Christian Bernier

As an In-Gallery Learning program assistant, I continued my role of informal engineering, computer science, and biology education for visitors of all ages through interactive activities. My responsibilities included: • Running multiple engineering, computer science, and biology drop-in activities daily • Managing the Engineering Design Workshop, Hall of Human Life, and Field Station exhibit spaces • Coordinating and managing several teen interns and volunteers running drop-in activities with other program assistants • Communicating with full-time staff about exhibit issues, volunteer/intern concerns, and scheduling • Troubleshooting both technical equipment problems and visitor concerns effectively • Ensuring up-to-date COVID-19 cleaning procedures are being followed with all drop-in activities and exhibit components

As a teaching assistant, I provided supportive and productive environments where students can ask questions, receive help, and understand difficult concepts from lectures. Over three semesters, I was a TA for CS 3500 (Object-Oriented Design), CS 3000 (Algorithms and Data Structures), and CS 3800 (Theory of Computation). My responsibilities included: • Ensuring a complete and comprehensive understanding of lecture material by running 4 office hours per week • Conducting a 100-minute lab period where a few dozen students work independently and ask questions every week with another TA • Support teaching staff through grading homework and other assignments, providing meaningful feedback, and answering questions online

As a particle physics research assistant co-op, I developed software to test readout electronics for the upgrade of the electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) in the CMS experiment for the future high-luminosity LHC. My responsibilities included: • Developing a comprehensive and reliable software test suite in C++ to ensure the proper behavior of readout electronics with several analog and digital components • Analyzing the behavior and performance of prototype electronics to determine systematic failures and malfunctions

As a full-stack software engineering co-op at Cisco, I was a member of a fast-paced agile development team building a cloud security product. I contributed to all stages of the development process in one-week sprints, working with engineers around the world. My responsibilities included: • Developing front-end and back-end solutions to challenging problems • Planning feature development in daily Scrum meetings • Creating extensible and efficient additions to several codebases • Writing thorough and comprehensive test suites for my contributions

As a peer tutor, I worked with fellow students to help them better understand concepts in various courses I had previously taken. I offered tutoring for the following subjects: Modern Physics, Multivariable Calculus, Object-Oriented Design, and Fundamentals of Computer Science 1 and 2. I have also been certified in CRLA Level 1. My responsibilities included: • Ensuring students understand complicated topics in a variety of subjects • Explaining concepts in a simple-to-understand and empathetic way • Conducting effective and professional one-on-one and group tutoring sessions • Completing student evaluations after tutoring sessions to ensure students do not fall behind

In spring 2025, I graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelors of Science degree in computer science and physics, with a minor in mathematics. Additionally, I was a member of the University Honors Program, achieved the Khoury College of Computer Sciences Dean's List for my academic performance, and earned several awards in the physics department for my academic performance. My extracurricular involvement included the Society of Physics Students, where I attended weekly sessions from my peers about physics research, AerospaceNU, where I learned about rocketry and mechanical engineering, Northeastern Recreational Climbing, and Cheese Club.

Maintained high-honors average while enrolling in 7 AP courses and several other honors-level courses. In 2020, I was selected by my teachers and awarded the junior class Dartmouth Book Award for being in the top 10% of my class, attaining an outstanding combined academic average in three college-preparatory subjects, two of which include math and English, and demonstrating leadership in a highly visible service to the community.

During the summer of 2020, I took an online course in R programming for college credit. The course included a midterm exam and a comprehensive course assessment. In the course, I developed skills to visualize information in R, as well as analyze and process data from third-party datasets.