[Music]
Gabriel off-screen: My name is Gabriel Apaza, I live in Northdale, Michigan
I am currently attending Michigan State University getting a major in computer science and engineering
and I'm minoring in mathematics and I'm a rising senior.
[Music]
My name is Philip Lu, I grew up in Hacienda Heights, California.
and right now I'm actually going to UCLA for my PhD in physics.
[Music]
I've been playing classical piano probably since about the age of six.
and I've been taking lessons from a local piano teacher until I was about 16 years old.
I started learning piano when I was about four
and I had a piano teacher teacher until I was maybe 13 or so.
but then I decided to just focus on my studies more, so I stopped taking lessons but I've been playing ever since.
Gabriel off-screen: As a Goddard intern I'm working on a project called TAT-C
which stands for the Tradespace Analysis Tool for Communications
and that's just an application that allows end users to decide which space mission is best for what they want to accomplish
and my role personally on that project is I'm a software architect
so I just use different design patterns to put together different pieces of software that makes the application easier to maintain and easier to use.
The most exciting part about this project is actually seeing the project implemented into real life
and seeing real science being used with TAT-C.
[Music]
Philip off-screen: my project is on microlensing
so microlensing is based on the principle that gravity bends light around it.
So when you have a star or planet, move in front of another star, it makes the star behind it brighter.
and by just looking at how well it gets magnified we can infer characteristics of the planet or the star
and it's really cool because we can perhaps find earthlike exoplanets which are planets orbiting around other stars besides the Sun in our galaxy.
[Music]
Gabriel off-screen: Whenever I'm working or coding I always like to have music playing in the background, specifically classical music.
I feel as if music that has set patterns in it, that I can recognize, really helps stimulate my subconscious
and it helps me find answers to problems that I wouldn't be able to solve otherwise.
Gabriel off-screen: Each composer has their own different style and a pattern that's recognizable just like how in different branches of math they have different patterns that you can see.
and I can always go to the piano to just play and kind of de-stress a little bit, and it definitely helps me solve problems.
Philip off-screen: Classical piano and mathematics both present similar types of problems.
Both types of problems requires a similar kind of problem solving and when you find that elegant solution it feels great whether or not it’s mathematics or piano.
It’s also nice to have a second creative outlet, because when I’m stuck on a math problem I just feel like I’m in a rut and I can just go blow off some steam and play some piano and vice versa.
I also like having music whenever I do some coding or do some grading because it really keeps me invigorated
[Music coming to a close]
[Satellite passing, beeping]