Five SEAS students named 2010 Siebel Scholars

PALO ALTO, Calif. — September 14, 2009 — Five students dedicated to the study of computer science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) were named among the recipients of the 2010 Siebel Scholars awards.

• Geoffrey Werner Challen '02 (Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science). During the past five years, Werner, who earned an undergraduate degree in Physics from Harvard in 2002, has been focused on monitoring three active Ecuadorean volcanoes using small, light, cheap devices to quickly achieve a scale and resolution useful for supplementing traditional monitoring equipment. He has served as a teaching fellow for Harvard's undergraduate operating systems course, helping instruct almost one hundred students. In addition, Challen and his wife have served for three years as Resident Tutors at Eliot House, an undergraduate residence, where they provide academic advising and help foster community.
  

• Zhou Fan '10 (A.B./S.M. candidate in Mathematics/Computer Science). Zhou, the present Co-CEO for the Harvard College Association for U.S.-China Relations, has acted as a delegation head for the Seoul delegation of the Harvard College in Asia Program; served as an ESL teacher in the Chinatown ESL program; and acted as a teaching assistant for two upper-level mathematics courses. Fan's academic awards include: Math Contest in Modeling (MCM), outstanding winner/SIAM prize recipient, 2008 and 2009; William Lowell Putnam Competition, honorable mention, 2007 and 2008; Asian Pacific Math Olympiad, bronze medalist, 2006; and USA Mathematical Olympiad, winner, 2005. He also was an intern at Microsoft Research Asia.

• Brett Alexander Harrison '10 (A.B./S.M. candidate in Computer Science). Harrison's research focuses on artificial intelligence and game theory, with specific application to the game of Go. In the summer of 2007, he was an engineering intern at Ember Corporation, a Boston-based startup company that specializes in Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) network solutions. In the summer of 2009, he held a dual role as both trader and quantitative analyst intern at Jane Street Capital, a proprietary trading firm in New York City. During his undergraduate years at Harvard College, Harrison was the president of the Harvard Din & Tonics, Harvard University’s signature all-male jazz a cappella group. In the upcoming fall semester at Harvard, he will serve as a teaching fellow for the undergraduate artificial intelligence class, Computer Science 182.

• Benjamin Lubin '99 (Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science). After receiving his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Harvard in 1999, Lubin took a research and development position at BBN Technologies, working on advanced multi-agent modeling, scheduling and logistics systems. After six years in industry, he returned to Harvard to pursue a Ph.D. at the intersection of computer science, game theory and economics. His research has focused on combinatorial exchanges, mechanisms that support efficient reallocation of goods when participants have complex preferences regarding bundles of items. Lubin's work has been recognized through authored papers, a Yahoo KTC Grant, an IBM Research internship, and invitations to speak at Harvard, Carnegie-Mellon, and several major conferences.

• Ameya Velingker '10 (A.B./S.M. candidate in Mathematics, Physics/Computer Science). Velingker has conducted research in various disciplines, such as image processing, combinatorial number theory and analytical number theory, and has authored a paper which was accepted for publication in Annals of Combinatorics. He has been employed by Harvard as a course assistant for the undergraduate abstract algebra class and has worked as a French tutor as well as a writer, for CollegeBoard's MyRoad project. He also also served as president of Harvard Dharma, the Hindu student group; outreach chair and dean of the music school of Harvard Sangeet; and as secretary of Harvard Dynamo, a science organization.
  

The Siebel Scholars program recognizes outstanding graduate students from the world’s most prestigious business, computer science, and bioengineering graduate schools. Based on academic excellence and leadership, the students will receive a $35,000 award for their final year of graduate studies.

Siebel Scholars are selected from among students who rank top of their class, and are chosen by the dean of their respective schools on the basis of outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated qualities of leadership.

With the Class of 2010, the Siebel Scholars program has expanded to include the world’s foremost bioengineering programs, as well as talent from one of China’s top universities. 

“Eighty graduate students will gain the distinction of being named Siebel Scholars this year, joining a network of the brightest leaders from across the globe,” said Thomas M. Siebel, Chairman of the Siebel Scholars Foundation.  “We are proud to welcome the Class of 2010 Scholars to the program, and to begin working with them on addressing critical social issues through the annual conference and Siebel Foundation initiatives.”

About the Siebel Scholars Foundation

The Siebel Scholars program was founded in 2000 to recognize the most talented students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, and bioengineering and to form an active, lifelong community among an ever-growing group of leaders.

Today, more than 540 of the world’s brightest minds are Siebel Scholars. This exceptional group has the unique opportunity to directly influence the technologies, policies, and economic and social decisions that shape the future. Siebel Scholars serve as key advisors to the Siebel Foundation, guiding the development of innovative programs the Foundation initiates.

For more information please visit http://www.siebelscholars.com/index.php.