Humans of Galipatia: Nick Gutkowski

For this blog post, I sat down with my roommate Nick Gutkowski - a Junior in Computer Science and a member of Galipatia's Data Committee.

Why did you choose Computer Science?

I chose computer science because I'm interested in how we interact with technology, which today is more often done through software. My focus is in human/computer interaction - because designing interfaces and software to be intuitive to use is important so that the public as a whole can best use the resources available to them.

I think emerging technologies - like voice assistants and augmented reality - need to have a lot more thought put into their user experience design as more and more people gain access to the internet and other electronic devices.

What do you think is the most interesting trend/technology that's up-and-coming in your field right now?

Augmented Reality. While we already have access to a huge amount of data through our smartphones, augmented reality technology will allow us to more quickly and easily gain access to that information. It'll change the way we experience the world - for example, if smart glasses became commonplace, we would all be given instant access to reviews for a restaurant as we walk by, or historical info about a monument. Essentially, augmented reality will be able to greatly improve the ease with which we access information we would have to manually look for today.

Why did you decide to join Galileo?

I'd heard about the program from one of my friends who had been in it, and after reading about it I decided it would be great for me to spend my first year in college among engineers, with convenient access to a mentor. I definitely made the right decision!