Jagadeesan ’16 Wins Second At Intel Science Talent Search

Senior Meena Jagadeesan placed second on Tuesday, March 15 in Basic Research at the Intel Science Talent Search competition, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science competitions. She was one of forty finalists out of around 1,800 students who participated.

Jagadeesan’s research,“The Exchange Graphs of Weakly Separated Collections,” centers around the field of Algebraic Combinatorics. Algebraic Combinatorics is a field of math in which counting techniques are used to study objects of algebraic interest. She conducted her research through the MIT-PRIMES program, a research program for Boston-area high school students. While conducting her research, she attended weekly meetings with a graduate student mentor, Miriam Farber, at MIT during the second half of her upper year and the first half of senior year. She completed the majority of her work before being selected as a semifinalist. After being selected as a finalist on Jan. 20, Jagadeesan prepared a poster presentation of her written paper as well as project related questions for question-and-answer sessions with a panel of judges.

“My Intel STS experience really reinforced my passion for research, and I feel a surge of new energy and passion after having the wonderful opportunity to meet so many brilliant minds.”

While thousands of students from across the country apply each year, only 300 are named semifinalists. Upon their recognition, they receive $1000 in prize money for both himself/herself and the school. The finalists receive an additional $7,500 and are invited to an all-expenses-paid weeklong trip to Washington, D.C.

First, second and third place were awarded in three categories—Basic Research, Innovation and Global Good. Jagadeesan won $75,000 in addition to the prizes she won as a semifinalist and a finalist. Jagadeesan’s interest in math began at an early age. She first encountered research based mathematics at a USA/Canada Math Camp during the summer before her lower year. At the camp, she studied a polynomial associated to partially ordered sets in the special case of polytopes, a geometric object with flat sides. The following year, she conducted another research project, this one in a laboratory setting that aimed to improve the efficiency of a DNA fragmentation method. She then expanded her research experience through mathematical analysis of a microscope model’s accuracy in simulating cell motion in porous media.

Judges conducted five 15-minute blocks of interviews for each finalist. Panels of three judges, representing all areas of math and science, asked questions to test overall scientific knowledge and problem solving skills. Jagadeesan answered questions such as, “Explain how a GPS works?” and, “Design an experiment to test whether a certain virus can cause Alzheimer’s?” testing her knowledge in all the different scientific fields.

Jagadeesan noted the different challenges she faced in this high-pressure situation. “I often found myself struggling to answer these random questions in the stressful environment with the judges staring at me,” Jagadeesan said.

Awards were presented at a black-tie gala in the National Building Museum. Jagadeesan was relieved to have the opportunity to present her poster and project to distinguished guests in an unjudged session as well. According to her, there were around 1,300 distinguished alumni and scientists—some who were Nobel prize laureates—at the award showcase.

Jagadeesan’s project also received high recognition on campus. Senior Alex Wei recognized Jagadeesan’s curiosity and willingness to explore new ideas as a key factor of her success. “She gets tangibly excited when she stumbles across an elegant or unexpected result,” he said. In addition, Wei believed that she “definitely deserves” her win and was happy to hear of her accomplishment. “This is something that she’s worked really hard for—both before through her research and at Intel with her judging interviews and presentation.”

Senior Darius Shi noted Jagadeesan’s insight when it comes to her mathematical work. “As a scholar, Meena thinks very deeply…[she] tries to dissect the theorems and understand why the proofs work, beyond its mechanical procedures,” he said. He further expressed his amazement at Jagadeesan’s ability to put a great amount of work into her project despite her Exeter schedule. According to Shi, most Exeter students are usually too overwhelmed with school work to find time for outside research, but Jagadeesan managed to balance both at once.

Instructor of Classics Nicholas Unger, who was Jagadeesan’s adviser for three years, noted how she has broken boundaries in her exploration of Mathematics. He was especially impressed by her ability to overcome gender stereotypes. “What I admire about Meena is that she explodes every stereotype of the ‘math geek.’ She’s a girl, so that next time some dinosaur like Lawrence Summers says girls can’t do math or science as well as boys, I can simply point to Meena.” he said. He also noted Jagadeesan’s strong collaborative skills, noting her ability to “gently steer” other students in the right direction during class. “[She creates], as one teacher of hers put it, ‘gold out of dross,’” Unger said.

Jagadeesan’s talent had been recognized prior to her success at the Intel STS. She has earned two Semifinalist awards at the Siemens Competition, was given a paper acceptance to the Communications in Algebra math journal and is a four time medalist at the Math Prize for Girls Olympiad and a USAJMO qualifier. She was also invited to present at an American Physical Society conference and has participated in the Research Science Institute, the MIT-PRIMES program, the Garcia Summer Scholars Program and the USA/Canada MathCamp. Jagadeesan met an “amazing community of current finalists and alums who are really passionate about research” during the Intel STS finals. Next year, she will be attending Harvard University. She was excited to learn that many of her fellow finalists will be there as well.

Along with presenting her research, Jagadeesan visited tourist places in Washington D.C., met with Congressional representatives, ate dinner with scientists from Intel and socialized with scientists and students. She described this trip as “one of the best weeks of [her] life.”

Jagadeesan’s recent success only marks the beginning of what could be a very long and successful career. This summer, Jagadeesan will attend an undergraduates math program at the Emory Research Experience. She then plans on pursuing Math/Applied Math in college. Her time at Intel STS helped influence her passion for this area of study.  “My Intel STS experience really reinforced my passion for research, and I feel a surge of new energy and passion after having the wonderful opportunity to meet so many brilliant minds,” she said.