Grad achieves in algorithms, associations and arts

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of profiles for spring 2018 commencement. 

Paulina Davison was drawn to computer systems engineering because she was interested in circuits and algorithms.

“I wanted to learn the physical properties and abstract structures that support our digital reality and saw that the computer systems engineering path aligned with this,” said Davison, a Barrett, The Honors College and Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering student, who is graduating this May as a  Fulton Schools Outstanding Graduate.

She has used technology to make a difference during her time at ASU.

In her honors thesis, she researched the security of smart cars with the Laboratory of Security Engineering for Future Computing, and in her senior-year capstone project with InnovationSpace she worked on an interdisciplinary team to design a closed-loop system for Adidas.

“As part of InnovationSpace we developed a product and service where consumers would donate their old shoes and the donated material would be used to make new city-specific shoes,” she says.

Working with the Center for Embedded Systems, which is directed by one of her mentors, Sarma Vrudhula, she also tested the viability of using an accelerometer to track chest movement for an internet of things device to detect asthma.

“[Vrudhula] has consistently believed in my ability and supported me as a researcher and as an individual,” Davison says. “He inspires me.”

She also completed an internship at Cisco Systems in the company’s Security Implementation Services.

A seven-time Dean’s List student, Davison earned the National Merit Scholarship, the New American University Scholarship, the Motorola Embedded Systems Scholarship and the Andy Grove Intel Scholarship.

Outside of academics, Davison was involved in many clubs and student activities, including serving as industry outreach chair for the Software Developers Association, twice attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and earning the “Most WOW project!” award at Hack Arizona.

Davison, a Citizen Potawatomi Nation citizen from Puyallup, Washington, who has earned the Nation’s Tribal Scholarship 10 times for academic excellence, also served as vice president of the Barrett Indigenous Culture Association. In this position she worked with other student leaders to promote the culturally diverse community at Barrett and ASU. Their work earned the club the Best Recurring Program Award and Most Collaborative Student Organization Award from the American Indian Council for the 2016–17 academic year.

The high-achieving engineer and student organization leader also made time to pursue her passion for music. She played the French horn in ASU’s symphonic ensembles and earned a French Horn Performance Talent Award from ASU.