Standout Spartan: Zeke Hudson '24

Zeke Hudson ’24 spent six weeks immersed in the Summer Research Opportunities in Engineering program in the Department of Engineering at VCU. The program is designed to spark critical thinking and creativity, provide beyond-the-classroom learning opportunities, and promote teamwork and collaboration. Participants, known as Summer Research Fellows, receive guidance from VCU professors but work mostly independently throughout the six weeks. 

“My research was on neural networks, specifically sentiment analysis,” explained Zeke, who read scholarly papers on neural networks and used trial and error in his research. “I spent many days creating different versions of my model and seeing how they performed.” Zeke said he most enjoyed the challenge of working on a project that didn't have a right or wrong answer. As a final product of his research, he presented his neural network model at a symposium attended by all of the research fellows, plus their family members. 

At Steward, Zeke is active in theatre as a stage manager and tech crew member. The best thing about being a Spartan, he said, is “the connections that I can make with my teachers.”