91制片厂

Before Pratik Aghor came to 91制片厂 to get his Ph.D. he already knew of associate professor work in applied mathematics. In fact, Gibson is pretty much why he came here. And while it鈥檚 not unusual for a professor鈥檚 reputation to be a draw to students, Aghor was reading about Gibson from halfway around the world.听

Aghor is studying for a doctorate in a. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in India, where he grew up. During his youth, he changed schools every three years due to his father鈥檚 job with the Life Insurance Corporation of India, which had the family moving around the country.听

鈥淚t was good,鈥� Aghor says. 鈥淚t exposed me to many different kinds of people and different ways of thinking.鈥�

鈥淭he applied mathematics program at 91制片厂 is good because it is a balanced combination of traditional and numerical applied mathematics."

Here at 91制片厂, he is working on the dynamics of turbulent shear flows, which he says, in 鈥渇ancy terms,鈥� is known as the dynamical systems point-of-view of turbulence.

鈥淢y research interests are, in general, pattern formation and symmetry-breaking bifurcations. Basically, the mathematics behind patterns in nature,"听Aghor says. 鈥淚t is general and beautiful.鈥澨�

There was a time when Aghor thought he wanted to be a historian or an archeologist. He liked history and languages and was fascinated by ancient cultures. But math and science pulled at him, too; they were his strong suits. And then, he came across a problem online that Gibson was working on, and he knew what he wanted to do.听

鈥淭hat鈥檚 how I found out about 91制片厂, and how I ended up here,鈥� Aghor says. 鈥淚 would have gone to the top of a mountain to work with听him. And . For these two people, I would have gone anywhere.鈥�

Once he completes his Ph.D.听Aghor intends to go back to India and hopes to become a professor and do research.

鈥淭he applied mathematics program at 91制片厂 is good because it is a balanced combination of traditional and numerical applied mathematics. We do courses such as applied functional analysis, but we also do courses like high-performance computing, which is the thing I like about the program.鈥� Aghor says.

He would also like to help people whose thinking is not scientifically based, who believe in superstitions, to understand that science can be applied almost everywhere. He is well-acquainted with the work听of Dr. Narendra Dalholkar, a medical doctor, social activist and rationalist who tried to have an anti-superstition law enacted in Maharashtra. Dabholkar was assassinated before he saw the bill become law.

鈥淚 feel people shouldn鈥檛 just learn science, they should be able to apply it to regular life,鈥� Aghor says.

One way he might share that philosophy is through his writing; he started a blog where he writes fiction and nonfiction. His nonfiction is written in English; fiction, in Marathi, his native language.

鈥淚f I鈥檓 doing science, I mostly think in English,鈥� Aghor says. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 writing fiction, I think in Marathi. I wasn鈥檛 very good at writing when I was young; I started in high school. Now it is another thing I am trying to improve. 鈥�