NSF REU Class of 2026
Zoë Painter
Zoë Painter is a rising junior at Carnegie Mellon University studying astrophysics. At CMU, she worked with Dr. Antonella Palmese to identify dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) and larger AGN groups in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument's (DESI) first data release. Using DESI’s spectroscopic data in combination with the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey and the AGN/Galaxy Classification Value-Added Catalog (VAC), she created a census of dual AGNs along with larger galaxy and quasar groups containing multiple AGNs. She also began to investigate how convolutional neural networks (CNNs) can be used in the visual inspection process required for pair identification. She is excited to continue her work with Dr. Palmese into the fall through the development of a visual inspection CNN and expanding into DESI’s second data release.
Josh Shi
Josh Shi is a rising sophomore studying physics at CMU. Through this program, he worked with Professor Sufei Shi studying 2D materials such as graphene or tungsten diselenide. By identifying suitable fragments of mechanically exfoliated 2D materials, he trained a machine learning algorithm to autonomously identify similar fragments for optical and transport measurements. He is excited to see how artificial intelligence and machine learning can further help researchers around the lab. In his free time, Josh enjoys playing piano and crafting puns.