Home Institution: Rutgers University
Research Project: Optical Generation and Electrical Control of Valley Excitons and Pseudospins in mono-layer Semiconductors
UW Mentor(s): Xiaodong Xu

Q: What are your physics/science interests?
I find semiconductor physics to be a particularly cool manifestation of quantum mechanics. Overall, I really enjoy how condensed matter is theoretically complex yet physically tangible.

Q: What are your other interests?
I enjoy exploring MOOCs and open courseware content. I'm very inspired by the ideals that open courseware motivates: self-directed learning, the democratization of knowledge and education, etc.

Q: What would you like to do after college?
I'd like to earn a PhD in physics. I'd like to be able to ask/develop increasingly sophisticated questions in physics and answer questions in more than one way.

Q: Tell us one strange but interesting fact about yourself.
The summer after high school, I lived in India for two months.

Q: What first sparked your interest in Physics?
I found first semester college calculus to be very inspiring. (Suddenly math wasn't static anymore!) There was definitely some kind of WOW factor to discover that calculus had a physical application --that it wasn't simply math, it was a lens through which one could understand physical phenomena.

Q: If you could have any pet what would it be?
A cat that cares about me.

Q: If you had a free month and unlimited funds, how would you spend your time?
If my funds were truly unlimited(!), I would dedicate my time and money to an NGO specializing in water sanitation or environmental conservation.

Q: If you could get a grant to study anything what would it be?
The next scientific breakthrough in fossil fuel alternatives.