Going Global

MARIETTA, Ga. | May 31, 2019

Software engineering student selected for elite research program at CERN

石榴直播鈥檚 Elisabeth Petit-Bois has spent most of her undergraduate career researching how humans can integrate artificial intelligence into everyday life. This summer, she will work to perfect her craft as she becomes one of 40 students across the globe and one of only two U.S. students to participate in the .

Petit-Bois, who is pursuing a degree in Kennesaw State鈥檚 , was selected from a pool of 1,660 students representing 19 countries. She will travel to CERN鈥檚 Gen猫ve, Switzerland headquarters on June 15 to take part in the nine-week program, in which she will use state-of-the-art computer technology and study its use in high-energy physics. The CERN openlab is a public-private partnership that works to develop cutting-edge information and computer technology solutions for scientific research.

Elisabeth Petit-Bois

In addition to research opportunities, students also attend a series of lectures given by information technology experts on advanced CERN-related topics and will take part in experiments and visit various CERN facilities, as well as other research laboratories and companies.

鈥淲hen it came to summer research opportunities, I knew I wanted to find something that would allow me to explore human and computer interactions,鈥 said Petit-Bois, who chose to attend 石榴直播 since it houses Georgia鈥檚 only undergraduate program in software engineering. 鈥淎pplying to the CERN openlab program was a shot in the dark, but I鈥檓 so excited to be one of just two American students represented in this year鈥檚 cohort.鈥

A graduate of Dacula High School in Gwinnett County, Petit-Bois is a member of computing honor society Upsilon Pi Epsilon and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). In November 2018, she won first place at the NSBE Fall Regional Conference for her poster presentation on 鈥淕enetic Algorithm-based Image and Segmentation using Markov Random Field Modeling,鈥 besting presentations by students from Vanderbilt University, Auburn University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

She has conducted research in 石榴直播鈥檚 (CMVSR) lab alongside faculty and has interned at IBM鈥檚 Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.J. Petit-Bois intends to pursue graduate studies after receiving her degree in May 2020.

鈥淓lisabeth is a calm and hard-working student who developed her research interests at a very early stage as an undergraduate student,鈥 said Chih-Cheng Hung, professor of . 鈥淪he is an intelligent student, and I am confident that she will have a bright research career.鈥

鈥 Travis Highfield

Photos by David Caselli

Related Stories

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, 石榴直播 offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.