MJ first became interested in participating in UROP in Fall 2002. He applied for and received NSF-REU funding for the summer to work on a project with a professor in the Psychology Department. This summer, he is working on a new project with the help of UROP funding. MJ came up with the idea for his current project while sitting in CS-350, a computer science class he was taking during the 2003 Fall semester, in which Professor Bestavros mentioned the CS department’s "Sensorium" project involving the use of large number of networked video sensors for various applications. He then decided to talk to the Chair of Computer Science, Professor Azer Bestavros, to get his opinion about his idea. Professor Bestavros loved the idea and encouraged MJ to pursue his project and apply for UROP funding.

MJ’s idea (and current project) is called VISIAD, Virtual Space Information Association Device. VISIAD would store information about events happening in a person’s environment in a database, which could later be accessed through a video camera screen or a heads up display (HUD). For example, when a student is on campus, he or she could see what events are happening around their location. When a person looks through the VISIAD device, the virtual information would be overlaid onto their environment. The goal of his project is to make it appear as though the information is part of the real environment. MJ can usually be found in the Context Aware Lab at the MIT Media Lab working with his friend, Cristina Domnisoru, an MIT student, who shares the same interest in the VISIAD project. In addition to getting advice from Professor Bestavros at BU, he is also able to get feedback and help from MIT professor Ted Selker and other graduate students who are also interested in the same type of technology.

The VISIAD system is similar to the Internet in that both provide easily accessible information. However, the VISIAD system has the potential to be more useful and practical than the Internet. Unlike the Internet, this project will enable people to retrieve information that is directly relevant to their physical location. A person would not have to conduct time-consuming Internet searches, but instead only need look on their own VISIAD device to find the information they are seeking. MJ hopes that with more research, this device would become widely available for consumer use. He believes that this could be done as early as 5-10 years from now. The project has received interest from Nokia who will donate phones to have VISIAD implemented on. Also, a French eyeglasses manufacturer will be providing glasses with special heads up displays.

The biggest challenge that MJ has faced with is known as the "registration problem." In other words, to make the virtual objects and information appear seamlessly with the environment around a person, the device needs accurate information about the environment itself. The device needs to know the exact positions of everything around the person in order for the virtual information to be in the right places. The best methods to obtain positional information are to use local sensors, cellular phone networks, and gyroscopes. However, MJ must integrate complex algorithms since those methods are not entirely accurate in and of themselves.

MJ says that the best thing about his project is that it is "fun" to work on an idea that he came up with. He believes that he feels freer with this project since he does not have to work on somebody else’s idea and follow their research line. Also, since this is his vision, it motivates him to work harder and enjoy it more. He says that without UROP, it would have been much harder to make his vision into a reality. UROP also encourages students to be more innovative outside the classroom.

As a computer science major, he has learned a lot about different hardware and the machine language that are fundamental to his project. However, since he is now working hands-on with the hardware and creating his own programs, he feels that he is obtaining a deeper understanding of everything he has learned in the past. Also, in order to better understand and work on his project, he went to the University of Maine in Orono (where he is from) last summer. There, he learned more about hardware and electrical engineering in order to supplement his knowledge gained from his BU coursework.

In the future, MJ sees himself conducting brain research. This will allow him to use his technical background in both computer science and cognitive and neural studies. He believes that his participation in UROP has helped him to discover that research is what he wants to do as a career.

His advice to students who want to become involved with research of their own is to just take a chance and apply to UROP. He believes that if you have an idea of your own you should be proactive and contact professors, other universities, and "think out of the box" to make your vision happen.