2014 Age10, Ranked within top 0.4% of all test takers (college-bound seniors) of SAT in 2014
2015 Age11, Awarded AP Scholars with Distinction
2016 Age 12, Youngest student ever to be admitted to Cornell University
2020 Age 16, Graduated summa cum laude from Cornell Engineering along with Departmental Honors in Applied & Engineering Physics; Recipient of Cuykendall Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement ; Youngest student ever to graduate from Cornell University
2020 Age 16, Admitted to Ph.D. Program in Theoretical Particle Physics at University of Maryland College Park
2021 Age 17, Selected Banner Bearer for College of Engineering at the Cornell University Commencement of Class of 2020 (held a year later due to COVID-19 pandemic)

While studying applied physics at Cornell University as an undergraduate student and being involved in research on a plasma-based particle accelerator, I realized my true passion lies in fundamental physics. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. degree in theoretical particle physics at University of Maryland under Prof. Raman Sundrum. My research interests in this field include black hole thermodynamics and traversable wormholes, though the main focus is quantum gravity. All of the above topics turn out often to have clearer resolutions by giving the universe a higher-dimensional structure, particularly via the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence – in which any physical field theory in a certain (Anti-de Sitter) spacetime is connected to another (conformal) theory that can be derived from the original one, and which exists on that spacetime’s boundary. Conformal theories have certain properties that make them easier to be analyzed mathematically, and doing so can illuminate information about the original theory. I hope that by using this tool to explore quantum gravity, my research will be able to provide some piece of the link between the two most fundamental theories of physics that we have now: general relativity and quantum field theory – a connection that, once established, might lead to a “theory of everything.”
After I receive my Ph.D. degree, I plan to seek a teaching and research position in academia. Ultimately, I would like to further our understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe.
Lastly, my personal goal as a Masason Foundation member is to connect with other bright minds and inspire one another intellectually through the Foundation’s global networks.