Stone is no stranger to putting his students in the spotlight. He has had several students present at regional conferences and on-campus research symposia over nearly two decades.
“The value of presenting their work lies in gaining recognition and engaging with faculty and students from other institutions to discuss outcomes and gather feedback,” Stone said. “The experience also allows them to see the interesting things that other campuses are doing in computing research.”
Presenting at the conference also provides opportunities for thoughtful engagement, including the chance to ask and answer questions about their findings.
“Many people came up, and most of them asked different questions that made me think deeper about the project and its future,” Heimbach said. “I even got a couple of suggestions for improvements that I think I may implement.”
For Gajanan Pol, the opportunity was a mix of nerves and excitement.
“At first, I was super anxious — just the idea of standing in front of professionals and peers felt intimidating,” she shared. “But once I got into it, it was really empowering. We were getting feedback and questions from people who genuinely cared about the topic. It made it feel like a real conversation, not just a presentation.”