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\title{Petition for Substitution to the Advanced Project Requirement}
\author{Dan Ports\\ \large{\texttt{drkp@mit.edu}}}
\maketitle

I petition to waive the prerequisite of 6.UAT for 6.UAP, substituting
instead equivalent coursework and research experience. My motivation
for doing so is to make available more time to devote to my UAP/M.Eng.\
research, and to be able to take more classes which are related to my
research area.

In lieu of 6.UAT, I claim the following research and
communication experience that is equivalent in scope to 6.UAT and
provides more than adequate preparation for UAP/M.Eng.\ research:

I am currently involved in a research project that I intend to develop
into a M.Eng.\ thesis and UAP. Working directly with Professors David
Karger and Frans Kaashoek of CSAIL on a project that bridges theory
and systems, developing algorithms for efficient search/information
retrieval in peer-to-peer systems, and building large-scale systems
based on these principles. A preliminary paper on the design of this
system has been accepted for publication\footnote{A. T. Clements, D.
  R. K. Ports, D. R. Karger. \emph{Arpeggio: Metadata Searching and
    Content Sharing with Chord}. Proc. 4th International Workshop on
  Peer-to-Peer Systems, to appear.} and praised for its clarity. In
addition, I am giving presentations on this work at group meetings,
and will be presenting it later this month at the Fourth International
Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems in Ithaca, NY.

In addition, I have taken the following courses with substantial
communication components:

\begin{itemize}
\item \textbf{6.033} Computer System Engineering (Spring '04; grade:
  A)\\
  CI-M for Course VI and XVIII, including technical design papers,
  frequent discussions, and oral presentations.

\item \textbf{6.111} Intro.\ Digital Systems Lab (Fall '03; grade: A)\\
  CI-M for Course VI and XVIII, including lab reports, project papers,
  and oral presentations.
  
\item \textbf{18.313} Seminar in Discrete Mathematics (Spring '04;
  grade: A)\\
  CI-M for Course XVIII, requiring several 50-minute lectures, and
  frequent papers up to 10 pages in length.
  
\item \textbf{21M.735} Technical Design for the Theater (Spring '04;
  grade: A+)\\
  CI-M for Course XXI-M, requiring weekly ``tech notes,'' discussions,
  and final design project with paper and presentation.

\item \textbf{MAS.111} Intro.\ to Doing Research in Media Arts \&
  Sciences (Spring '02; grade: P)\\
  An elective very similar in content and spirit to 6.UAT, including
  guidance on locating a research project, identifying related work,
  writing research reports, and giving and critiquing presentations on
  research results.
\end{itemize}
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