A love of higher math and a knack for self-expression have added up to a major research award for a West Virginia University student.
Gabriel Sean”Gabe”Tapia combined both hemispheres of his brainthe right side that controls creativity and the left side where verbal skills resideto claim EPSCoRs West Virginia 2003 Undergraduate Researcher of the Year Award. EPSCoR, which stands for Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, supports academic research in West Virginia, 22 other states and Puerto Rico.
“I found that my broad education at WVU helped me to win this award,”said Tapia, a 21-year-old junior majoring in math and psychology.”Not only did I have to use my skills in math, but the skills Ive learned in writing, speaking and psychology.”
The award recognizes Tapias work in number theory to improve public key encryption, a system of hard-to-break codes and ciphers that protect online data for public institutions, banks and businesses.
Encryption relies on algorithms, mathematical procedures that involve several slow steps, Tapia explained. Cryptographers often take shortcuts to get the security in place in a timely manner, making the codes vulnerable to hackers, he added.
“Im hoping my research will speed up the algorithms so you dont need to take shortcuts and thus compromise some of the security,”he said.
Tapia, who is Hispanic, is conducting his research under the McNair Scholars Program. Established by Congress, the McNair Scholars Program provides support and graduate study preparation to minority, low-income or first-generation students. It is named for Ronald McNair, a NASA astronaut who died when the space shuttle Challenger exploded after takeoff Jan. 28, 1986.
The EPSCoR award is the latest honor for Tapia. He is a recipient of the Phi Beta Kappa Albert Lee Sturm and National Hispanic scholarships, a member of the WVU Honors Program and the grand prize winner in last years Benedum Lecture Series essay contest.
Tapia was also a nominee for a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the nations premier award for undergraduate college students pursuing careers in math, the natural sciences or engineering. He did not win the scholarship, but the experience taught him loads about the need to explain his research in laymans terms.
“For the Goldwater Scholarship, I just explained the technical details of my research without concentrating on its applications,”he said.”For the EPSCoR contest, I concentrated less on the technical details and mathematics and tried to sell my research instead.”
Tapia, the son of Judy Henry of Morgantown and Nelson Tapia of Chile, graduated from Morgantown High School in 2000. He could have attended WVU on a top academic award offered by the Scholars Program, but chose to enroll at Harvey Mudd College, a science and engineering school in Claremont, Calif.
Harvey Mudd, though, allows students to take no more than two humanities courses a semester, and that was too limiting for a student whose hobbies include writing and playing the cello, Tapia said. He transferred to WVU his sophomore year, and is taking courses as varied as philosophy, political science, German and computer science.
It is this merging of both hemispheres of the brain that is Tapias strength, according to his mentor, math professor Michael Mays.
“Gabe is strong, both mathematically and as a communicator,”Mays said.”He can think a problem through and then tailor his explanation to his audience. That is a rare mix of talents, and I am sure it impressed the EPSCoR judges.”
Tapiawhose wife, Jessica, is serving an internship in Munich through the West Virginia Development Officeplans to pursue a graduate degree in math. His career goal is to be a research professor.