Experience, persistence and knowledge of the subject matter paid off for Loi Huynh when he, as an undergraduate senior, presented a paper at a national haptics conference in the fall of 2014.

“I was nervous because all the other people there were experts and I’m just an undergraduate,” Huynh said.

Huynh is the lead author of a conference paper titled, “Effects of Haptic Data Compression on User Performance in Collaborative Haptic Virtual Environment.” The study of haptics involves feedback from virtual reality environments. This paper explored the possibility of compressing the feedback data.

“We were able to compress the data to 10 percent of the original package,” Huynh said.

Huynh is majoring in Computer Science and is completing his co-op at PPG Industries in Cleveland. However, it’s his research and related conference presentation at the 2014 International Symposium on Haptic Audio-Visual Environments and Games in Dallas that he believes is propelling him to graduate school.

“I always wanted to go to graduate school and I know research is a big component of the process,” Huynh said.

After graduating in March 2015, Huynh will pursue a masters in computer science at the University of New Castle in Australia.

“Huynh showed passion to complete the project and he was eager to develop the best quality final product within the time frame of the project. He quickly learned new required skills to complete the project,” said Dr. Mehrdad Zadeh, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and faculty advisor to Huynh. “In addition to his technical skills, Huynh has a strong work ethic. He was punctual in our meetings and worked even on weekends to satisfy his passion to see the end product. He played an important role on the development of the system and completes the project from start to finish in a short period of time.”

Huynh took the course “Haptic Systems” in fall 2013 and continued the elements of the course work in the lab beginning in January 2014 under Zadeh’s supervision.  

“Huynh has exceptional software development skills as an undergraduate engineering student,” Zadeh said.

Huynh grew up in Vietnam and moved to the United States five years ago. He completed high school in Georgia before heading north to Kettering, largely in part to the experiential learning opportunities.

“It’s a great school. It’s really unique,” Huynh said. “The co-op program helps students increase their potential. I don’t think I’d be as experienced as I am in research and professional work if I didn’t go to Kettering.”