SigmaCamp 2015: Counselors

Anar is a neuroscientist. His background in physics and mathematics helps him solve computational problems arising in human brain at scales from a single neuron to the entire brain network. He also tries to predict what will happen to our brains as we age. In the past, he taught the Codes and Ciphers semilab. This year he will be teaching a semilab on games and how to play your best against the best possible opponent.

I’m delighted to return to Sigma for my eighth year on the SigmaStaff, and tenth year overall. My academic interests lie at the intersection of marine science and microbiology. Currently, I use tools from chemistry and molecular biology to study bacteria and archaea from marine oxygen minimum zones—regions of the ocean with very low levels of dissolved oxygen.

I earned my undergraduate degree from Cornell, where I dabbled in research on denitrifying woodchip bioreactors. Depending on when you’re reading this, I’m either out at sea on a research expedition in the Bay of Bengal—or have just returned!

Outside of science, I enjoy drawing, painting, embroidery, and dancing. I picked up ballroom dancing in college, after 12 years of ballet. Looking forward to meeting everyone this year!

I am currently a grad student studying quantum gravity and string theory, primarily based at Stanford University but also spending a lot of time at the University of Cambridge in the UK. My primary research interests are in how the fabric of spacetime emerges from strongly interacting chaotic quantum systems, and in the nature of black hole microstates within these systems. At Sigma this year I will teach two semilabs - one on Cosmology (the study of the history and eventual fate of our universe) and one on black holes and how we think about them from both a classical and a quantum perspective.

I am always very approachable, especially if you want to chat about physics or hear me rant about tennis :-)

Andrey is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford and has been at SigmaCamp since the very beginning. Andrey graduated from the University of Toronto in 2019 and completed his PhD in Mathematics at MIT in 2025. Andrey is always open to chat about math, physics, or computer science! He greatly enjoy board games, puzzles, square dancing, and contra. Andrey's research is in quantum computing and quantum information theory. He is studying large classes of highly structured quantum error-correcting codes known as helix codes.

My PhD work was related to making nanoscale optical structures and manipulating quantum states of individuals atoms, with the goal of contributing to the world-wide effort on making optical quantum computers -- I'm continuing along the same lines now as postdoc. When I go to Sigma, I like to bring with me various tech contraptions so we can take them apart. I don't know yet what we will breaking into this year. Together with Melissa Guidry, I teach the Optics semilab. This year, we will be using light to do measurements and computations, in particular, image processing using Fourier transforms.

I spent the last eight years trying to figure out how cells of the kidney make and move about their proteins. This year will be the first Sigma I attend since obtaining my PhD. Throughout its previous incarnations, Sigma has been a gateway into a different world, one where I could see and practice science I would not otherwise encounter, and meet other Sigmoids who would have things to say about the world that I would otherwise not consider. I bring what I can to the camp, thanks in large part to my continued hobby of making and discovering new music with a few talented friends, and my recently found appreciation for fiddling with analog circuits, which ties in nicely with the former. With a sedentary lifestyle of a scientist, I am quite fond of sports, and never turn down a good soccer match. I look forward to the Euro 2016 top goal reenactments at camp this year and, of course, I look forward to seeing all of my new and old Sigma brethren soon.