Hall Completes Participation in Minority Computer Science Program

LaTonya Hall, a member of the Shaw women's basketball team, participated in this year's Computer Science Minority Program at the Department of Computer Science at Duke University.  Hall worked with Richard Lucic, Associate Chair of the Department of Computer Science, on a project titled:  "Message Based Protocols for Network Communications."  She presented this research in a televised, videotaped seminar, which was broadcast live across the NC-REN MCNC educational television network to N.C. A&T State University and UNC-Chapel Hill.   A large audience at Duke also attended the broadcast, including special guests from Shaw University, President Clarence Newsome and Mr. Jacques Curtis, head women's basketball coach.

The project that Hall was given involved researching message-based protocols.  The primary discovery was that some message based  protocols could be applied to transmit data regardless of the hardware platform.   Initially, this discovery seemed out of reach, but with a thorough investigation of many message-based protocols this was proven to be true.  She demonstrated this with simulation.   Her research served its purpose of being a model for designers of the "smart" room that will eventually be in the new engineering building at Duke University.

"As a computer science outreach fellow I gained valuable experience,” said Hall, a senior from Macon, Ga.  “I was given an interesting project along with helpful co-workers and my research was successful.” The Computer Science Minority Program, under the direction of Martha Absher, Assistant Dean for Education and Outreach Programs at the Pratt School of Engineering, provides challenging projects in Computer Science to talented young minority students from around the country.  These students come to the Duke campus to perform a summer of paid research in the Department. This Outreach Program is very rigorous, incorporating an intense, individual research project, an ethics component funded by a separate grant from the National Science Foundation, student seminar presentations which are televised and videotaped and industry interaction and exposure.  The program has a commitment to encouraging students, especially underrepresented minorities to pursue graduate studies in computer science. The program is competitive and eligible students apply from schools all over the country.  This is Hall's second year participating in the program, as she and April Collins, also a member of the Shaw women's basketball team, participated in the program last year.

Hall, a computer science major, was the starting point guard this past season.  She was steady for the Lady Bears, helping to lead Shaw to the 2003 CIAA Tournament Championship and a finals berth in the South Atlantic Regional championship game.