Alex White
During his time as a student at Columbia so far, two interests have captured Alex's enthusiasm: chemical engineering and comedy.
At the intersection of chemistry and problem-solving, chemical engineering and Alex have proven to be a match made in heaven. The summer following his freshman year, he participated as a student researcher at the University of Minnesota's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center through an REU program. While there, he synthesized nano-scale Janus particles to increase their efficiency and study their rheology amongst passive particles. This allowed him to gain a valuable understanding of working in laboratory environments. He ended the experience by presenting his work in in front of his mentors and peers, reaffirming his strength for presentation.
On campus, Alex is involved in many of the student comedy groups. One is Fruit Paunch Improv Comedy, the oldest and most delightful improv club at Columbia. Another is the Philolexian Society, a club dedicated to the art of absurdist debate. And lastly, there is the Columbia University Marching Band, a marching band just as excited to tell provocative jokes as it is to run around in circles on the football field. He has also spent his free time performing stand-up comedy in Minneapolis as well as in New York. He hopes to spend his junior year performing at other colleges on the weekends, just for the love of the craft. When it comes to jokes, one could say he's no joke.
Besides comedy, Alex serves as a tour guide in the Undergraduate Recruitment Committee. This has only furthered his aptitude for delivering information efficiently.
Before his college days, Alex embraced a variety of extracurricular activities. He was captain of his high school chess team, captain of the varsity soccer team, an actor in school theater productions, and played the alto saxophone in jazz band. He also served as a residential life assistant in the dorms, where his job was to help accommodate new students, manage the dorm-cleaning system, and generate spirit and camaraderie on his residential hall. Show him an arbitrarily formed group of people with incongruous personality traits, and he will build you a team.