CompSci 108 - Fall 2006

Owen Wendland

I am from Bethesda Maryland. I am a junior majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a second major in Computer Science. My main hobby is woodworking. I first started using a computer when I was about 8 years old. I would play ski free on my dad’s computer in the attic. Since then I have only used Windows desktops at home, apple computers at my middle school and high school and UNIX clusters here at Duke. On a daily basis I use my pocket pc to keep me organized; I play computer games to relax; I keep up to date with the news online; and if I need to purchase something I usually try to buy it online.

Ever since I was younger and tinkering with a computer I have wanted to program it and create things to run on it. This made me very interested in studying computer science at Duke. Computer Science is a very broad field but for me I enjoy the design. I very much enjoy designing things and when it comes to code on a computer the possibilities are almost limitless.

My favorite programming experience is not limited to a single project, but instead, it occurs during almost every project. It is the experience of reaching a certain milestone in the project that has been eluding me for some frustrating amount of time. It is a nice plateau to rest on before starting on the next step in the project because at least this piece is complete.

My favorite programming project was a game that I programmed in my spare time. It was a simple game that people play on a piece of paper like tic-tac-toe. I got so good at this game that I decided to program it for the PC. After I finished I decided to create an AI for the game. I wanted to incorporate all of my strategies into the AI to see if I could possibly create a computer opponent that could beat me. Unfortunately I never finished the AI but I still have it sitting on my computer as one of my many unfinished projects.

Ever since I first started using computers I have been fascinated with their capabilities. I feel that the more a user knows about computers the more those capabilities become user driven. And so ever since I first started using computers I have been trying to learn everything I can about them. Thus, in the future, I see myself having much more involvement with my computer at a much more technical level.