What was your favorite part about your UseIT experience?

I think the field trips together and the group environment
of the lab definitely give UseIT a big edge over other
research programs. It enables you to be involved in
several different sub projects and reduces the
frustrations of working alone. Oh, and the field trips are
really cool.

How has your understanding or appreciation for earthquake science been affected by the UseIT program?

Prior to the program, my most recent education in
geoscience was some time in high school. Nevertheless, the
tutorials and field trips gave me a good grasp of the real
world complexities faced when trying to accurately
modeling earthquakes.

What would you recommend to future UseIT interns?

Don't bring a white towel if you live in Cardinal Gardens!
The cleaning staff will confuse it with the linen & towel
packets they provide. I never got mine back and it was a
very annoying sidetack to what is otherwise a decent place
to stay.

If you would do anything differently if you did this program over again, what would you do and why?

Step back and spend more time planning our software for
compatibility in the long run. Code for simplicity so that
our work is totally adaptable to future needs. This will
make it easier to develop the program in the future and
make our software more popular around the world.

What have you done in the UseIT program this summer?

My work so far has been changing the way highways are
displayed in our visualization program. I am transforming
it from a purely an on/off option into an interactive GUI
which can display whichever subset of highways one wishes.
This has been more challenging than expected,
since the previous code and source file were quite
difficult to decipher, and I have needed to spend much
time cleaning them up before new work could be added. As
my session continues, I expect to work on making these
highways selectable and possibly get involved in another
project.