Blazing a trail of academic excellence

Copping national and regional awards during his formative years at Vaz Preparatory School and Campion College in Jamaica, Jabari Hastings, who went to Stanford University on a full scholarship, continues to blaze a trail of excellence by completing both his undergraduate degree in mathematics, with honours, and his master's degree in computer science in June this year.

Having been offered the opportunity to study at Harvard, Caltech, Amherst and other Ivy League universities, the young academic chose Stanford.

He said that in terms of financial assistance, the universities all offered competitive packages to support him in completing his undergraduate studies.

The scholar said that from early he knew that he wanted to focus on a career involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers, but did not decide if it would have been mathematics, although he was particularly strong in this area.

Hastings, who completed both degrees concurrently and graduated last month, has now started the next journey to complete a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) in computer science at Stanford.

The university offers a coterminal degree programme which allowed Hastings to begin work on his master's degree while finishing his bachelor's degree.

“And so I thought it would be a really good approach for me, because I get to achieve both of them and I'd be able to have the specialisation that I want compared to, for instance, doing a double major,” Hastings said in a recent Gleaner interview.

“I have a little bit more of a focus in a specific area of computer science, which I am going to do more work in now. Compared to the typical undergrad degree, it's a little bit broader,” he said.

Of note is that Hastings received a special accolade, dubbed the Firestone Medal for excellence in undergraduate research, which recognises the top 10 per cent of all honours theses in the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering and applied sciences.

He was the only recipient from the mathematics department at Stanford to have been awarded the Firestone Medal.

“My thesis explored matroids, structures at the heart of many discrete optimisation problems,” he highlighted.

A matroid generalises the concept of independence encountered in linear algebra or graph theory, he added.

Hastings, who many would call a 'math whiz', said that during his sophomore year at Stanford, he realised that he had an interest in pursuing a career in mathematics. He said that while mathematics was still extremely exciting to him, his interest in computer science was piqued because of research he participated in, and he wanted to learn how to write efficient programmes.

Graduating with a master's degree in computer science, with a specialisation in theoretical computer science, Hastings said that while completing his degree, he worked on a research paper he described as the crowning moment of his studies, to date.

The research paper, which Hastings worked on with other scholars, will appear in the International Symposium on Information Theory.

He explained that the paper investigates a problem involving error-correcting codes. An error-correcting code is a scheme that protects messages from corruption as they pass through noisy channels. “My collaborators and I designed new efficient codes with applications in distributed storage and cryptography,” he said.

“It was surreal for me to have made a contribution in the field of computer science as an undergraduate transitioning into a master's, because getting published is no easy feat.”

During his junior years at Stanford, Hastings did an internship at Microsoft, which he described as an “incredible experience” working with extremely talented and dedicated engineers.

“I really contemplated becoming a full-time software engineer because I enjoyed the experience so much.”

Hastings, who celebrated his 23rd birthday last month, is aiming to complete his PhD in another few years.

At the end of his studies, he said that he would love to make a contribution to the academic development of young people in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

“I see myself helping to mould the future generation of STEM enthusiasts not only in Jamaica, but across the Caribbean and across the world.”

However, Hastings said he was also drawn to working in industry, where he would participate in research and development.

“I am open to teaching and working in industry, and so I am really so excited to see where the journey will take me.”

Hastings said that he could never forget the investment that was made in him at the preparatory and high-school levels. He also praised the staff in the Department of Mathematics at The University of the West Indies, who provided a platform for him to develop his propensity for mathematics through the Math Olympiad.

“I really appreciate the support from the maths department for helping to see that interest and fuelling it,” he said.

“I would want to have a similar impact on students in the Caribbean, whether through a summer programme or coming back to work at the UWI or UTech. They had a tremendous impact on me and I feel like it would be my time to return the favour, and I would be happy to do so,” he said.

Hastings hailed his mother, Heather, father Lynval, and sisters Amara and Okera for being the core unit behind his success and for their unwavering support through his undergraduate years.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com.