Ankur Dave
Overview
Ankur has been interested in technology for nearly all his life. Starting on computers at age 3 with Windows 95, he has pursued his passion throughout his life, learning HTML at age 8, writing his first program at age 10, working as a full-time intern at the Berkman Center at Harvard University in summer 2009, and much more.
Ankur has plenty of experience working in team roles, including working with many other employees at DreamBox to develop a product within deadlines, leading a team of six computer science students to write a 3D game for Microsoft's regional Hunt the Wumpus competition in 2007, and working as the lead programmer at Saints Robotics, Interlake's robotics club.
Ankur is a senior in the Gifted High School Program at Interlake High School. He was awarded an IB diploma in May 2009. As part of the IB diploma, he wrote his Extended Essay (a research project culminating in a 4000-word paper) on global optimization problems, and his essay was chosen from over 80 others to showcase as an example of excellent work to the faculty of Interlake.
Experience
Ankur has a broad range of technology-related experience, including an internship at DreamBox and a lead role in Saints Robotics.
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Interned at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, July–August 2009
- Worked on the HerdictWeb project, a crowdsourced Internet censorship detection web application
- Used Java Servlets on Apache Tomcat to add email alert functionality to HerdictWeb
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Interned at DreamBox Learning Corporation, summer 2007
- Used Adobe Flex to write parts of their education product
- Chosen over college graduates in Computer Science
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Created reusable client-side components
- Manipulatives: virtual abacuses, number-display tools (grids of dots in patterns), etc.
- Other application logic: sound system, text-to-speech
- Highly recommended by DreamBox in August 2007
- Led a team of six to make a 3D game in J# for Microsoft's regional Hunt the Wumpus competition, spring 2007
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Lead programmer for Saints Robotics, Interlake High School's robotics club that participates in the annual FIRST robotics competition, 2006–2009
- Wrote vital components including robot drive system in C and C++
- Maintained team web site, 2006–2008
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On-site technical work
- Helped many people in depth, visiting them to help with reinstalling Windows, fixing home networks, recovering old documents
Technology
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Self-taught every computer language he knows
- In order of familiarity, most familiar first: Java, Perl, PHP, LaTeX, HTML, C/C++, C#, J#, SQL, ActionScript, JavaScript, bash, Ruby, Visual Basic
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Wrote his IB Extended Essay on global optimization problems, January 2009
- Among the 2 (out of 80) selected as outstanding Extended Essays for presentation to the entire faculty of Interlake
- Blogged about technology, 2007–2008
- Has been using Ubuntu Linux as his primary desktop since 2005
- Contributor to Slashdot, a well-known technology forum, since 2005
- Built his own watercooled PC from scratch, 2004
- Has had an online presence for 9 years, starting from a web site about Pocket PCs in 2000, pocketpcplace.net
- Manages his family's home network, including maintaining a multi-router wireless network and a web/backup/Subversion server on which this site is hosted
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Experience in video production
- Made a Seattle Chocolates video documentary and took a Bellevue Art Museum course on video production in 2003
Education
Ankur is an academically advanced student who has taken the most challenging courses and tests available.
- A student of PRISM and the Gifted High School Program, the first program in the U.S. to allow students to complete the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program a year ahead, leaving senior year of high school free to do an internship
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High SAT scores
Date Critical Reading Math Writing Total January 2008 750 out of 800 760 800 2310 out of 2400 June 2009 800 780 710 2290 Blended 800 780 800 2380 - Awarded the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medal, a merit-based scholarship ($15,000 per year) for outstanding academic achievement in mathematics and science (more on this award), June 12, 2009
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Taken 10 AP courses so far, over 3 years:
Year Course Score 2007 Computer Science AB 5 out of 5 2007 Calculus AB 5 2007 World History 5 2008 Physics B 5 2008 English Language 5 2008 US History 4 2009 English Literature 5 2009 Chemistry 5 2009 US Government 5 2009 Physics C Mechanics 5 - IB diploma recipient (completed May 2009); diploma score: 37 out of 45
- Taking courses three math levels ahead of curriculum; current course: Differential Equations
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Recognized as a Student of Exceptional Talent by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth (CTY) in 2003
- Took three summer courses with CTY: Inductive and Deductive Reasoning, Crystals and Polymers, and Fundamentals of Computer Science
- Accepted to Lakeside School, a private school in Washington and Bill Gates's alma mater, in 2003
- Took the Integrated 3 fast-paced math course at the University of Washington's Robinson Center for Young Scholars in 2004
Early age
Ankur has been using computers for almost all of his life. He was recognized as intellectually gifted early in his childhood.
- Age 3: Began with Crayola's children's drawing programs on Windows 95, immediately took interest in the computer, experimented with Windows' settings
- Age 5: Assessed by his kindergarten teacher as reading at 9th grade level
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Age 8: Learned HTML to make a web site about Pocket PCs, pocketpcplace.net
- Set up a forum on the site for people to discuss different Pocket PCs
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Age 10: Learned Visual Basic .NET from a book, used it to make some programs for Pocket PC using Visual Studio .NET
- Factoring program, shopping list program, linear equation solver
Personal
- Favorite books: Dune, Atlas Shrugged, Ender's Game, Programming Perl, The Selfish Gene
- Interested in Indian classical music — been learning for 4 years
- Plays squash, runs, bicycles, works out
- Enjoys classic rock, especially Pink Floyd