Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Greg Nelson helped develop a data warehouse for members of Dr. Janet Mann's dolphin research team. (Courtesy Greg Nelson)

By Theodora Danylevich

Gregory Nelson, a Georgetown computer science alumnus, is currently applying the skills that he learned under Dr. Lisa Singh in his job developing systems for the Transportation Security Administration at the respected technology consulting firm Deloitte.

“I joined to learn about business, get a flavor of what life is like outside of academia, and strengthen my work ethic,” says Nelson. “Deloitte is an amazing, flat, and open company where people listen and respond to my ideas. We take on important and challenging work.”

Nelson’s undergraduate thesis addressed visual interpretations of data and converting graphs to matrix representations that could be used as the basis for visual analysis of path distances . His fascination with and passion for graphs drove him through many long nights of research work during his time at Georgetown.

“Graphs are particularly suited to representing social relationships,” says Nelson. “As we further develop methods to analyze graphs, we lay the foundations for a better understanding of ourselves and the social nature of our lives.”

Nelson has found himself thinking creatively and deeply, probing the underlying problems—skills he learned working with Dr. Singh. He finds it satisfying to know that his current work has an immediate impact and enjoys learning how to recognize and solve complex business problems with technology. Another crucial skill that he feels he has brought with him into the workforce due to working with Dr. Singh is communication.

“Dr. Singh taught me that it’s all about communication and people in the end,” says Nelson. “I can have a brilliant idea, but if I can’t explain it well enough for others to understand, that idea ends with me. You also need to establish proper context around the idea so that it matters to each audience you present it to.”

Nelson, who received the Computer Science Award at graduation, co-authored a paper with Dr. Singh and Dr. Janet Mann called “Data Cleansing and Transformation of Observational Scientific Data” in the ACM SIGMOD Workshop on Information Quality in Information Systems (IQIS), in April of 2006 on the process associated with cleaning observational scientific data and data quality metrics that could be used to better assess the quality of the data throughout the cleaning process . Dr. Singh has several papers that leverage the work in his undergraduate thesis currently in progress.

“Working with Dr. Singh was a joy,” says Nelson. “Sometimes the work was menial—when it had to be—but her positive energy and perspective made it enjoyable. She was always understanding when it came to balancing research with classes and the extracurricular work I enjoyed. Through her example, she taught me to always share ideas, as well as how to create an environment conducive to such sharing. She treated me like an equal and patiently worked with me, never putting me down and always constructively helping me do good work.”

In the midst of a busy undergraduate schedule, Nelson always made time for Georgetown’s aikido club, among other activities.

“Training aikido—a deep and rewarding Japanese martial art—kept me sane and fit through school while introducing me to an amazing group of Hoyas,” he says. He also enjoyed acting and theatre during his first two years at Georgetown, though he had to give them up when he started dedicating more time to research. Originally from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Nelson enjoys outdoor sports, and he also loves singing, which is a great part of his Catholic faith.

“My great dream is to start a software company and create the next revolution in computing systems,” says Nelson. “If that does not work out, I look forward to getting my Ph.D. and becoming a productive member of academia.”

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