Ethan Gibbons (BSc ’22, MSc ’24) had no experience with coding when he switched his undergraduate major from Music to Computer Science.

After a year of taking Music at Brock, the classically trained pianist decided to change his career direction.

“I was good at math, so people suggested I’d probably be good at computer science,” said Gibbons.

They were right. He did so well, and enjoyed the program so much, he continued his studies at the graduate level and has finished top of the class.

On Friday, June 14, Gibbons was recognized with the Governor General’s Gold Medal, an award presented annually at Spring Convocation to the graduate student with the highest academic average.

He completed a Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science with a 98 per cent average.

“I ended up really liking Computer Science,” he said. “I really enjoyed the kinds of problems you get to tackle in the subject. There’s a puzzle-like nature to them.”

Gibbons was attracted to a master’s degree because of the opportunity to work on applicable computer science problems and to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) with his love for algorithms and problem-solving.

Under the supervision of Professor Beatrice Ombuki-Berman, he focused his research on tackling optimization problems in transportation and logistics in a well-known area within operations research. Specifically, the challenge of routing vehicles that simultaneously pick up and deliver within time windows.

A real-life application of his work is the computer programming used by companies that deliver five-gallon jugs of water to customers and then pick up their empty bottles to reuse or recycle.

Using real, anonymized company data, Gibbons created an algorithm that was quicker and more efficient than previous approaches by using an evolutionary computation branch of AI inspired by population genetics and Darwinian evolution. His algorithm was able to serve customers using fewer vehicles that travelled less of a distance, saving on gas and vehicle maintenance.

As a graduate student, Gibbons also worked with Ombuki-Berman on a research project with Waterloo-based RideCo Inc., a company that develops intelligent on-demand transit software solutions.

When it comes to his academic achievements, Gibbons said that while it is important students know the material, it’s essential to develop study skills that support success.

Gibbons learned many of these skills in high school and developed a strong sense of discipline while working through 10 levels of the Royal Conservatory of Music piano curriculum.

That discipline has paid off when it comes to tackling complex topics, which he often does by reviewing textbooks until he fully understands the information.

“In math and computer science, there are a lot of variables to understand,” he said. “With mathematics proofs, for example, I take it one step at a time, break down the grammar of the sentence if I need to, and zoom in on whatever part I don’t understand — really slow it down until I understand how to get from A to B.”

His work as a teaching assistant also motivated him to understand the material so he could teach it to others. He suggests explaining the concept to a friend, or even to oneself, to better retain information.

“Ethan has been one of our most reliable teaching assistants in some of the most challenging upper-year Computer Science courses in algorithms and theory,” said Ke Qiu, Professor and Graduate Program Director for the Department of Computer Science, who was Gibbon’s undergraduate mentor.

Despite his success, Gibbons’ journey has not been without challenges. When the pressure got to be too much, he would step away from the schoolwork to exercise or play the piano.

“It becomes very meditative for me, where I can forget about everything else and just focus on playing,” he said. “Sometimes I’d get into downward spirals of worrying about stuff. We think that worrying will help, but it doesn’t. It’s helpful to break out of that cycle.”

Gibbons has been working as a research assistant with Ombuki-Berman since January and plans to continue studying Computer Science. He will begin a PhD at another university in the fall, where his research will explore co-operative artificial intelligence.

“It has been such an honour working with Ethan,” said Ombuki-Berman. “He is a brilliant, inspiring young researcher who will continue to make significant innovative contributions to research and technology in the coming years. I have no doubt his PhD studies will be highly successful.”

Discover the full collection of Convocation photos by ceremony on Brock University’s official Facebook page or view recordings of the ceremonies at brocku.ca/livestream