Samvar Shah

Year in School
Freshman

Major
Computer Science

Research Interests
Artificial Intelligence

Research Mentor
Nancy Amato

Research/Engagement Experience

Interests

Project Title

How did I get interested in Computer Science?
One game night, I plotted my Battleship fleet as a bipartite graph. Victory felt inevitable, until my cousin sank me in three merciless strikes. That defeat sparked in me a desire to computationally formalize the strategy to guarantee a win. That was the beginning of my interest in CS. It was further fueled as I learnt theoretical CS along with combinatorial and algorithmic thinking. It is now the language I dream in.

What social interests matter to me?

Why did you choose Illinois?
UIUC is a place where ideas don't stay on whiteboards for long; they become research, startups, and late-night debugging sessions. That's exactly where I belong!

What are your passions outside of computing?
Math is the bedrock of my intellectual curiosity. It gives structure to my thinking and I love how it has applications in virtually every field. Apart from that, I am also passionate about photography and sports.

What has been one of your favorite experiences at Illinois that you would like to share with prospective students? (For Continuing UIUC Students)

What has been one of your favorite experiences as a CS STAR? (For Returning CS STARS)

What is my most impactful college experience?

These are a few of my favorite things!
I love playing badminton, table tennis and chess but it is math that takes my heart away :-) I am a fan of Arijit Singh (bollywood) and One Direction (and other pop). In sports, I absolutely fan-worship Virat Kohli, Luka Modric and Luka Doncic. I like to dabble in vocals and in my free time, run my fingers on the keyboard.

Research Description

Biography
Hi! I'm Samvar Shah, and I get disproportionately excited by whys and what ifs.That curiosity has taken me from researching patterns in arithmetic functions to studying AI hallucinations, building civic-tech tools, and even trying (with mixed commercial success) to turn mathematics into fashion. Outside of research, I teach algorithmic art, and train in Hindustani classical music. Every summer I disappear into mountain monasteries with my uncle, a Jain monk, before returning to the modern world to debug code. So my browser history is an unusual mix of Bayesian networks and ancient Jain astronomy :) Someday, I hope to make technology a bridge between the past and the future.