Student from Sterling participates in Monmouth College research program

MONMOUTH — Shay Hafner of Sterling was one of 12 Monmouth College students to participate in the eight-week long Kieft Summer Research Program.

His project was entitled: “Improvements to an Online, Interactive Text Analytics Dashboard for Academics.”

Hafner’s project was to make text analytics accessible and usable from any web-connected device while allowing for powerful machine learning capabilities.

According to the college, text analytics can be an extremely powerful tool when used alongside traditional literature research methods. While used primarily in academic research, it also has wider utility.

The goal, according to Hafner, is to use the existing tool for several real-life case studies. That involves testing it and adding features to improve usability, flexibility and interactivity.

Hafner is a graduate of Newman High School. At Monmouth College he was inducted into the Newman Fellowship for his leadership and service. He has been a writing tutor, a volunteer for Let’s Feed Our Children, the PADS Homeless Shelter and a member of the Stockdale Fellows.

The research program is named for Monmouth College chemistry professor Richard “Doc” Kieft, who died in 2009. Kieft bequeathed $2.3 million to the college so that it could offer scholarships, research opportunities and pay for travel so they could present their research at national conferences.