Stanford MS&E: Stories & Voices

Quinn shares how his love for mathematics and teaching led him to pursue research at Stanford, and that he plans to pursue a career in academia after graduating. During the UDR program, Quinn worked with his mentor, MS&E PhD student Josh Grossman, on research in the Stanford Computational Policy Lab in MS&E.

Romuald shares how he gravitates toward fields in which there are a multitude of ways to solve one problem, and how that interest led him to his major in Computer Science. During the UDR program, Romuald worked with his mentor, MS&E professor Johan Ugander, to study the correlations between demographics and the effects of implementing ranked choice voting.

Bethelehem shares how, growing up in the Bay Area, technology and business were always at the front of her mind. Now, Bethelehem is a junior majoring in Symbolic Systems with a concentration in computational social science. She also plans to pursue an MS&E coterminal master’s degree with a concentration in technology and engineering management. During the UDR program, Bethelehem worked with MS...

Marco shares how his lifelong love for creation led him to pursue both music and MS&E at Stanford, and how he utilized skills from both disciplines to make the best out of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Marco describes how a desire for interdisciplinary studies led him to MS&E, and how he plans to utilize the skills he learned to innovate and enhance both his artistry and...

Hannah shares how her desire to create impact for large numbers of people led her to study operations research. She describes her research on eliminating bias in algorithms driven by artificial intelligence, how she blends the study of technical systems with the study of the people involved with those systems, and her plans to continue in academia as a professor at Columbia Business School.

Giovanni explains how his early experiences in computer science and math paved the way for his interest in engineering. That path led him to study infectious disease outbreaks as an undergraduate, which in turn positioned him to be at the forefront of COVID-19 research when the pandemic began. Giovanni also shares advice for current students and how he found work/life balance as a PhD student at S...

Juan shares how his innate curiosity for inventing and advancing processes led him to pursue engineering. Juan was born and raised in Chile, where he acquired undergraduate and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and worked as a financial engineer at a small company. Now, Juan looks forward to starting his career in Silicon Valley and soaking up knowledge in a larger organization with deep...

Bao shares how she grew up wanting to become an immigration lawyer, but, upon arriving at Stanford, discovered how to use engineering and computational tools to advance social good. She also discusses her experience as a first-generation low-income, or FLI, student at Stanford and her work helping other FLI students as a member of MS&E’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.

Anneke shares how serving in the Peace Corps teaching high school mathematics led to her area research. While teaching overseas, she noticed healthcare problems, such as Malaria, directly affecting her students' attendance. After that experience, she decided to apply her mathematics background to the healthcare system. Anneke's research focuses on infectious disease modeling and policies w...

Growing up in the Silicon Valley, Stanford became one of the first colleges Lauren learned about at a very early age. Lauren also swam competitively throughout her childhood and high school years and decided that Stanford was the perfect place to continue her athletic journey. Lauren's interest in engineering was sparked by her parents' stories about her grandfathers- one being an electric...

Emily shares with us how the COVID-19 pandemic led her to MS&E, and how the program helped her to find practical applications for her background in economics. Emily also shares stories about her time at Stanford and offers advice to future students in MS&E.

Saron shares stories about her childhood and moving around the world until she arrived in California at the age of eleven. Saron discusses how she originally came to Stanford determined on becoming a human rights lawyer but soon discovered that she could make just a big impact on societal issues by pursuing a degree in engineering. She also shares stories about her time at Stanford and in the MS&a...

Eric shares with us his research on mission-driven organizations, and how entrepreneurs can be successful while doing good for society. He also shares stories about his time at Stanford and in the MS&E program.

Andrea shares how her interest in engineering was sparked by her fascination for how things worked. Her parents supported and encouraged her curiosity, no matter how random the question or thought appeared to be. Andrea originally came to Stanford as a pre-med student but wanted to explore healthcare from more of a policy lens, understanding how to make the best decisions regarding healthcare issu...

Sean shares with us how his passion for engineering started with a childhood project car and describes how the interdisciplinary nature of MS&E is what attracted him to the program. Sean also describes his experience as one of the student members of MS&E’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee, and his plans for the future.

Brian shares with us his journey from being a physics major to MS&E and shares his passion for creating tangible impact in the world. Brian also shares stories about his time at Stanford and offers advice to future MS&E students.

Aron shares stories about his childhood and how growing up on an orchard farm, helping his father count trees, led to his fascination with math and engineering. He wanted to solve problems around efficiency and optimization and found that math allowed him to do so. Aron also shares stories about his time at Stanford, what led him to MS&E, and his plans for the future.

Wanyi shares how listening to an episode of the Freakonomics podcast series featuring Al Roth led her to pursue a PhD in MS&E. Wanyi came to Stanford to study operations research focused on economic systems and environmental sustainability. While at Stanford, she started asking questions about how governments and nonprofits incentivized people to protect and conserve the environment. Wanyi als...

Virgil shares that his interest in Engineering became apparent as an undergraduate in the United States Military Academy, where he learned about Dynamic Systems and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. While attending USMA, he decides, along with one of his classmates, that the next logical step would be to pursue a graduate degree in MS&E. Virgil also discusses his time at Stanford and his plans...

Ali’s research focus is in the area of Operation Research. He helps define his research area and how it has extended beyond MS&E with collaboration in the CS and Econ departments at Stanford. He shares his thought process for choosing the MS&E program and describes it as being the perfect blend between theory and application.

Travis shares with us his research focus in Decision Risk Analysis, and what led him to his research topic for his dissertation. Travis leads us in-depth into his research where he studied fake news by using the quantitative method to examine it’s spread on online platforms, as well as potential counters that both government and industry could use in an effort to stop the spread of disinformation....

Laura describes watching her father work on engineering projects as a young child, and how that ignited her curiosity for engineering.  Laura also shares what she will miss most about the MS&E program and Stanford, in addition to her plans for the future.

Pablo shares that his fascination with engineering began at an early age, taking apart toys to see how they work. That his teachers in high school made science and math courses exciting and fun, as opposed to just fulfilling course requirements. He also describes what he will miss most about MS&E and Stanford, and how he will apply what he’s learned to his newest venture.

First in his family to graduate from college, Guillermo shares stories about growing up in Chicago in a small community called Little Village. At a young age, he developed a passion for math and science, which synthesized into a love for engineering. He shares stories about his times at Stanford and in the MS&E program and his plans for the future.

Lauren shares her fondest memories about what attracted her to the STEM field, including solving math problems with her mother at a very young age, describing it as something that was ingrained into her identity. Lauren also shares her plans for the future, which include a position in consulting and an MBA a few years down the road.