Research Center

James R.

Hometown:
St. Louis, MO
Kirkwood High School

Major / Minor:
Junior in Computer Science, Mathematics

Extracurricular Activities @ U of I:
Cutting Edge Show Choir, Coed Ultimate Disc Team

Favorite Class @ U of I:
Abnormal Psychology

Hobbies:
I love to play guitar and perform.  I am the guitarist in the Cutting Edge Show Choir’s combo section. Basically, I love anything music or sports related.  I also spend some of my free time playing chess (it’s addictive!).

Favorite Quote:
“In order to understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.”

Hero/Role Model:
John Frusciante (guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Favorite Restaurant in C-U:
Boston’s Gourmet Pizza

Favorite Music:
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are (and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this) the best band in the history of time.  I’m also a fan of Alternative Rock in general.

Favorite Movies:
Michael Clayton, American Beauty and Crash

Favorite TV Shows:
Cardinals Baseball, South Park and UFC Unleashed

Best college advice:
College should come with the disclaimer “some assembly required”.  This means that you need to be proactive about shaping your own college experience.  The value you get from your college education is related to how willing you are to seek out and take advantage of the opportunities right in front of you.

Project Work @ RC:
Systems Intern – I work offsite at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.  I spend most of my time researching and coding.  I’ve worked on tasks ranging from file format conversions to implementing computerized predictive models.

What brought you to the RC?
The unparalleled internship experience offered on campus

Best thing about working at the RC:
I’ve met some really great people in the time that I’ve worked here at the Research Center.  This has been, by far, the best part about working here.

Most surprising thing you’ve learned about State Farm:
I was surprised to find out about the Business Technology Research Lab.  State Farm is researching things so high tech and innovative that they boggle my mind.  Plus, some of the employees at the lab get to play with an X-Box 360 and get paid for it!