Senior Aakash Kumar’s interest in computer science dates back to when he was in fourth grade. As he has grown older, his interest in the field has only grown, with Kumar even publishing a research paper about increasing the data efficiency and reliability of self-driving cars in his junior year of high school. According to Kumar, “the aspect of problem solving and applying computer science to real world problems” is amongst the most attractive factors of computer science. He now specifically cites machine learning as the facet of computer science he most enjoys.

“I was interested in machine learning and artificial intelligence as a development of being interested in computer science,” Kumar said. “Using computer science to solve real world problems naturally led to being interested in artificial intelligence, since I was able to exponentially scale the projects that I [were] able to do.”