Featured Members
Andrea Grimes
Computer Science Major
Graduate of Northeastern University
Currently attending the Georgia Institute of Technology
2005 Graduate Fellowship Recipient
Described by her professors as "remarkable," "exceptional," and "very, very smart," Andrea clearly represents the ideals of Phi Kappa Phi. Thanks in part to a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship, Andrea is participating in Georgia Tech's Ph.D. program in Human-Centered Computing. For her proposed graduate research, she hopes to create new methodologies for software design in developing countries. Andrea says that her ultimate goal is to be a social technologist, committed to the advancement of technology for the betterment of society.
2005 was a busy year for Andrea. She received the Computing Research Association Outstanding Undergraduate Award, the top award that any undergraduate in computer science can achieve in the United States and Canada; graduated top of her class from Northeastern University; presented a workshop paper at the most prominent conference for human-computer interaction, CHI (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems); and served as president and Webmaster at Northeastern's Unity Gospel Ensemble.
Andrea also maintains a strong sense of social responsibility and a spirit of volunteerism. She has tutored adults in the Boston area minority community to help them become computer literate. She also submitted a winning proposal that led to the creation of a lecture series aimed at encouraging women and minorities to pursue graduate education in computer science and engineering. In conjunction with this event, she is establishing a long-term support group to improve retention of women in the computer science program and encourage them to pursue graduate degrees.