Zachary Burgess
Zack is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Booker T. Washington High School and earned the International Baccalaureate Diploma. He always knew he would study engineering, but did not know what type. When he was twelve years old, his neighbor showed him how to build a computer using different hardware components; it ignited a true fascination for Zachary.
Thibault Lucidarme
Thibault is from Paris, France. After studying in California as a 6th grader, he grew up wanting to come to the U.S. to study. After finishing Preparatory School Thibault was interested in Computer Science and chose to join ISIMA, a French Engineering school, because of the amazing opportunity it offers: the possibility to get 2 M.S. degrees in Computer Science, one from ISIMA and one from The University of Oklahoma.
David Rice
David is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he took AP classes in computer programming at Jenks High School and at the Tulsa Technology Center. Although David cannot recall exactly what attracted him to Computer Science he remembers saving his money for two years in middle school to buy a computer. After he got his computer he started to teach himself QBasic, C, and C++.
Maryam Nafari
Maryam is from Iran where she obtained a B.S. in Math and M.S. in Industrial Engineering. She was recognized there as one of the most talented students of her university. Maryam is a recipient of the Computer Science graduate scholarship and CS fellowship. She is a research assistant for Dr. Weaver and works on translating user interaction with visualization to natural language; this work is also part of her dissertation. Maryam always knew she wanted to be an engineer of some sort.
Nicole Knox
Nicole is from Edmond, OK. She is a Distinguished Scholar, the recipient of a FedEx scholarship and a Multicultural Engineering Program scholarship. She has always loved technology and was able to assemble her Sega video system at age three. At the age of eight an online game called Neopets encouraged her to work on HTTML. In high school Nicole was part of the Edmond Memorial HTTML team who won the State competition and placed 13th in the nation. She also enjoyed taking AP Programming in high school. She is currently a sophomore in Computer Science, minoring in Japanese.
Youming Lin
Youming grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma after coming to the U.S. from China at the age of eleven. He is a National Merit Scholar, a Mutlticultural Engineering Program scholarship recipient, and he is on the President’s honor roll. He has always been interested in technology and engineering, but was unsure of the route he wanted to take. In high school Youming enjoyed Math classes and took AP Programming (Introduction to Java) which eventually led him to pursue a degree in Computer Science.
Caleb Eggensperger
Caleb left his native Arkansas after receiving a National Merit Scholarship to join OU School of Computer Science as an undergraduate student. As a kid, he was interested in his older brother’s video games. His dad was prompt to recognize Caleb’s curiosity and introduced him to a programmer that taught him Q Basic.
