Brendan Murty

I am happy to report that the funding I received through the Crown Thesis Funding program relieved some of my stress about the monetary demands of my project and my living situation over the summer. Being able to focus on my project allowed me to produce results that I am extremely happy with. I spent adequate time learning new skills such as a multiphysics computer program, computer-aided design, electronics wiring and soldering, and general design and execution for a physical prototype. Overall, I am proud of what I accomplished, and am thrilled to continue working into this academic school year, all because I was able to complete the work I did this summer, with the help of the funding.

One thing that surprised me was how much freedom I had with my project, and how I was essentially in full control of my own schedule. I expected to have more clear-cut deadlines set with my advisor, but since the project is student-led, the schedule was fully decided by me. This provided me with an opportunity to gain valuable practice with making my own schedule with my own tasks. I feel that I struggled a little bit for the first couple weeks, but eventually found a groove of good time management and planning that lead to a good result. Currently, further plans for my project include continuing to develop our prototype for research and doing a full write-up for my Honors Thesis. I also plan to ask for feedback from people within the world of research to try to determine if the project is worth publication.