![\"Mithra](\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Mithra-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nComputer science and mathematics major Mithra Karamchedu<\/strong> has <\/strong>been involved in three main research projects as a student at Harvey Mudd. \u201cSince my freshman year, I’ve been working with computer science professor Lucas Bang on research in graph algorithms, where we study the problem of generating the spanning trees of a graph G<\/em> up to the automorphisms or \u2018symmetries\u2019 of G<\/em>,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve also been doing research in Ramsey theory with former HMC President Maria Klawe, my brother Chaitanya Karamchedu \u201821 and mathematics professor Andr\u00e9s Vindas Mel\u00e9ndez. In our research, we attempt to determine the Ramsey numbers of graphs known as \u2018double stars.\u2019 As part of an REU program with the Santa Fe Institute after my sophomore year, I’ve also been working with Cristopher Moore and G\u00fclce Karde\u015f, researching the so-called \u2018phase transitions\u2019 in hard computational problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Karamchedu is a member of the HMC improv club DUCK! and has been an Academic Excellence tutor for mathematics and a CS department grutor. This fall, he will begin a PhD in theoretical computer science at Columbia University, where he hopes to specialize in combinatorial algorithms and complexity theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During her sophomore year, engineering major Marika Ragnartz <\/strong>conducted research in Professor Steven Santana\u2019s lab, working on developing a 3D bioprinter to print synthetic tissue. However, she says, \u201cmost of my experiences have actually not been in research labs. I was part of the Summer Entrepreneurship Studio at Mudd and worked on a project with my friend Sara Wexler \u201826 making a thermoelectric-cooling wearable for multiple sclerosis patients. We received multiple grants to continue working on it past the summer. I\u2019ve worked with two other startups, Lifemotion Medical Technology for Clinic and Telos Health during an internship, on devices for heart and lung failure patients and stroke patients.\u201d Ragnartz also was a grutor and teaching assistant for E79 and has been a member of the 5C hip-hop group Groove Nation throughout her time at Harvey Mudd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the fall, Ragnartz will begin a PhD program in mechanical engineering at Northwestern University, doing research on soft robotics and controls for rehabilitation robotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cModels of opinion dynamics have the potential to explain how individual beliefs and collective opinions spread in a social network. However, many canonical models in this field are deterministic and thus fail to capture uncertainty present in social interactions,\u201d says mathematics major Madeline Reeve<\/strong>. \u201cMy mathematics senior thesis focuses on how adding randomness affects long-term behavior in a class of opinion dynamics models called bounded-confidence models. In particular, my work focuses on when adding noise promotes consensus, or when all agents eventually adopt the same opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reeve made the most of her summers during college. In 2023, she conducted biostatistics research at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. This work helps explain the natural history progression of oral cavity cancer when untreated in an individual. In 2025, she conducted research at Williams College as part of the SMALL REU, studying chip-firing games on Graphs, \u201ctotally different from my thesis and the more applied work I\u2019ve done otherwise,\u201d she says. \u201cMy research team and I proved theoretical results about a quantity called the gonality of a graph, a discrete analog of a classical concept in algebraic geometry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2023, Reeve has worked for the Office of Career Services as a peer consultant, hosting workshops, meeting with Mudders to review their resumes and cover letters and helping organize OCS events. She has also been a mathematics department grutor, including for Math131: Mathematical Analysis 1, and an Academic Excellence mathematics tutor\/facilitator. Reeve also served as a North Dorm president. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduation, Reeve will move to Salt Lake City to pursue a PhD in mathematics at the University of Utah, where she plans to conduct research in applied mathematics and\/or mathematical biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lilian Zhu<\/strong> is a mathematics major with emphasis in environmental analysis and data science. With her thesis advisor, mathematics and climate professor Robert Sanchez, Zhu researched salinity feedbacks in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) for different climate models and studied how to disentangle natural versus anthropogenic forces in the AMOC response to rising CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2024, Zhu participated in an REU at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) with advisors Rodney Johnson and Dennis McGillicuddy. Zhu investigated mesoscale eddy transformations using Argo float and satellite altimetry data and took part in weeklong research cruises to collect data. Zhu also worked at BIOS as an education intern, developing Python tutorial workshops for local Bermudian students to expand oceanographic data science knowledge for the BIOS Curriculum Enrichment program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI spent the last two summers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research studying humidity trends in the U.S. Southwest with advisor Isla Simpson,\u201d Zhu says. \u201cClimate models simulate a rise in humidity contradicting observations that show a decline. My work analyzed evapotranspiration regimes within models and observations to diagnose this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At HMC, Zhu served as a grutor for the mathematics and CS departments. Having benefitted from the College\u2019s Gateway to Exploring Mathematical Sciences program as a high school sophomore, Zhu volunteered as a mentor for the program\u2019s monthly workshops throughout her time in college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduation, Zhu will pursue a PhD in physical oceanography at MIT-WHOI, studying coral reef hydrodynamics and using machine learning to optimize the performance of autonomous underwater vehicles. \u201cI’m excited to continue my outreach through both community education and creative science communication,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four Harvey Mudd College seniors and five recent graduates have been awarded fellowships through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":11580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,11,12,967,22,30],"class_list":["post-15292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-computer-science","category-engineering","category-general-feed","category-mathematics","category-students"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15292"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15300,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15292\/revisions\/15300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Marika](\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Marika-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Maddie](\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Maddie-Reeve-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Lilian](\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/LilianZhu-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAlum (major)<\/th> Research Area<\/th> Graduate School<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Kasey Chung \u201925 <\/strong>(chemistry) <\/td> Chemical Synthesis<\/td> UCLA<\/td><\/tr> Muxine Liu \u201925 (computer science\/mathematics) <\/td> Natural Language Processing<\/td> University of Pennsylvania<\/td><\/tr> Kerria Pang-Naylor \u201925 (computer science\/IS\/engineering)<\/td> Machine Learning<\/td> <\/td><\/tr> Avery Pritchard \u201924 (chemistry)
<\/td>Battery-focused Materials Science and Engineering<\/td> University of California San Diego<\/td><\/tr> Zoe Evelyn Worrall \u201925 (engineering)<\/td> Electrical and Electronic Engineering <\/td> University of Colorado, Boulder<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> Student (major)<\/th> Research Area<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Lev Gruber (physics and astronomy)<\/td> Quantum Information Science<\/td><\/tr> Ananya Venkatachalam (chemistry)<\/td> Chemical Theory, Models, and Computational Methods<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>