Harmony  Clauer

Sidelined by a sports injury that prevented her from attending college on a basketball scholarship, Harmony Clauer had to find a new alternative for making her way through school. During her senior year, the courses she took in computer science ignited her interest in technology and she then made the decision to apply to Illinois Institute of Technology.

“I felt that IIT would give me the foundation to make my dreams come true,” says Clauer, who was drawn to the school for its small class size, the quality of the computer science program, and IIT’s Chicago location. Once in the classroom, Clauer became deeply interested in the hardware aspect of technology and decided to double-major in computer science and computer engineering.

During her first year at IIT, Clauer became active in the Student Government Association, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Zeta Pi Omega Sorority. She experienced another turning point in her education when she attended the Grace Hopper Women in Computing Conference and obtained an internship with Sun Microsystems as a campus ambassador. Through Sun, Clauer created the Open Source University Meet-Up, giving IIT students an opportunity to socialize and communicate about their shared technological interests.

Clauer is also working on a computer science research project with Associate Professor Cynthia Hood for the Brookfield Zoo, which focuses on technology as a conservation solution.

“The computer science department has some great professors,” says Clauer. “Maybe I’m just lucky, but it seems that they all want their students to understand the material and to do well in their classes and beyond.”