Daniel Lee
Daniel Lee fostered a deep interest in computer science and mathematics, throughout his time in his school’s 4-year research program. During the summers after his sophomore and junior year, he interned under Dr. Shinjae Yoo at Brookhaven National Lab’s Computational Science Initiative. At the lab, he collaborated with other researchers to develop novel computational geometry algorithms and convolutional neural network models to improve the nation’s smart grid infrastructure. His work, titled “Deep Learning Architectures for Wind Field Estimation,” was recognized as semi-finalist in Regeneron Science Talent Search and Siemens Competition in Math & Science. At Brookhaven, he also co-mentored other high school interns with their project on using machine learning models to assess psychopathy risk in infants, co-authoring two conference publications.
Additionally, Daniel interned at Cold Harbor Laboratory’s computational biology division under Dr. Tatiana Engel as part of the Partners for the Future Program during his senior year. Using his prior experience in biostatistics and signal processing, Daniel analyzed brain activity data from monkeys performing visual learning tasks. From his research, he found new underlying links between different areas of the brain, primarily within the visual cortex and frontal eye fields, indicating that the connections are more intricate than previously thought.
Beyond research, areas such as entrepreneurship, finance, and community service have always interested Daniel. During school, he gave back to his community and mentors by developing a web-based classroom reservation system and volunteered at his church’s AGAPE ministry. He also enjoys participating in business and investment competitions. During his time at Columbia, he is excited to further pursue these interests and collaborate with his fellow students and faculty on new research endeavors.
When not in class or debugging his coding projects, Daniel enjoys playing cello, getting food with friends, reposting memes, and, above all, writing in the third-person.