Jan 5, 2006 -- The many hours spent in laboratories over the past three summers paid off for Dana Glasner, a Stern College senior, when she was recently named an Outstanding Undergraduate Award finalist for 2006 by the Computing Research Association, a group of academics, companies, laboratories, and government bodies engaged in computer science research in North America. Ms. Glasner, a native of State College, PA, was recognized for her significant contributions to three different research projects completed over the past three years. “I didn’t expect to be nominated let alone be named as a finalist,” said Ms. Glasner. “The news came as a great surprise.” Margaret Wright, PhD, chair of the computer science department at New York University, where the Stern student is taking part of her computer science major, nominated her for the award. Since last summer she has been working with Yevgeniy Dodis, PhD, assistant professor of computer science at NYU, on using biometric data, for example fingerprints or retina scans, in cryptographic applications, such as password authentication. In the summer of 2004, she researched genomics (the study of an organism’s genome and the use of the genes) and bioinformatics (the use of computer science to solve biological problems) at Princeton University under the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Before that, she researched the geometric properties of metal nanoparticles with Anatoly Frenkel, PhD, associate professor of physics at Stern, at Brookhaven National Laboratory, continuing that research during the year. The S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program student said that her internships had helped her identify the area of computer science she is most interested in, cryptography. She is applying to graduate schools, where she plans to specialize in that field.