First gen student chosen for Google mentorship program

Congratulations to B.S. student Gaoxiang Luo for being accepted into the 2021B cohort of the prestigious Google CS Research Mentorship Program (CSRMP).

The 12-week mentorship program matches students from historically marginalized groups with peers and a Google mentor to support their pursuit of computing research.

Luo is a first-generation undergraduate student with a current research focus on deep learning and health care.

He was first exposed to research during his sophomore year when he attended a series of Google exploreCSR workshops held by professors Maria Gini and Shana Watters.

"I'm very grateful to have attended the exploreCSR workshops....They sparked my attentiveness in pursuing a career in research and guided me to narrow down my research interests," said Luo.

When he saw the CSRMP announcement in the CS&E undergraduate email newsletter last summer, Gaoxiang knew he wanted to apply.

He is now six weeks into the program and has really enjoyed meeting and learning from other individuals with similar research interests, especially his mentor, who he gets to meet one-on-one every other week.

Luo's ultimate goal is to pursue a Ph.D., and the program has provided the resources and support he needs.

“I feel extremely lucky to have this experience. Since my parents didn’t attend college, I sometimes struggle, especially now that I'm working on grad school applications. This program has been extremely helpful for me in so many ways," he shared.