Congratulations to Christopher de Freitas, a graduate student in the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, who was profiled for Black History Month in the most recent issue of the University of Utah’s Undergraduate Research newsletter. You can see the newsletter here.

De Freitas is pursuing a master’s degree in computer science and received his bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Utah in 2021. He is currently a graduate research assistant focused on human centered computing, disinformation studies, and natural language processing and was an Office of Undergraduate Research UROP Scholar in the summer and fall of 2020.

“Graduate school is a big step up in expectations and opportunities, but undergraduate research made that transition smoother than it otherwise would have been,” he said about his undergraduate research experience. “I feel confident reading and reasoning about research papers and am comfortable developing and pursuing interesting research questions for coursework and journal submissions.”

February is Black History Month, which celebrates the contributions of African Americans in the U.S. and pays tribute to the generations of those who faced struggles and adversities to achieve success in this country.