#SoCaltech: Alexander Zlokapa

"COVID-19 has painfully changed the world more quickly than I could have ever imagined. With the support of the amazing Caltech faculty, I’ve spent the last few weeks helping organize a Caltech student effort as we attempt to make our communities safer, working with epidemiologists and virologists from institutions around the world while bringing the Caltech community closer together. A conversation with my adviser, professor Maria Spiropulu, encouraged me to contact professor Rob Phillips, who graciously offered to give both a public lecture on COVID-19 and a mini-course on viruses. Reaching out to students through the Caltech Data Science Organization [student club] that I lead, we had over a hundred people attend online to learn about the critical problems we face today. Thanks to the enthusiasm and openness of professor Yaser Abu-Mostafa in helping us develop a new section of an undergraduate computer science course, we’ve now been able to launch projects with hundreds more Caltech students and postdocs, building models that quantify the spread of the pandemic. I could not be more grateful to our faculty and indebted to the countless undergrads who are actively making a difference. Most of all, we are all encouraged and inspired by the overwhelming response of the Caltech community; seeing everyone energized and dedicated to fighting COVID-19 fills me with gratitude and hope!"

Alexander Zlokapa (BS '21) is a Caltech undergraduate student majoring in physics who has led a variety of student efforts to understand and combat the spread of COVID-19.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.