Recent graduate Jimson Huang — who holds dual bachelor’s degrees in engineering and math — is headed to Purdue University this fall, fresh from winning the Herz Gold Medal this spring.

This medal, the University of Nevada, Reno’s most prestigious honor, is awarded to the graduating senior with the highest grade-point average. 

Huang earned a degree in computer science engineering, and also received the Computer Science & Engineering Department Scholar Award along with the Westfall Scholars award from the College of Science.

“I was very surprised (to earn this) because I didn’t think I was the person with the highest credit count of my graduating class,” Huang said, about the winning the Herz. “That being said, I’m extremely grateful for receiving the award and want to give thanks to all the donors and staff that made this possible.”

Throughout his journey at the University, Huang learned many life lessons — including the importance of reaching out for help — and gained lifelong friendships. 

“Something I learned during my time here is that it’s always a good idea to seek help, whether it’s from the professor, teaching assistants, other students or the various resources available on campus,” Huang said. “It's always better to speak up or ask questions when you’re confused. I think it's good advice for life in general as well.”

Throughout his time at the University, Huang worked on many different projects. These projects eventually would lead Huang into his interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and conducting research.

“Firstly, I really enjoyed working on my CS senior capstone project with my team, and I learned a lot of valuable coding and real-world experience from that project,” Huang said. “I also enjoyed conducting research on statistical clustering with Dr. (Paul) Hurtado, (associate professor of math), who introduced me to academic research and guided me through the process of conducting research, gathering data, writing a research paper, etc.”

Huang spent his time doing numerous different things around campus, one being a tutor at the University Math Center. 

“I loved working as a math tutor at the University's Math Center for three years,” Huang said. “The Math Center is where I met a lot of my close friends and gained valuable work experience. I would likely recommend the Math Center for any students who need help with their math and physics classes.”

Next steps

Following his education at the University, Huang plans to attend Purdue to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science with a research emphasis in machine learning regarding AI. He will be working in the machine learning and AI industry.

“At Purdue, I would like to essentially continue my education in computer science and AI particularly, they have some more specialized classes that have to do with advanced machine learning techniques that I’m very interested in,” Huang said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to do some research and contribute to this growing subfield of computer science during my time there as well.” 

Huang also would like to travel and take some time to relax.