commonly use it only for an internet browser or word processing machine.
2. I've used Linux, Windows, and Microsoft Operating systems mostly on Dell machines. I once had a Compaq desktop, but that thing was terribly buggy.
3. CS100E was a required course for the ECE department and seeing the incredible things I could do (like make my own compression scheme or code Boggle) was
eye opening. I wanted to try my hand at even bigger goals like web browsers or game engines or OSes. Just to see my limits would be nice.
4. From day to day I will use my computer to word process, code in MATLAB and JAVA, surf the web, play games (right now its Fallout), or design in 3D using Maya or AutoCAD.
5. If past experiences are any indication, a computer scientist consistently hits his head against the desk. Other intuition might say they design algorithms and interfaces
with hardware to make particular applications run as quickly in as little memory space as possible. Coding is only a small part of the job.
6. The worst programming experience I have had is probably finishing my VHDL finite state machine in ECE 52. I had to run through hundreds of compiles before it was even close to finished.
Even then the code looked horrible and was vastly repeated. It was, at least, functional.
7. My favorite programming project was probably Huff Encoding from 100E. I say this merely because it was the first time that I was able to get the program fully functional without any
TA help. I wrote the whole thing, and it just worked. It wasn't the simplest or best structure I have ever seen, but it was the pinnacle of my success as a programmer.
8. I aspire to be a 3D designer and coder if not for pay at least as a hobby. I cannot see myself putting down CAD and Maya for anything. I, of course, will never shed my Internet addiction
or my love of games.