Ozan Kaan Kayaalp
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Education—curricular

2017–date

Mathematics, Science, Computer Science Magnet Program

Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland

Current Grade: 12, Expected graduation: June 2021

GPA = 3.92, weighted GPA = 4.76

2019

Computer Science (visiting undergraduate in Summer Quarter )

Stanford University, Stanford, California

CS 103 Mathematical Foundations of Computing (Excellent, 5 credits)

CME 108 Introduction to Scientific Computing (Satisfactory, 3 credits)

2016–17

Magnet Functions A/B, an accelerated precalculus course

Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland

2014–17

Mathematics, Science, Computer Science Magnet Program

Takoma Park Middle School, Silver Spring, Maryland

Publications

2021

Kayaalp, O.K. “Learning optimal Bayesian prior probabilities from data,” Machine Learning, submitted. [https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.00672]

2017

Kayaalp, K. “The Time in the Breeze,” a poem. TPMS Journal, Literature and Art Magazine:2(3).

Internship

8/2020–date

George Mason University Volgenau School of Engineering, Fairfax, Virginia

Project Title: Improving Wikipedia via machine learning and NLP

Mentor: Dr. Özlem Uzuner, Chair, Department of Information Sciences and Technology

Standardized Test Results

10/2020

SAT Subject Test (Physics) Score = 800

09/2020

SAT Score = 1550 (ERW 750, Math 800)

10/2019

PSAT/NMSQT Score = 1510 (NMSC Selection Index 226; 99^th percentile)

05/2019

AP Computer Science A Score = 5

05/2019

AP US Government and Politics Score = 5

03/2019

MATH 241 Multivariable Calculus (University of Maryland, College Park) Score = A+

05/2018

AP Calculus BC Score = 5

06/2017

SAT Subject Test (Mathematics Level 2) Score = 800

02/2016

ACT Mathematics Score = 35

Scholarships

2017

Oxbridge Academic Programs Exceptional Merit Scholarship

2016

University of Maryland One Course Scholarship

Academic Awards (selected)

2020

National Merit Scholar Finalist (National Level)

2019

AP Scholar Award (National Level)

2017

Broadcom MASTERS, Society for Science & the Public (National Level)
Selected into the group of top 300 students from 6,000 nominees throughout the U.S

2017

Society for Science & the Public alumnus (National Level)

2017

Winner of the Subject Prize in Math and Nature Cambridge Prep (School Level)

2017

Star Student Award Takoma Park Middle School (School Level)

2016

International Talent Search, High Honors The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (International Level)

*Extracurricular Projects & Awards*
*Writing* *Award*
2017	Gold Key for Excellence in Writing for personal essay: “From One Place to Another” The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2017 (State Level)
*Research & Science Projects & Awards*
2019	An analysis of the effects of swarm intelligence algorithm hybridization Swarm Intelligence implemented in Python *Award* Aerospace Corporations, Robert H. Herndon Science Award, Honorable Mention
2017	Optimizing policies of a two-player card game using reinforcement learning Machine Learning implemented in Python *Awards* Montgomery Science Fair, 1^st Place in Computer Science & Mathematics Office of Naval Research, Naval Science Award Rockville Science Center, Certificate of Excellence in Communications of Science, 3^rd place Aerospace Corporations, Robert H. Herndon Science Award, Honorable Mention
2016	A mathematical model of the card game, Magic: The Gathering Parameter optimization using Monte Carlo simulation with Python *Awards* Montgomery Science Fair, 3^rd Place in Computer Science & Mathematics Rockville Science Center, Certificate of Excellence in Communications of Science, 2^nd place Aerospace Corporations, Robert H. Herndon Science Award, Honorable Mention

Education—extracurricular

Summer Program

2017

Cambridge Prep, Oxbridge Academic Programs University of Cambridge, UK

Major: Math and Nature Minor: Public Speaking

Writing

2016–17

Crafting the Essay, challenge level: College Freshman

The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, Baltimore, MD

Guitar

2017–date

Classical Guitar, private studies, instructor: Dr. Matt Palmer

Matt Palmer Studio, Bowie, Maryland

2013–17

Classical Guitar Program, private studies, instructor: Andy Mitchell

Levine School of Music, The Music Center at Strathmore, N Bethesda, Maryland

2015–16

Advanced Guitar Orchestra, instructor: Risa Carlson

Levine School of Music, Washington, D.C.

Computing

2014

Intro to Computer Science, Udacity

2014

Introduction to Computer Science & Programming Using Python, MITx 6.00.1

2015

Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science, MITx 6.00.2

*Activities—extracurricular*
*Service & Volunteering*
2018	Apprenticeship at KID Museum KID Museum is a non-profit organization with the aim to raise intelligent and creative kids in a fun and open environment. Responsibilities included · Designing devices to float in a wind tube, · Designing tube structure through which balls can roll, and · Designing and constructing electrical circuits by soldering wires
2016–17	Maker’s Fair for KID Museum Worked during the summer period, assisted the staff and participants
*Clubs*
2019–date	Quantum Computing Club (Cofounder/Copresident), Montgomery Blair High School
2017–date	Physics Club, Montgomery Blair High School
2017–date	Math Club, Montgomery Blair High School
2017–18	Engineers’ Guild Club, Montgomery Blair High School
2014–17	Math Club, Takoma Park Middle School
*Guitar*
2018	Eastern Shore Guitar Festival, Youth Competition (2nd Prize in Division I)
2017	Workshop, Classical Guitar by Gaëlle Solal
2017	Beatty Classical Guitar Competition
2017	Master Class by Meng Su
2016	Workshop, Flamenco Guitar by Marija Temo
2016	Master Class by Dr. Matt Palmer
2016	Master Class with Levine Advanced Guitar Orchestra by Meng Su
*American Math Competition*
2017	AMC 10A Achievement Roll
2016	AMC 10A Achievement Roll
2016	AMC 8 Distinguished Honor Roll (top 1%)

*Skills*
*Computing*	Concepts & Methods (self-taught, hands-on learning) Concurrent Programming (threading, multiprocessing, distributed computing) Artificial Intelligence (incl. swarm intelligence) Machine Learning (reinforcement learning, naïve Bayes, RNN, deep learning) Natural Language Processing (incl. learning word embeddings from text) Quantum Computing Programming Languages (mostly self-taught) Python (Excellent), Java (Good), C++ (Good), JavaScript (Good), Matlab (Good), Regular Expressions (Excellent) Applications & Scientific Programming Libraries (self-taught, except Autodesk) Scikit-Learn, SpaCy, NumPy, Matplotlib, Tensorflow, Keras, Autodesk Inventor Integrated Design Environments (self-taught, except Eclipse) Jupyter Notebooks, Visual Studio, Eclipse, Komodo Network and Cybersecurity Network and Internet protocols; protecting networks and services from attacks; SQL injections; cryptography; cloud computing; penetration testing; intrusion detection, attack analysis and computer forensics; web exploits; ethical hacking Operating Systems (self-taught) Linux/bash/vim, Windows/PowerShell, macOS
*Teaching*	Peers: in my high school (quantum computing), in Cambridge Prep (calculus) Elementary school kids: in KID Museum (design and innovation)
*Languages*	English (native), Turkish (fluent, 17 years), Spanish (8 years)
*Sport*	Aikido (brown belt) 2015–date
*Hobbies*	Reading (science fiction & fantasy), listening music, board games

Praises[*]

He is not only an academic star but he rises above most other academic stars because of his amazing attitude, superb leadership skills, and general maturity. His kindness towards other is unmatched… Kaan does not hesitate to take on solving challenging problems. He is incredibly cooperative and responsible… He is a real special young man and is destined to do great things in life.

–Bryan Goehring, Science Teacher

You are brilliant, but most importantly kind. Those two don't always get synced up in one person.

– Carly E. Moore, AP English Language and Composition Teacher

Ozan was one of the best students I have ever had. His mathematical skills [in August 2017] are comparable to the ones found on the first years of a University degree in Mathematics.

–Angel Garcia, Instructor (Cambridge Prep)

Kaan is spectacularly bright ... His extensive vocabulary and skills of argumentation guarantee that his speeches are always interesting and well crafted.

– Abigail Branford, Instructor (Cambridge Prep)

Kaan, you have a mature writing voice with an impressive vocabulary and a flare for descriptive language.

– Diana R. Wallach, Instructor (Center for Talented Youth)

Kaan Kayaalp is not only a fine student and musician, he is also an active listener, a keen thinker, and caring person ... He is flexible and patient with others and knows how to give and take constructive feedback. He is a joy to work with and is respected and well-liked by both his teachers and his peers.

– Teachers on the Eighth Grade (from the Star Student Award)

[H]e has shown outstanding critical thinking skills and has progressed at a much faster rate than most other students—to the degree that I would consider his advancement extraordinarily gifted.

– Andy Mitchell, Composer, Guitar Instructor

His playing has reached a level that is unusually high for the amount of time he has been studying, which is quite impressive.

– Risa Carlson, Chair, Guitar Department, Instructor