Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Professor Brian Blake and Jerome Butcher-Green analyze data in the computer lab.

The CAARS project is just one of many research projects underway in Dr. Blake’s laboratory. Blake usually has about 6 undergraduate assistants collaborating on various research projects in his lab, while many more Computer Science undergraduates find work in other laboratories within the department.

Blake explains, “Almost all entering undergraduates majoring in computer science can expect to find paid research positions in the computer science department. Many interesting projects are underway, and we are a very well-funded department, especially considering we have only 7 full-time faculty.” Blake has received funding from NSF, the Air Force Research Lab, Federal Aviation Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Michael “Fitz” Nowlan (C ’09) currently collaborates with Blake on research in Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Nowlan began work in Blake’s lab as an incoming freshman in 2005. In the short span of six months, Nowlan published three papers, and presented the research that he completed with Blake at the professional conference Enterprise Computing, E-Commerce and E-Services (EEE06) in San Francisco, CA.

“Working with Dr. Blake,” reports Nowlan, “requires independence and accountability. He sets out the goals and tasks for a particular problem from the outset and he leaves it up to the student to solve the problem in a timely and effective manner. Of course, he's always available to help, but he enables us to figure out how we work best.”

Dan Kahan (C ’06) worked with Blake for a year and a half on projects also related to SOA. Kahan published four papers while working with Blake and attended two conferences, the American Association for Artificial Intelligence Conference in Arlington, VA (2005), and EEE06. Kahan comments: “On almost all of the papers I have seen Professor Blake submit to conferences and journals, he lists his students before himself, and this is no accident. He truly cares about his student researchers and makes sure they get the credit they deserve.”

Kahan majored in government and minored in computer science, and is currently attending Georgetown University Law Center. “In our research, I ran into a lot of legal issues--software licensing and privacy were the big ones. Working on these sorts of issues and looking at them from both sides really solidified my interest in the emerging field of cyberlaw.”

All told, Blake estimates that he has included approximately 18 undergraduates in his research projects in 6 years. More than 10 of these undergraduate CS majors have gone on to top-notch computer science graduate schools, including the University of Maryland, Stanford, and Brandeis. Six graduates have obtained full-time positions at MITRE after graduating from Georgetown. Two others are studying patent law at Harvard University and Georgetown University.

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