Hello! My name is Vinay Kunuthuru, and I am pursuing a major in Biological Sciences, minors in Chemistry and Economics, and a certificate in Conceptual Foundations of Medicine. After finishing my undergraduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh, I aspire to attend dental school and become an oral professional. Apart from my academics, I enjoy teaching children through the Homeless Children’s Education Fund (HCEF).
Last spring, I sought a course combining my interests in Mathematics and the Sciences. Ultimately, I came across CHEM 1000: Mathematics of Chemistry, taught by Professor Geoffrey Hutchison. Although this course is tailored towards Chemistry majors, I am delighted that I took this course! Throughout the course, I learned to use the Python programming language to constitute my experience with pencil and paper. I learned the many mathematical applications that can be utilized in different subjects, particularly Chemistry, igniting my passion for becoming a UTA for the course this semester, all while implementing the CUTF experience.
Under Professor Hutchison’s provision, I can supplement the groundwork resources I provide as a UTA alongside my CUTF project. My CUTF project eventually is to collaborate with Professor Hutchison in administering the Final Project in substitution for the Final Examination. In doing so, students can project previously learned concepts and topics into a much more application-based methodology. Moreover, the Final Project foreshadows the numerous real-world applications students encounter in research labs and other settings.
In preparation for the Final Project, I am currently creating short videos detailing working out some problems from the course’s textbook, “Mathematical Methods for Chemists” by J.E. Straub (2020). In addition to these videos, I am creating document guides for Exams 1-3. These guides serve the purpose of highlighting the upcoming exam’s logistics (i.e., topics covered, format) and some Python functions that students might find helpful when taking the exam. Moreover, I have also begun posting my work on each of the Practice Exams, detailing the instructions suited for the actual Exams. Students can then implement dynamic problem-solving methods as the Exams can be done on pencil and paper or Jypter Notebook (Python). As students are prompted to ask questions on the Piazza platform, I have implemented weekly discussion threads to help foster student communication, especially among themselves.
As the students begin to familiarize themselves with Python and Jypter notebooks, their increasing technological background will help them solve problems on their assignments and eventually tackle the Final Project.
My experience with CUTF has just started, and I am looking forward to my journey of achieving the expectations from my professional goals and becoming a mentor to others one day, particularly in the field of Dentistry!
