Medha Belwadi and Pranavi Gollanapalli will join our research group this summer through the NYU GSTEM program. NYU GSTEM is a summer program for high school juniors that allows them to participate in research laboratories. The NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences offers the program and helps promote STEM to traditionally underrepresented groups, particularly females and minorities. Medha and Pranavi will be working on our recently funded NSF project on imperative Deep Learning system programming and evolution as part of the project’s broader impacts.

Medha Belwadi is a rising senior at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, California. She is interested in Computer Science and Neuroscience, hoping to study both in the future. She is eager to explore the world of artificial intelligence and wants to learn to replicate human intelligence in computers. Medha has been fascinated by the sciences from a young age, evident in her rigorous school schedule and appetite for research opportunities. By participating in the NYU GSTEM program, she is in the process of further immersing herself in the world of STEM. Medha hopes to pave the way for women of color to head into male-dominated fields. Outside of her academic interests, Medha enjoys listening to music and playing the flute.

Pranavi Gollanapalli is a rising senior at Dublin High School in California. Her passion for STEM and bridging the gender gap started with her grandmother, a trigonometry professor and family breadwinner during the 1950s in a rural, conservative village in India. From her, Pranavi gained the courage to pursue her passions unabashedly and strive to make the world a better place using her STEM skills. She has completed social and data science research and is excited to begin her next research project. Pranavi enjoys spending time with friends and family, rollerblading in the park, or reading a good book when not working.