Splash Biography

FRANCESCA FALZON, Incoming Computer Science Ph.D. Student

Major: Computer Science

College/Employer: University of Chicago

Year of Graduation: G

Brief Biographical Sketch:

After obtaining her B.A. in mathematics from Rutgers University, Francesca decided to apply her quantitative skills to the study of cryptography. She will be starting her Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Chicago later this year. When she's not studying, conducting research, or teaching Splash classes, you can find her reading up on design, exploring art galleries, and tasting her way through the many cafes in NYC (and, hopefully soon, Chicago)!

Past Classes

(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

M492: Cryptography: The Science of Secrecy in Splash Spring 2018 (Apr. 21, 2018)

In our technology driven world, securing our sensitive information is becoming increasingly important. This course will serve as a short introduction to the field of cryptography, with an emphasis on symmetric key encryption. We will try our hand at the famous Caeser cipher and substitution cipher, and move onto learning about the perfectly secret one time pad (OTP). Don't know what any of these words mean? Don't worry! We assume no prior knowledge of the content and will define all terms as they are introduced. So, roll up your sleeves and let's get hacking!

M394: Intro to Math Logic in Splash Spring 2017 (Apr. 29, 2017)

Did you ever want to get a taste of what proof-based college math classes are like? Are you interested in understanding and constructing proofs? Then this course might be for you! We will: - Introduce basic logic notation - Construct truth tables - Solve riddles - Learn why at any party, there must be at least 2 people with the same number of friends - And more...