Michael Brown is a junior from Plano, Texas working towards his bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and English with a Specialization in Creative Writing. He has taken full advantage of the flexible course plans in order to take two greatly diverse majors offered at SMU.
Michael chose the Lyle School of Engineering mainly because of his interest in the video game development specialization they offered, but also because of the close attention and personal experience he received on his visits. “When I first came here I has happily greeted by professors who were more than happy to have a personal conversation for a little over an hour. I just made everything feel like home.”
During the school year, Michael has held a job in Lyle School of Engineering Dean’s Office. He works at the front desk both assisting students and faculty with their needs while helping to manage events being hosted at the school. “The school is fantastic at helping students find jobs, both internally and externally. While I’ve been working here I’ve had the opportunity to grow close with the faculty and meet unique individuals.”
During the summer he worked in the Skunk Works Innovation Gym here at SMU where he, and other students, had one week to develop a system for creating false GPS signals. During this time he had a hands-on learning experience of the development process and how to actively deal with problems as they occurred on a very short deadline. “As stressful as the project was, I loved the full experience! At the start of the project we knew nothing about how a GPS signal worked or how we were even going to approach it. After one week I had become fluent in a new programming language, learned the details about a GPS signal, and had developed a way to generate false data so a person’s position would be where we told it to be.”
“Without this school I don’t know where I’d be right now. To me, it’s more than just a university: this place has become a second home to me and these people are a part of my family now. I couldn’t have asked for anything better!”