About Ethan:
I'm a 4th year Physics and Computer Science major from Los Angeles, CA. During my time in the CS Department, I enjoyed conducting research on network representation learning with Professor Hongning Wang in the Human Centric Data Mining Group. Our research focused on developing novel machine learning methods to encode network structures into low-dimensional embeddings that contain relevant information from graphs. Before joining Professor Wang's research group, I was fortunate to be able to combine my interests in physics and computer science as an intern at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory while working on an automated pipeline to detect and characterize exoplanets. Outside of academics, I was the Double Bassist in the UVA Jazz Ensemble, and served as the Outreach Chair for the Society of Physics Students, and as the Chapter President of the Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity. For fun, I really enjoy playing jazz music, surfing, playing poker, and playing pickup soccer with my friends around Grounds. After graduation, I am very excited to be continuing my studies in the UVA Computer Science Department as a Ph.D. student.
How Ethan achieved success this year:
I was fortunate to have a strong network of supportive family, friends, faculty members, and fellow students. It was their kindness and support that helped me get through this difficult year. I am especially grateful to Professor Wang, my research advisor, and his graduate student Lu Lin, for their guidance and mentorship which challenged me to grow as a researcher and aspiring computer scientist. I also think that having a structured bi-weekly Jazz Ensemble class where I could play in an in-person live jazz trio provided me an avenue for creative expression, and helped me break away from the monotony of constantly having to be on Zoom.