Ethan Shay

I am extremely fortunate to have been selected to participate in REU CAAR 2024!
Coming from a small community college, this experience really taught me
how research is conducted.

Firstly, my mentor, Aviva, was wonderful and truly guided our group through
the research process from scratch, allowing me to learn about fascinating
topics such as multi-agent reinforcement learning.

Secondly, Auguste was absolutely splendid; he helped organize events outside
of the REU, including karaoke, movie nights, hiking trips, and more. He really
made this REU super enjoyable.

Thirdly, Bill was great in that he organized talks, lunches, game nights,
and a session on graduate school that provided insight into what to expect
from the graduate school application process.
He also gave engaging interactive talks about the program (one at
the beginning and one the end), his own research (on muffins!),
and 'Trick Question or Stupid Question?'

The activities organized by Auguste and Bill helped the REU participants bond.
In general, if you are looking for a super fun and enjoyable summer,
REU CAAR is definitely something you should consider. I had one of the
best summers of my life and met some amazing people as well.

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Anubha Mahajan

I had an incredible experience working with my team, and we formed a close bond that made 
collaboration and learning truly enjoyable. I loved getting to know everyone else in the 
program and we are all still in contact with each other.

Bill will always have time for you and be willing to help you in every way he can. 
Auguste and Bill bring in so much energy to the program. Their enthusiasm made the 
program truly special.

Living in the same dorms with everyone was a highlight. It allowed us to spend a lot 
of time together outside of work— make plenty of trips to dc, going on hikes, playing 
badminton, watching movies, cooking meals, doing karaoke and having endless discussions 
about our projects.

My mentor, Aviva Prins, was an invaluable resource, especially when it came to exploring 
and applying for graduate schools. She provided not only guidance on our projects but 
also offered insightful advice that will benefit me long after the program.

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Megan Hunleth 

In the summer of 2024, I was part of the Hilbert Geometry group mentored by Auguste. As a high school student with no prior research experience, I wasn't sure what to expect, but everyone was very welcoming. Auguste created a relaxed atmosphere where it was expected to ask questions and make a few mistakes, and this was really conducive to research.

Our group worked on minimum enclosing ball problems and visualizations of different  properties of the Hilbert metric. Everybody in our group had the chance to both code and work on theory. I learned how to code in JavaScript, techniques for writing proofs, what the cross ratio is, what LP-type problems are, and more. Dr. Gasarch made sure that everyone in the program talked to each other, so, although I wasn't in the dorms, I knew people in other groups from Monday lunches, Wednesday talks, and game nights. I would definitely recommend REU-CAAR to anyone interested in research and meeting different people who are interested in computer science!


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Jakin Ng

REU-CAAR was a great program! I learned a lot about quantum information and my mentors 
Sajad and Jon were amazing. I enjoyed the weekly talks and getting to know the other 
students in the program as well. We are working on a paper and presented a poster at QIP 
on our work on quantum graph planarity games!