Featured in Five is a monthly section where we pose five questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our February featured reviewer, Susan Ferebee.
Q) What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?
A) One of the most important computing advances is edge computing, which solves the need to process data in real time, locally, without transmission across a large network. Edge computing has relevance for big data processing, connected vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and 5G towers, just to name a few.
Q) If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?
A) If I were not working in computer science, I would most like to work in physics, particularly the study of quantum physics. The two fields will begin to overlap as more is understood about quantum physics and quantum computing. Another area of interest I have is neuroscience, and related to that, how computing can replicate neural processes.
Q) By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?
A) Computer science will take us further into an ubiquitous, always-connected technological world where lines between our human body and brain will be blurred with our connections to technology, artificial intelligence, and devices. The question then becomes: as artificial intelligence and computing take over much of what our brains work on now, what new challenges will our brains choose to work on?
Q) Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?
A) Leonardo DaVinci combined science, art, and engineering, and displayed his wide range of thinking in notebooks, which have helped me develop a thought approach that synthesizes many disciplines.
Q) What is your favorite type of music?
A) My favorite type of music is alternative.
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Click here to read one of Susan’s reviews.