Who Am I?

My name is Leeden Raquel. I am a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM). At UH I am majoring in computer science with a focus on data science. When I first became a student at UH, I was an electrical engineering major but decided to shift my attention when I learned that electrical engineering was not what I believed it was. With a strong background in programming and computers in general, I decided to change my major to computer science.

My Background

All throughout my childhood until I graduated highschool I had been engrained into the engineering design process. Initially being exposed to a Lego Mindstorm robotics program in fourth grade at Waiakea Waena Elementary School, I became familiar with the six steps of engineering life: defining the problem, do research, define criteria, develop solutions, test solutions, and improve on your solutions. This process became the center of my life for the next eight years. From elementary school all the way to my graduation from Pearl City High School I have been the the school's robotics programs learning the start of engineering and software development. These programs provided me the opportunity to participate in many competitions, seminars, and community services.

My main role in these programs was as the lead of the programming, electronics, and electrical system subsystems. Throughout my years in these programs, I have had over ten mentors who have taught me the basics and honed those skills from the experience they had in their professional careers as engineers. These volunteers taught me everything that I considered valuable throughout highschool. Teaching me skills like programming languages, basic electrical equations, and gracious professionalism.

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Once I left high school, I enrolled at the University of Hawaii at Manoa as an electrical engineering major. In my first semester I had a coding class in a language that I had already knew and became a pseudo-class helper in my first semester. I eventually changed my major to computer science. As a computer science major I have learned many more skills and technologies that I consider more useful. With my background in programming, the classes I took opened my eyes to strategies, conventions, and styles that I had never considered before. These classes showed me many more programming languages, developer tools, and software engineering hacks.

The Future of Energy

In the future, both at UH and after, I hope to learn new skills and develop more professional softwares that are available to the public and used daily. I hope to the knowledge I gain from UH to create tools that can be used to analyze data at extreme speeds. With the innovation of these tools, I hope to apply them to many research and development labs in all fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Most important to me though is the use of this tool to aid the discovery and innovation of sustainable sources of energy. With the rapid decay of the planet due to fossil fuels and pollution, future generations will have to deal with a worsening environment or potentially evolve to combat the destroyed environment they live in.

More information about robotics programs I participated in include Vex Robotics Competition, First Robotics Competition, and Lego Mindstorm.