Darnell Clarke

Academic Interests

Electrical and Computer Engineering & Computer Science

Fun Fact

I do club Taekwondo here at Duke!

Since I was young I had a deep love for building and creating things. From Legos to stories, I enjoyed anything created from my own two hands. As a result, I became deeply interested in engineering. I was inspired by the idea that I could live my life creating and building anything I wanted, from spaceships, to planes, to buildings, and even robots. I didn't want myself to be constrained to one thing, so I tried my best to experience everything. I went to a Marine Biology summer camp, did Aerospace Engineering research at Georgia Tech, Astrophysics Research at the Georgia College and State University, and more. These experience allowed me to broaden my understanding of the world and the possibilities I had at my fingertips. However, what truly set me on my course was my time in Robotics club. Since fifth grade I have competed with my team to build robots. From Lego robots at the beginning, to 100 pound robots built for power, speed, and dexterity. Because of the experiences I have had up until now, my love for STEM and curiosity to learn has grown to incredible heights.

My goal is to use Electrical/Computer Engineering and Computer Science to do revolutionary robotics research in both the far and near future. I am also interested in possibly working towards the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate so I can gain the skills to manage my own engineering research lab/firm.

Outside of robotics, I have alot of hobbies to keep myself busy. My aforementioned love for creating stories stemmed from my love of reading them. So although I can no longer find the time to write, I still thoroughly enjoy reading novels, from romance to fantasy to scifi. I also love working out, doing Taekwondo, playing video games, and hanging out with my friends. Along with Taekwondo, I am also involved in the Duke Robotics Club and the National Society of Black Engineers. 

What do you like about being a SPIRE Fellow?

As a new member of the SPIRE Fellows, I am very excited to meet curious and likeminded people. I hope to learn so much from peers and from SPIRE itself.