During his time as an undergraduate, Mingxuan Zhang created a pipeline for estimating and characterizing uncertainty in coastal storm surge levels, developed methods for diagnosing and sampling from multimodal distributions and served as a teaching assistant. While he is still looking into his post-graduation options, he plans to pursue a PhD in machine learning.
How did you decide to pursue a degree in applied math?
I want to become a data scientist, and to do that you have need to have a deep understanding of mathematics, especially statistics and linear algebra. Computer science is also important to that field, which is why I chose it for my minor. The applied math department at this school is very good, and that is one of the most important reasons I came here.
How was your experience in the college and CU Boulder as a whole?
Coming here is one of the best decisions that I have ever made! I have met so many great professors and enjoyed every class – especially the applied math classes. Three instructors have been especially important in my time here though. The first is Applied Mathematics Instructor Brian Zaharatos. I took two classes with him, calculus two and introduction to mathematical statistics. If you have a chance to take a class with him, do it. I learned a lot! The second is computer science instructor Tony Wong. I worked on a research project with him where we built a pipeline together using Python to estimate the uncertainty in storm surge levels. That was one the best experiences I have had at this school. The last is Applied Mathematics Associate Professor Manuel Lladser. I took the Markov processes course with him last semester and loved it. It’s an important tool and concept in machine learning. I mention all three because, not only are they great instructors, they are very nice people and helped me a lot. I truly appreciate everything they did for me.
How does it feel to be named an Outstanding Graduate for Academic Achievement?
I feel honored to be selected and genuinely happy about it. Of course, I could never win this award without all the professors who helped and supported me along the way.
What are your future plans after graduation?
I will be continuing with school, pursuing a data science master’s degree program and then a PhD. I haven’t decided on my next school yet, but I hope to do so soon.