MIT Senior David Darrows love of mathematics fuels other passions such as mentoring and finding out brand-new languages.
Maturing in Wallingford, Connecticut, David Darrow loved spending quality time outside, hiking, and camping with his Boy Scout troop. He was amazed by the environment around him, constantly asking concerns about the natural world.
” I see math as the language that the universe runs within,” says senior David Darrow. Darrows intro to mathematical research at MIT began when he was a senior in high school, through the MIT PRIMES research program for high school students. Beginning his very first year at MIT, Darrow undertook numerous research study jobs on whatever from minimal surface theory to convex geometry. Darrow has actually likewise discovered a 2nd passion throughout his time at MIT: language. Darrow has likewise been working to provide his own research study in other languages.
Now a senior at MIT majoring in math and minoring in German and physics, Darrow is still studying natural phenomena. With fluid characteristics and climate modeling as his primary fields of interest, he enjoys to use mathematics as a method to explore the world around him.
” I see mathematics as the language that the universe runs within. It is a really cool way to comprehend how nature works,” he says.
” I see mathematics as the language that the universe operates within,” states senior David Darrow. “It is an extremely cool method to understand how nature works.” Credit: Jake Belcher
Darrows intro to mathematical research at MIT began when he was a senior in high school, through the MIT PRIMES research program for high school students. Under the assistance of 2 mentors, he worked to come up with a brand-new algorithm to simulate fluid movement more properly and efficiently in a cylinder. While the project was eventually not successful, mathematically speaking, it galvanized his interest in the field– with failures consisted of.
Starting his first year at MIT, Darrow undertook various research projects on everything from minimal surface theory to convex geometry. While some were effective, others were not. Darrow says the failures have actually been some of his greatest challenges– and inspirations for brand-new research concepts.
“Thats one of the huge things about math research: Sometimes it just fails and there is nothing you can do about it. If these things didnt fail, it would not be interesting to study them in the very first place,” he says.
In the spring of his junior year, Darrow worked together with postdoc Daniel Alvarez-Gavela to study the symplectic topology of homotopy spheres. This was Darrows very first job working side-by-side with somebody else; his previous research study experiences had been more independently driven.
Darrow is currently studying protein folding with PhD prospect George Stepaniants, utilizing analytical geometry to study and compare the distinctions between the folds of these big, intricate particles. Using catalogued information, he intends to see if particular proteins relate and share an evolutionary past.
Darrow has likewise found a second passion during his time at MIT: language. Beginning with German in his very first year, he is now discovering French and russian and revisiting Spanish, which he started studying in high school. His interest in these languages is partially driven by the reality that numerous of the topics he is interested in were pioneered in languages aside from English. Hence, by learning languages such as German and Spanish, he can connect to more people in mathematics and find out from their research. He likewise understands that some experts are more comfy speaking in their native language, so he may miss out on out on important information– about math or lots of other topics.
“There are a lot of individuals you cant link with if you dont speak the exact same language they do,” he says.
Darrow has also been working to present his own research study in other languages. In the spring of his junior year, he gave a presentation on one of his research study jobs about convex geometry in Spanish at the Víctor Neumann-Lara colloquium in Mexico. He has actually likewise sent work to 2 French journals with the hopes of being released.
The pandemic has actually also increased Darrows gratitude for languages, as he sees the worth of the internet as a knowing tool for online education. Using programs like Duolingo and MIT Open Courseware himself, he comprehends the far-reaching potential that user-friendly and available platforms need to change learning, particularly in subjects like mathematics and science.
“There are a lot of people in the U.S. who have language barriers, or partial language barriers, which makes standard U.S. education very challenging. If you arent 100 percent comfy with English, then learning calculus in English is going to be much tougher– to no fault of your own,” he says.
Darrow enjoys tutoring in all topics, seeing it as a method to advance his love of education and learning. “I believe education is a big part of the research study procedure,” he states.
In graduate school, Darrow wants to study how fluid characteristics associate with the climate, taking a look at things like geophysical fluid flows and oceanographic modeling. He sees math, and fluid dynamics particularly, as a way to assist anticipate and much better react to modifications triggered by environment concerns.
“A great deal of that boils down to how good our models are and how good our mathematics is,” he says.
Darrows end goal is to enter into academic community, using his experience in mentorship and mentor to make himself a better instructor and scientist.
“I believe its important to try to use your skills to do something great, however also assist other individuals get there themselves,” he says.