User:Kvandyk
Contents
About Me
Pre-Collegiate Life
On April 6th, 1997, I was born to John and Marianne Van Dyk in Marlton, New Jersey. I attended public elementary and middle school, and then chose to attend Bishop Eustace Preparatory School, a private high school. In school, I always had a penchant for math and science courses; however, I balanced my interests with various extracurricular activities. One passion of mine is playing the violin. I have participated in my school's chamber and pit orchestras, the All South Jersey Orchestra, and the Rowan Youth Orchestra, in which I was concertmaster for two years. Around the time that I began playing the violin, I also learned to swim. During high school, I swam year round and on my school's team. One of the fondest memories of my senior year includes leading my team to state championship as captain. Aside from playing the violin and swimming, I was part of the National Honor Society, president of the Math Club, and editor-in-chief of the yearbook. I discovered my passion for bio-medical engineering while volunteering at Kennedy Hospital and Voorhees Pediatrics Facility.
College Life
I applied to Duke's Pratt School of Engineering early decision and was elated to be accepted in early December. So far at Duke, I've explored my interest in engineering and traveling abroad by joining Duke Engineers for International Development. I've also joined the club swimming team, the Chronicle, and FEMMES.
Future Plans
I hope to narrow my focus at Duke, figure out graduate or professional school plans, and hopefully graduate with a bio-medical engineering degree. Ideally, I'd like to work and live in an urban setting, preferably in California or in the Northeast. I am confident that Duke will help me refine my dreams and pursue whatever I choose to.
Grand Challenges for Engineering
How Reverse-Engineering the Brain Could Help Machines Learn, Frank Konkel, Nextgov, posted 8 January 2015, accessed 11 September 2015 (Reverse-Engineer the Brain)
Favorite MATLAB Demonstration
The 'Viewing a Penny' MATLAB demonstration was by far my favorite, as it showed the breadth of MATLAB's abilities in a creative way. The most interesting part of the program was its utilization of a pseudocolor plot with a color map. To make the graph resemble a penny in lighting, a unique model called the Laplacian lighting model was used. This use of an 'algorithm' to create a realistic effect showed me that MATLAB is able to bridge the gap between mathematics and art. Prior to viewing this demonstration, I thought of MATLAB only as a mathematical tool, but evidently it is a creative one as well. I am excited to learn the nuances of MATLAB and one day create a similar program.
