Michael Rausch ’14 takes studies of computer science to graduate school
Ripon College provided good preparation for graduate school for Michael Rausch ’14 of Deerfield, Wisconsin. He majored in computer science, history and mathematics, and he now is pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“This is a top-five school for computer science in the country,” Rausch says. “I do research on cyber security, with a particular emphasis on developing models to help design secure cyber-enhanced critical infrastructure, like smart grids.”
Rausch has published a number of papers in this area and has presented his work at conferences in North America, Europe and Asia. He also is a teaching assistant at the university.
“My major in computer science at Ripon prepared me well for pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science in graduate school,” Rausch says. “My training in mathematics helps me to approach problems in an analytical way and to develop proofs that show the correctness of my work. My study of history in Ripon developed my abilities to write clear and convincing essays, a skill that easily transfers to writing clear and convincing computer science research papers.”
Rausch decided to attend Ripon because it is “well-ranked, gave me a generous financial aid package, and had the friendliest people of any campus I visited,” he says. His greatest take-awyas are “the things I learned, the friends I made and the person I became.”
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