Sammi Sprague

Year in School
Freshman

Major
Computer Science

Research Interests

Research Mentor
Professor Lawrence Angrave

Research/Engagement Experience
Although I do not have any previous research experience, I am excited to get started this semester and gain valuable research experience. I also look forward to joining organizations such as Girls Who Code and Women in Computer Science. These student-run organizations aim to support both high school and college aged girls who are interested in or pursuing computer science. Previously, I planned a hackathon for middle schoolers with my high school in order to get younger students interested in computer science.

Interests
Artificial Intelligence, Computers and Education, Interactive Computing, and Programming Languages, Formal Methods, and Software Engineering

Project Title
TBD

How did I get interested in Computer Science?
I first got interested in computer science in fifth grade when I was given an assignment on Scratch which is an introductory block-based programming language. Having not pursued it in middle school, I returned to computer science in high school and developed a passion for it which was support by my amazing teacher.

What social interests matter to me?
Empowering women and young girls to get involved with STEM, environmental issues, and sustainability efforts.

What is my most impactful college experience?
The Women in Engineering orientation that took place my first day at UIUC has been my most impactful college experience so far because it introduced me to a strong community of female engineers and allowed me to meet so many new people.

These are a few of my favorite things!
Soccer, reading, music, rainy weather, peanut m&ms, and hiking.

Research Description
My research explores the capabilities and pushes the limits of ScribAR, an online platform that delivers real-time captions. ScribeAR is an adaptive and flexible web app that combines audio transcriptions and visual depictions to provide deaf and hard of hearing users access to speech. I will be developing and refining new and old features of ScribeAR in order to improve the user experience.

Biography
Sammi is a freshman in computer science and is so excited to be a CS STAR this year. She grew up in Crystal Lake, IL, but loves to travel all around the country. She enjoys playing games with her parents and two sisters. After first being exposed to computer science in elementary school, Sammi didn't fully pursue it until high school where she fell in love with the logic and problem solving of programming.