Chris Kraemer

About Me

Hi! I'm Chris Kraemer and I'm a Computer Engineering PhD. student at Northwestern University. I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in May of 2019 with a B.S in Computer Science and a B.A. in Biology. From a young age, I have loved both the digital and natural worlds. I grew up fishing, hiking, kayaking and exploring the Inner Banks of North Carolina and I built my first computer when I was a sophomore in high school. Upon entering undergrad I continued to pursue my interests in both Computer Science and Biology, but the two felt very separate at times. Upon entering graduate school, I realized that I can use my background in Biology to supplement my computational research interests, whether that be modeling a computational problem as a Biological system or creating a Bio-inspired design.

Research Interests

  • Energy Efficient Computer Architecture
  • Floating Point
  • Mobile Health
  • Bio-Inspired Design
  • Intermittent Computing

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Northwestern University (Sept. 2019 - Present)

  • PhD Student in Computer Engineering
  • Adviser: Peter Dinda, PhD.


University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Aug. 2015 - May 2019)

  • Computer Science B.S, Biology B.A.
  • Graduated Cum Laude
  • Dean's List 6 semesters

Work Experience

BeAM Team Leader (Aug. 2017 - May 2019)

  • Oversee a group of up to seven peer staff members
  • Schedule and facilitate bi-weekly meetings
  • Report to BeAM professional staff
  • Organize and develop project workshops

BeAM Program Assistant (Jan. 2017 - Aug 2017)

  • Train patrons on and ensure the safe operation of: Laser Cutters, 3D Printers, Vinyl Cutters, Band Saw, Miter Saw, Belt and Disk Sander, Spindle Sander, Drill Press, Sewing Machines, and hand tools
  • Perform maintenance on the machines and tools in the makerspaces
  • Help patrons design projects, whether it be research, a class assignment, a professional assignment, or personal project, using Autodesk Fusion 360, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop

Research Experience

Floating Point Correction (Sep. 2019 - Present)

Northwestern University

  • Developing a tool to correct floating-arithmatic
  • Programming the tool to "trap" a faulting instruction and then "emulate" that instruction using the MPFR library

Bio-Inspired Data Compression (Nov. 2019 - Present)

Northwestern University

  • Modeling the algorithm based on how genes store information and how a gene becomes a protein
  • Constructing the algorithm so that the DNA (gene) represents the compressed data and the fully folded protein represents the decompressed data

Ferret Behavior Box (Dec. 2018 - Aug. 2019)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Fröhlich Neuroscience Lab

  • Developed a behavior box to train and condition ferrets
    • Created to reduce training time and better control for variables, such as response time, compared to previous methods
    • Replaced previous Five-choice Serial-reaction time task (5CSRTT) design with a Signal Detection Task (SDT) Design
  • Engineered with a microcontroller (ATMega 2560), push buttons, LEDs, infrared sensors, and a solenoid
  • Programmed in C

Projects

LED Sign (Fall 2018)

  • Created an LED sign using an Arduino Uno, pushbuttons, and a string of 50 LEDs
  • Developed in the BeAM Makerspace
  • Designed in Adobe Illustrator

"Stranger Things" Wall (October 2017)

  • Recreated Joyce Byers' Christmas light wall from Netflix's series "Stranger Things"
  • Developed using an Arduino Uno, an LED strip, and the FastLED library
  • check out the project here

Publications

coming soon!

Technical Skills

  • Programming Languages: System Verilog, C, C#, C++, Java, SQL, Python, JavaScript, HTML
  • Assembly Languages: MIPS, x86
  • Database: SQL Server
  • Software: Autodesk Fusion 360, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Unity 3D, UCP, Cura (Ultimaker and Lulzbot), MelcoOS, Melco Design Shop, Git, Vivado