NOVA Students Selected as Finalists in Mid-Atlantic AMATYC Student Research League Competition
The American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) recently selected a team of two NOVA math students as top finalists in the Mid-Atlantic Region for the AMATYC Student Research League Competition. Meelod Waheed and Jhonn Dalton Cardozo, along with the team’s mentor Prof. Matthew Westerhoff, represented the Manassas Campus in the competition. The challenge problem was to focus on creating a “Mission to Mars” plan to satisfy food requirements using mathematical modeling.
The students will be honored at this year’s 47th AMATYC Annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Check here for the complete details of the competition.
Meelod Waheed is a first-generation Afghan-American student at NOVA. He is currently studying computer science, concentrating on Machine Learning research and optimization. After NOVA, he hopes to transfer to a top-20, four-year university to continue pursuing Machine Learning and eventually get into computer vision and creative artificial intelligence.
During his time at NOVA, he has won numerous awards, including the SEAL Award, Presidential Scholars, Dean’s List and multiple scholarships. Namely, he was selected for the Coca-Cola’s Leaders of Promise Scholarship for his academic and leadership achievements. He has also won first place in the 2021 Spring Honors Symposium at NOVA, presenting his research on breaking down Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence optimization at an early university-friendly level.
At NOVA, he currently serves as president of the Phi Theta Kappa chapter, president of the STEAM Club, president of the Cloud Computing Club, president of the Personal Finance Club and president of the Honors Club. He is also a part of numerous other clubs and organizations at NOVA.
Outside of school, he is the head of web development and design at The Caring Consultants. His role involves designing and maintaining our website with AWS, increasing our online presence and editing/producing our podcast episodes. He is also working at NASA as a Software Engineer Intern.
After graduating from a four-year, he hopes to become a Machine Learning engineer and start his own artificial intelligence firm.
Jhonn Brain Dalton Cardozo is an American-Bolivian born in Cochabamba. As a younger enthusiast of science, he is self-taught in math and physics since he did not go to college nor was he homeschooled. In addition to the ambition of one day going to college, he enjoyed playing chess, thereby, participating in many tournaments and even winning some gold medals. Inspired by his family and personal goals, he got his GED and then applied to NOVA.
As a first-generation student, he worked at the Academic Success Center (ASC) in the math and science department at the beginning of his second semester. Also, he was recognized as an honorary librarian for his contribution to raising awareness of computer viruses. In his third semester, he was also hired as a writing assistant in English and composition in the Academic Support Center. He also participated in many math competitions, winning in the Integration Bee at NOVA. In his last semester, he was tutoring more than 90% of the classes he had taken.
He was recently accepted into George Mason University as a cybersecurity major. He likes cybersecurity, but ultimately, his dream is to one day get a doctorate in either physics or mathematics.
Submitted by:
Matthew Westerhoff, MA-Assoc. Prof. of Mathematics, MWesterhoff@nvcc.edu