Meet Iris

Tell us about yourself

I'm a dual-enrollment student. I take four classes at my high school per quarter and one at a local college. And I plan on going into computer science, potentially with a dual degree in math.

I am super into STEM, especially robotics and math. I’m president of the math club and on my school's robotics team. I like to do sports, especially running—I recently ran a marathon—biking, rollerblading; just being outside in nature is really fun. I love reading (and I've read quite a few books that I got for free from Non-Trivial, which are awesome).

How would you describe Non-Trivial?

Non-Trivial is a program where you get to meet a variety of people interested in pretty much anything from a technical field to something in ethics. You get to collaborate with them on a project of your choosing that aligns your technical or non-technical interests to an ethical approach to improving humanity in some way. A common line between all the projects obviously was improving quality of life for some group of people in some way.

“You get to collaborate on a project of your choosing that aligns your interests to an ethical approach to improving humanity in some way.”

Why did you apply to the Non-Trivial Fellowship?

I found out about Non-Trivial from the MAA, the Mathematical Association of America. I thought this seemed like a very nice, open-ended opportunity to do some research for the greater good and felt like I'd be able to meet people that are good at and interested in the same things that I am.

I wasn't completely sure about it initially because there are a lot of things to do in the summer—who knows—but when I was doing the initial stage of the application, the initial logic riddles were pretty funny, so I thought that this was probably something really interesting and was going to make me think about more than just the technical stuff. The application definitely convinced me.

What was your project about?

We implemented a network of traffic rerouting algorithms to better improve congestion in a street and city area as a proof of concept for why neuromorphic computing is more efficient relative to what we currently employ.

We outlined how event-based cameras can be effectively coupled with asynchronous neuromorphic processors, and how processors can subsequently relay information within a road network. This reduces emissions from vehicles by cutting down on the time they spend in traffic.

Iris pushing a robot at a competition

Can you describe your experience in the fellowship?

I'd done a few research projects in the past—one with the University of Washington, one with the Junior Academy of Sciences, and a couple that were virtual—and they were definitely a different experience from Non-Trivial, they were more rigidly defined.

The worksheets opened my eyes to different ways of thinking about the world and different philosophical perspectives, and that was really cool.

I think my favorite part of actually writing the paper and producing our results was working on our simulation together: Getting input from other people on how to improve this part of functioning. How can we visualize our results? How do we improve the performance of our network? I think the content gets stronger by interacting with other people. 

I met a lot of like-minded people. It was interesting to meet people from all around the world. I like to see how their lifestyles differ from mine, and we had some interesting project ideas throughout these discussions. 

How has the fellowship changed your perspective?

“I have a richer education that prepares me more for doing things in the future and helps me decide what path I want to go down.”

I have a richer education that actually prepares me more for doing things in the future and helps me decide what path I want to go down.I guess before I was really dead set on going into industry for computer science. Now I'm thinking about what will be most fulfilling, personally, to do. And maybe that would actually be research or something slightly more philanthropic.

I feel like, overall, the fellowship has made me more aware of the possibilities for the future and how to expand my reach.

What advice would you most like to give to your former self?

Don't be afraid of doing things that push your limits or push your comfort zone or things that are just hard. Sometimes I think, “Oh, it would be easier to just do what I'm already good at.” And this comes in a lot of different variations, and I don't think it through. The fellowship in general has made me think more deliberately about every action I'm taking. Which is the path of least resistance? Which is the path that will help me improve the most? If these are irreconcilable, how do I choose? How do I choose the better path in a way that still keeps me happy? And how do I keep improving myself at every step?

I would tell my younger self, “Keep evaluating your steps in your decisions, frequently, and make sure you make the most informed decisions and the decisions that will benefit you the most in the long run and hopefully in the end benefit society in the long run. If you can choose the harder route, if you're up for it, great.