ESP Biography



DREW COMPSTON, Stanford Grad Student in Electrical Engineering




Major: Electrical Engineering

College/Employer: Stanford

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Drew Compston

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I grew up in Virginia and later moved to Florida in high school. After graduating in 2004, I enrolled in the Georgia Institute of Technology the following fall and graduated 4 years later with a BS in Electrical Engineering with Highest Honors. I decided to study EE because I liked math and science and knew the field was broad enough that I was bound to find some specialty I liked. Georgia Tech has a large cooperative education program—where students alternate semesters attending school and interning at a company—which allowed me to get real world work experience as I earned my degree. I interned with a small company in Huntsville, Alabama called Q-Track, a company that designs and markets an indoor wireless tracking system, essentially indoor GPS. My internship attracted me to the specialization of electromagnetics, and so I decided to attend graduate school to pursue further study in the field. I started at Stanford in the fall of 2008 and am currently conducting research in the VLF group under Professor Inan. Right now I am developing a chip to be placed on a satellite that will automatically detect a special kind of naturally occurring electromagnetic wave called a 0+ whistler.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

P1780: History of Radio, Part 1 in Splash! Fall 2011 (Oct. 29 - 30, 2011)
While we all have come to take for granted the instant access to information made easily available through TV, the internet, and cell phones, this was only made possible after the development of the radio. Yet despite the way radio revolutionized the way people communicated with each other and is still an integral part of our lives even now, few people are familiar with the story behind this amazing invention. This is part 1 of a 2-part course aiming to rectify that. This part traces the scientific discoveries in electricity and magnetism that made the invention of radio possible. Unlike most science courses, though, I want to show you how the early scientists made their discoveries, not just dryly present their findings. In doing so, I hope to give you a taste for what it is like to DO science. Along the way, we will meet the human and at times peculiar and eccentric characters who played some role in developing this innovative technology. The next course tells the story of the engineers who used the earlier scientists’ discoveries to fundamentally change people’s lives by inventing radio, giving context to why the study of science is important.


E1781: History of Radio, Part 2 in Splash! Fall 2011 (Oct. 29 - 30, 2011)
While we all have come to take for granted the instant access to information made easily available through TV, the internet, and cell phones, this was only made possible after the development of the radio. Yet despite the way radio revolutionized the way people communicated with each other and is still an integral part of our lives even now, few people are familiar with the story behind this amazing invention. This is part 2 of a 2-part course aiming to rectify that. While the first part will have (hopefully) given you a taste for what it is like to actually DO science, in this part I hope to convey what it is like to DO engineering by telling the story of the engineers who used the earlier scientists’ discoveries to fundamentally change people’s lives by inventing radio. In the process, my goal is to show you why the study of science and engineering is important. Of course, we'll also have time to meet the equally interesting and peculiar engineers that also played a role in developing this innovative technology. The first course traces the scientific discoveries in electricity and magnetism that made the invention of radio possible, giving context to how science is actually done.


S1004: History of Radio, Part 1 in Splash! Fall 2010 (Nov. 13 - 14, 2010)
While we all have come to take for granted the instant access to information made easily available through TV, the internet, and cell phones, this was only made possible after the development of the radio. Yet despite the way radio revolutionized the way people communicated with each other and is still an integral part of our lives even now, few people are familiar with the story behind this amazing invention. This is part 1 of a 2-part course aiming to rectify that. This part traces the scientific discoveries in electricity and magnetism that made the invention of radio possible. My aim here is to elucidate why the study of science is important, even if applications of the work are not immediately obvious, and hopefully in the process convince you why you are required to take science in high school! The second half will tell the story of the engineers who used the earlier scientists’ discoveries to fundamentally change people’s lives by inventing radio. Throughout both, we will meet the human and at times peculiar and eccentric characters who played some role in this innovative technology. Find Part 2 in the Engineering section: E1005!


E1005: History of Radio, Part 2 in Splash! Fall 2010 (Nov. 13 - 14, 2010)
While we all have come to take for granted the instant access to information made easily available through TV, the internet, and cell phones, this was only made possible after the development of the radio. Yet despite the way radio revolutionized the way people communicated with each other and is still an integral part of our lives even now, few people are familiar with the story behind this amazing invention. This is part 2 of a 2-part course aiming to rectify that. The first part traces the scientific discoveries in electricity and magnetism that made the invention of radio possible. My aim there is to elucidate why the study of science is important, even if applications of the work are not immediately obvious, and hopefully in the process convince you why you are required to take science in high school! This part will tell the story of the engineers who used the earlier scientists’ discoveries to fundamentally change people’s lives by inventing radio. Throughout both, we will meet the human and at times peculiar and eccentric characters who played some role in this innovative technology. Find Part 1 in the Science section: S1004!


E814: History of Radio in Splash! Spring 2010 (Apr. 17 - 18, 2010)
While we all have come to take for granted the instant access to information made easily available through TV, the internet, and cell phones, this was made possible only after the development of the radio. Yet despite the way radio revolutionized the way people communicated with each other, few people are familiar with the story behind this amazing invention. The first half of this course will trace the scientific discoveries that made the invention of radio possible. My aim here is to elucidate why the study of science is important, even if applications of the work are not immediately obvious, and hopefully in the process convince you why you are required to take science in high school! The second half will tell the story of the engineers who used the earlier scientists' discoveries to fundamentally change people's lives by inventing radio. Throughout both, we will meet the human and at times peculiar and eccentric characters who played some role in this innovative technology.