Brandon Wang

Hello! Welcome to my (retired) academic homepage. I am currently doing various fun things at Cartesia AI. Previously, I did my undergraduate degree (class of 2024) in the Computer Science and Molecular Biology program (Course 6-7) at MIT.

Interests

I am interested in developing novel solutions to pressing problems, particularly via the development of new technologies (both computational and social). Some areas I am particularly interested in include:

• Prevention and treatment of infectious disease
• Better methods to understand molecular mechanisms of cells
• Digital tools to enhance civic participation in democracies
• Strategies to mitigate climate change
• Designing healthier social networks

While at MIT, I worked with Mohsen Ghaffari (MIT CSAIL), Yury Polyanskiy (MIT LIDS), and Xiao Wang (Broad Institute). Over Summer 2024, I worked with 0xPARC, an applied cryptography research organization.

Contests

In high school I participated in various national and international math and CS olympiads (I was at the USA's IOI training camp in 2017, the IMO training camp in 2017-2019, and on the IMO team in 2019). Nowadays, I help write problems and do various logistical tasks involved with running these competitions.

I believe that contests are a great way to develop problem-solving skills, meet other brilliant people, and explore interests in various fields. On the other hand, I believe that they are primarily a means to an end, and if you are currently a high-schooler doing these contests, I encourage you to also spend some time thinking more about what you want to do in life (if you'd like to talk about this, feel free to reach out!).

I have previously taught classes at the Math Olympiad Program (MOP), primarily in combinatorics and combinatorial optimization. You can find the handouts below:

• Black Magic: Induction as hammer. (PDF)
• Hallucination: Hidden structure in combinatorial processes. (PDF)
• Noodle Bar: Global optima via local structure. (PDF)

I do not offer tutoring. If you are a high schooler interested in math, I recommend reading higher math books. Personal favorites include Spivak's Calculus, Stein and Shakarchi's Analysis series (particularly Fourier and Complex), Howie's Fields and Galois Theory, and Marcus's Number Fields. Axler's Linear Algebra Done Right is also good, but if you are planning on being anything other than an algebraist, consider also reading Treil's Linear Algebra Done Wrong.

MIT

While at MIT, I was a projectionist for the Lecture Series Committee. I also played lots of tractor, and took a bunch of classes in various departments. Personal favorites include:

• Fundamentals of Experimental Experimental Biology (7.002, S21)
• Information Theory (6.441, F21)
• Cell Biology (7.06, F21)
• The Long War Against Cancer (STS.049, F21)
• Immunology (7.23, S22)
• Operating Systems Engineering (6.039, F22)
• Distributed Algorithms (6.852, F22)
• Advanced Algorithms (6.854, F22)
• Global Chinese Cinemas (CMS.S92, F23)
• The Making of Modern [European] Politics (GOV1171, S24)

Contact

You can contact me at brwa [at] alum [dot] mit [dot] edu.

Trivia

This website's design is inspired by Amber Li and Ankur Moitra's websites. It was mostly made during a bus ride from Boston to New York.