Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Clare Schramm developed interactive forms for members of Dr. Janet Mann's dolphin research team to input data collected in the field. (Photo: Roland Dimaya)

By Theodora Danylevich

Senior Clare Schramm has been tremendously successful in computer science, working closely with Dr. Lisa Singh both as a teaching assistant and as a researcher. Schramm also runs a Women in Computer Science group, of which Dr. Singh is the advisor.

“I owe a lot of my success to Dr. Singh instilling confidence in me, helping to build my skills, and developing me as a computer science scholar,” says Schramm.

From an early age, Schramm knew that she wanted to pursue a career in an engineering discipline. Once she arrived at Georgetown, she began to look into studying computer science instead.

“Dr. Singh took me under her wing during my freshman year because she noticed that I was feeling wishy-washy about my decision to major in Computer Science, despite the fact that I had earned top grades in each of the introductory classes,” says Schramm. “She noticed my aptitude for the subject and she constantly encouraged me to stick with it.”

Schramm says that Dr. Singh encouraged her to pursue research work oriented around her interests, which made her want to continue in the major.

“She certainly cares so much about her students individually and wants each student to get the most out of whatever they are doing, whether it be taking one of her classes or doing research work with her,” says Schramm. “Dr. Singh makes an immense personal investment in the lives of her students, both academically and personally. Her door is always open and she is always willing to talk with a student.”

Due to her excellent work, Schramm received a GUROP research grant for the 2006-07 academic year to work on a collaborative database integration and data mining project between Dr. Singh and Dr. Janet Mann. Schramm has also earned Dean’s List first and second honors each semester, and she’s been inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu, where she currently serves as president of Georgetown’s chapter. Additionally, she and Dr. Singh are collaborating on a paper based on feedback from the graphic user interface application that Schramm developed last spring for Dr. Mann's s Shark Bay Dolphin Research Project. Schramm will focus on privacy preservation in the context of social
networks for her Senior Honors Thesis.

“I’ve really learned from Dr. Singh’s example that I am a mentor to the younger students, both male and female,” says Schramm. “Dr. Singh suggested that I be the Peer Advisor for the incoming freshman computer science majors, and it is a role that I have really enjoyed because it allows me to share my own ups and downs with the younger students and encourage them to tough out the first couple of years.”

Schramm has served as a teaching assistant for Dr. Singh’s Computer Science I course since her sophomore year. She also runs the Women in Computer Science group on campus, which is “basically a social group of the female Computer Science major/minor undergrads as well as alums who have stayed in the D.C. metro area,” explains Schramm.

The group meets once or twice per semester in different venues—catered lunches in the department, brunch at The Tombs, and coffee at Leavey are popular choices. Current students get to meet with the other majors in a non-academic environment, and network with the recent graduates. The graduates share their work and graduate school experiences with undergrads, showing the wide variety of careers available, and upperclassmen talk about internships and research experiences with new Computer Science majors.

“We also discuss issues that we face as women in a male-dominated industry, such as our male classmates’ more aggressive behavior,” Schramm says. In the mid-1980s, close to 40 percent of the bachelor degrees in computer science were awarded to women. In 2005, that number dropped to under 25 percent.

The past two summers, Schramm has worked at Lockheed Martin. After graduation, she will begin its prestigious Engineering Leadership Development Program, where she will work full time in rotating assignments in different business areas as well as attend graduate school for a master’s degree in computer science.

“I have already applied a lot of what I have learned from my research work in my two summers at Lockheed Martin. Our relationship with the Department of Biology was like a customer/contractor relationship, which is the nature of business at Lockheed Martin,” says Schramm.

Originally from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, a small suburb outside of Philadelphia, Schramm is committed to giving back to the urban community. She currently serves as president of GU Melody, a volunteer organization that makes weekly trips to a YMCA in Northeast D.C. to teach the students in the after-school program how to play musical instruments. Schramm hopes to include volunteer work in her future.

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