Through published text that includes our Mission Statement (...each boy will be the best version of himself), Primary Objective (...prepare boys to thrive and lead in changing world), and Academic Vision: blaze trails, take risks, dig in), RSGC offers a framework for an uncertain future. One aspect of what lies ahead is becoming clearer by the month, namely, only those individuals that are deeply committed to continuous skill development can hope to thrive. Whether you eventually lead will require additional talents and twists of good fortune.

Although it is particularly difficult to maintain focus in a world wired for superficial distraction, the earlier in life you begin to cultivate your own individual strengths and interests (you should start in high school) the better chance you have of securing your future prospects. How does one cultivate individual strengths and interests? Perpetual curiosity and calculated risk-taking are typically all that are required. Wise students view standard course curricula as potential starting points for their own, deeper investigations. Those students that are simply aiming at getting the highest possible marks alone on the required curricula, are setting themselves up for disappointment. Too many others are pursuing that same simple strategy. You MUST differentiate yourself.

Welcome to the home of the Software ACES' Independent Study Projects (ISPs). This page is meant to provide you with possible avenues of pursuit as you continue your own personal path of growth and discovery within our area of software development and application. You are aware that mastery of the curriculum I select for you will earn you a very respectable standing in the course but it won't entitle you to earn up to 100%. Read this and consider the extent to which your experience matches up with the author's points. For that, you are to select the curriculum to be pursued and demonstrate your ongoing commitment to it and the ideals mentioned above. The proportion of the final course mark within the ACES program of your unique pursuit increases with the grade level to reflect the relative importance of the initiative as you get older. Here's how the concept of an ISP is framed in a World Language Classroom (Thanks, Ms. Bibby).

The Value of Failure
Ask yourself, "How much do I want to grow as an individual?".
Growth requires risk. Risk accepts the inevitibility of failure. Anticipate it, embrace it, and respect what it has to teach you. Failure is the price of success. They are inextricable. You have to fail to have any hope of generating your own success. Please read this.

The Value of Witness
As you are so young, it may be difficult to understand the full value of archiving your accomplishments as your journey unfolds. The record of your accomplishments is both self-satisfying, life-sustaining and a good hedge against the potential doubt in your abilities that has a tendency to bite many people as they age. Whether you show your work to others is for you to decide, but you must maintain the option.It is by design that ACES are introduced to web skills early in the program to enable them to present their current skills and achievements online. It is absolutely imperative that each of you has a strategic web presence that is as much under your control and direction as possible. One of the best examples of an ACE that started his online presence while in our program and has maintained it through his years in Computer Science at Waterloo is Jack Gettings (he's entering fourth year in September 2014). Check out his online archive as the gold standard to which each of you should aspire.

The Value of Collaboration
Some contend that the engineer's greatest asset is his or her ability to work with others. If you discover that one of your peers shares an equally strong or complimentary interest in a particular pursuit, you should feel free to consider pooling your passions and collaborate on a research endeavour. Crossover collaborations between ACES (hardware/software) can be particularly productive as they leverage the strengths of your skills sets and modern smart technologies.

Proprietary Value-Added
You may be that rare breed that can simply imagine fantastic projects yourself or you may need inspiration for projects that originate from links on this page. In either case, the key to the most successful outcome for your pursuit will be the value you add to the effort. Specifically, value that requires one or more skills or techniques that you have developed. If the procedure is not original, it can be duplicated with ease. If it is original, it can be patented and hence we call it proprietary and and law prevents it from being duplicated (at least until the patent expires). So, think hard and long about what you want to invest your time and talent in, and keep in mind the advantage of proprietry value-added.

On Role Models and Leadership
My most-respected role models are individuals that are neither aware that they are leaders nor would they be comfortable being called such. In simply going about their daily affairs, these individuals identify paths for me to follow. Furthermore, age is not a requirement. Would it surprise you to know that some of you, my students, are role models for me?

Areas to Explore/Consider (Dream BIG...) (Evaluation Criteria)

• Learning additional computer languages: High-Level, Low-Level (AVR assembly language on the STK500, M68000 assembly language on the Mac?) Check this out: 10 places where anyone can learn to code...
• Extend your knowledge of web page design, particularly Responsive Web Design tools like Bootstrap.
• App/Game development: JS, C++
• Review the carousel on our ACES home page for projects that look inspiring
• Macro development and programming: Excel, Word, etc.
• Learn Processing and interface it with the Arduino (Rafe Beatty's Example)
• (All) Develop a new skill i.e. Soldering SMDs (Surface-Mount Devices), CAD 3D, etc.
• (All) Is teaching/mentoring in your future? Consider writing curriculum you can field test with Georgians or as part of an outreach initiative or offering a mentoring commitment
• Developing broader, deeper, problem-solving skills using Project Euler as a resource
• Cross-curricular application development and simulations: Physics, Chemistry, Stats, Function Analysis, etc.
• Combining hardware and software skills: Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, etc.
• Next Generation Maker Platforms: Intel's Galileo Gen 2
• Exploring specific concepts and algorithms: Sorting, Encryption, N-Puzzles, Fractals, Continued Fractions, The Golden Ratio, Quaterions, Octonions, Simulations, Concurrency, Optimization (Soap Film and Bubbles), etc.
• View this: The Man Who Saved Geometry
• Geometric techniques: 2D, 3D, Conics, Animation, Tessellations (Application), Complex Analysis: Newton's Method, Marching squares, Marching cubes, Apollonian Packing, Special Plane Curves, etc.
• Laser Cutting of Fractal Algorithms (direct vector programming of ViaCAD)
• (PHOTO) Arduino as Web Server(Highcharts): Solar Dashboard (our Intranet Data) (Everett Robinson's Super Data Logger Project)
• Design your own language and write an interpreter for it
• Alternatively, perhaps you'd prefer to undertake a Hardware SRP this year to keep your skills sharp :)
• Manipula Math, a wonderful set of Java applets that illuminate a wide variety of mathematical concepts, some of which could do with some updating