This summer, I worked on developing a method for automated experimentation of agent-based models with electrical and computer engineering major Brian Warner '10 (Bellport, N.Y.). Brian and I were in charge of implementing the system design put forth by Professor Pfaffmann.
The majority of the summer was spent developing a framework for farming out model runs along a distributed network using the University of Wisconsin Condor distributed computing package. I also implemented and refined a variety of parameter space searches to drive the runs and optimize/explore their parameter spaces.
The work that we are doing can be useful in many different research mediums. Agent-based models are an intuitive and effective way of modeling phenomena in disciplines such as social science, biology, etc. They are also finding their way into teaching environments, giving students a decentralized view of many seemingly complex systems. The thought of a software package that many different fields of study can benefit from is of great interest to me.
The computer science department has provided me with more of a personalized college experience, with small class sizes and great professional minds readily available. I was also recruited here for the varsity swimming and diving team, which has so far also been a great experience.
As a swimmer, Jenkins has been named to the Patriot League academic honor roll, and was the team's 2007 most valuable swimmer. He holds the team's top times in three freestyle events this year. Lafayette men's and women's teams have been ranked third in overall for combined grade-point average among Division I schools for 2008-09.
