ESP Biography



ALEX ARKHIPOV, MIT math major




Major: 6

College/Employer: MIT

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Alex Arkhipov

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Hi, I'm Alex. I'm a math nerd who enjoys board games, card games, and computer games, puzzles, juggling, playing volleyball, and browsing through Wikipedia. I've learned much awesome math at CTY and at Canada/USA Mathcamp.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

M7113: Three-Sentence Proofs in Spark! 2013 (Mar. 16, 2013)
Do you enjoy math, but don't like getting bogged down in tedious algebra? Do you like beautiful results, but hate formal proofs that give no intuition? In this class, we will pose a bunch of problems and give short, sweet solutions that explain why, rather than proving how.


X7122: And Now for Something Completely Different in Spark! 2013 (Mar. 16, 2013)
They say you should learn something new everyday. Well, we'll teach you fifteen! In this class, we will talk briefly about a topic for three minutes, and then switch to a new one. Because life's short -- you gotta move fast!


W7131: Juggling in Spark! 2013 (Mar. 16, 2013)
Learn to juggle three balls!


X7148: Generalized Tic-Tac-Toe in Spark! 2013 (Mar. 16, 2013)
Ever played Tic-Tac-Toe? How about on a 5-by-5 board, where you have to get 4 in a row? How about on an infinite board, where you have to get six in a row and you move twice? Forget putting things in a row--what if you're trying to make a square? In this class, we'll stretch and squash Tic-Tac-Toe until it becomes unrecognizable.


S6685: How Color Actually Works in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
Why isn't pink in the rainbow? Why are computer pixels red, green, and blue, even though red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors? Come do hands-on experiments to figure out the different ways that colors combine. We'll learn how our eyes and brain process light to make us see color, and why there are colors you've never seen. You've probably been taught many wrong things about color. Learn how color actually works!


S6065: How Color Actually Works in ESPrinkler Summer 2012 (Jul. 08 - Aug. 19, 2012)
Why isn't pink in the rainbow? Why is the color wheel a circle while the visible spectrum is a line? Why do computer pixels use red, green, and blue, even though red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors? Come learn how our eyes and brain process light to make us see color, how colors combine, and why there are colors you've never seen. We'll clear up many common misconceptions about color. Learn how color actually works!


M4756: Game Theory in HSSP Summer 2011 (Jul. 10, 2011)
You and a friend take turns placing dominoes on an 8 by 8 chessboard. Each domino covers two squares and no two dominoes may overlap. You place dominoes vertically and your friend places them horizontally, and whoever can’t fit a domino loses. Will you or your friend come out on top? We’ll look at the math and the theory behind certain games. How do you find a winning strategy? Can you break the game up into smaller games? Although we will play games, the focus will be on using math to figure out who will win before the first move is even made.


M3609: Game Theory in HSSP Summer 2010 (Jul. 11, 2010 - Jul. 11, 2011)
You and a friend take turns placing dominoes on an 8 by 8 chessboard. Each domino covers two squares and no two dominoes may overlap. You place dominoes vertically and your friend places them horizontally, and whoever can’t fit a domino loses. Will you or your friend come out on top? We’ll look at the math and the theory behind certain games. How do you find a winning strategy? Can you break the game up into smaller games? Although we will play a few games, the focus is on figuring out who will win before the first move is even made.


M1422: Game Theory in HSSP Summer 2008 (Jun. 29, 2008)
You and a friend take turns placing dominoes on an 8 by 8 chessboard. Each domino covers two squares and no two dominoes may overlap. You place dominoes vertically and your friend places them horizontally, and whoever can't fit a domino loses. Will you or your friend come out on top? We'll look at the math and the theory behind certain games. How do you find a winning strategy? Can you break the game up into smaller games? Although we will play a few games, the focus is on figuring out who will win before the first move is even made.


Game Theory in HSSP (2007)
You and a friend take turns placing dominoes on an 8 by 8 chessboard. Each domino covers two squares and ...


How to Grow Hair in SPLASH (2007)
In this class we will go through the step by step process of how to grow hair. There will be ...