CS Summer Research

The Computer Science Summer Research Program at Harvey Mudd College provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to engage in meaningful, faculty-mentored research each summer. Participants develop technical expertise, collaborate on challenging projects, and build skills that prepare them for careers in both academia and industry. With demand for the program continuing to grow, we are committed to expanding access and supporting the next generation of computer scientists.

The HMC Computer Science Summer Research Program was established in 2006.

Do you want to sponsor Summer Research? Check out how we can partner!

What Do Summer Researchers Do?

The CS Department is committed to offering a holistic approach to summer research.

Students in our program go beyond traditional summer research—they gain hands-on experience while developing the technical, collaborative, and communication skills that translate directly to both industry and academia. Throughout the summer, we intentionally invest in their professional growth through a range of structured opportunities.

One highlight is our CS Chats series, where faculty lead engaging sessions on topics such as research best practices, the evolution of the Internet, and effective technical communication. We are excited to expand this series by inviting alumni and industry professionals to share their perspectives and career insights with students.

The program also emphasizes community and connection. Students participate in group outings to Los Angeles cultural landmarks like LACMA and Griffith Observatory, while regular lunches and informal gatherings create space for collaboration and mentorship.

The summer culminates in a research showcase, where students present their work through talks and a poster session—building confidence in communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences.

Past Projects

Many of our faculty have participated in Summer Research; some of the projects include:

  • Jim Boerkoel: HeatLab Develop robust techniques for human-robot teamwork that exploit the relative strengths of humans and agents
  • Julie Medero: LILAQ Lab Low-cost air quality sensors for community engagement
  • Lucas Bang: ALPAQACombining combinatorics + information theory for software analysis
  • Katherine Breeden: Investigating features of 2D cinema influencing saccadic motion of human eye
  • Jonathan Chang: AWeSoMe Lab NLP Lab, promoting healthier interactions in online communities, social dynamics of online behavior
  • Zach Dodds: Scripting for All Evolving new introductory computing curriculums and Eship Studio/Summer Startup An undergraduate incubator for technical (co)founders
  • Lynn Kirabo: Cacti Lab HCI research, designing accessible disaster and mobility technologies
  • George Montañez: AMISTAD Theoretical machine learning, probability statistics, and search, providing impossibility results for learning.
  • Vidushi Ojha: CEdR Lab CS Education research, policies that foster learning and well-being
  • Melissa O’Neill: Computer systems, making programming easier and more reliable
  • Arthi Padmanabhan: SAND Lab Green computing and applications of machine learning on low-power devices
  • Tim Randolph: BEARD Recognizing sumsets and partitioning integer sets
  • Xanda Schofield: WHISK Lab Making it easier for experts in text collections within the humanities and social sciences through text mining
  • Erin Talvitie: L.A.C.E. Lab Reasoning about and accounting for uncertainty in decision-making through model-based reinforcement learning.
  • Beth Trushkowsky: Adaptive query processing for crowd-powered database systems
  • Ben Weiderman: PeoPLe Making it easier for people to write good programs
  • Calden Wloka: Lab for CATS Spatiotemporal visual robustness, and psychophysics and eye tracking studies of visual attention.

Interested in getting involved? Contact us at summerofcs@cs.hmc.edu to learn more.