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A CUBE COMPETITION With the help of Mithun and Mark, in 2006 and was fortunate enough to THE LINE he summer between my freshman I used Caltech’s friendly room reserva- have the foresight to fnd my successor and sophomore years, my brother tion system to book Winnett Lounge by tricking Daniel Lo (BS ’09) into STARTING learnedT to solve a Rubik’s Cube. After a for Pasadena’s frst local Rubik’s Cube leading the Caltech club. He eventually he college years often skew That is why, in this issue’s two-hour teaching session, I too could competition, held on January 24, 2004. passed the torch on to Ambie Valdés the path we expect to follow, Endnotes (see page 36), we asked solve the Rubik’s Cube—in 10 minutes Our winter competition led to a spring (BS ’10) and Michael Young (BS ’14). creating new routes to unexpected Caltech’s alumni what it was that and with a sheet of notes. I became competition. Trough that event, I con- Te impact of the Rubik’s Cube on quite dedicated during my sophomore nected with Ron van Bruchem, a cuber my life has been incredible. As I wrote places, relationships, careers, and started for them here during those year, to the detriment of my Ph 12a in the Netherlands, and the World the previous paragraph, I realized that passions. They are, in oh-so-many transformative years. We received fnal exam, and practiced more hours Cube Association was born. By stan- what started for me at Caltech has also ways, the beginning of our lives so many fascinating and surprising than I should have to bring those 10 dardizing the regulations and process, led to my gaining a sister-in-law. My as adults. They provide the origins answers that we couldn’t possibly minutes down to 30 seconds. we made it possible for people from all brother, who taught me how to solve Soon, my housemates in Fleming over the world to compare times. the Rubik’s Cube, is now engaged to of our own personal stories. fit them all on one page; in addition, had joined me in my new hobby— I eventually went on to host the Ambie, whom he met through me. some were stories that needed more Mithun Diwakar (BS ’06) and Mark United States national championship Tey plan to marry next year. room to be fully told. And so, here, Polinkovsky (BS ’06) were particu- in 2004. Te team at Caltech, which It all started for me at Caltech. larly involved—and the Rubik’s Cube started with my friends, has organized Caltech had a wonderful community of we’ve given that room to just a few craze spread to other communities at every national championship in the people who were willing to not only put of those stories. Caltech. I played violin in the Caltech United States as well as the World up with my addiction but to also nur- orchestra, and fellow musicians Leyan Rubik’s Cube Championship 2013. ture it. At Caltech, my impulses and Lo (BS ’07) and Shelley Chang (BS Today, the World Cube Asso- my ideas became many things. Tey ’07) quickly became hooked on the ciation includes competitors from all became an international organization, cube as well. We had all become “speed six continents; tens of thousands of they became lifelong friendships, and cubers”—poor souls addicted to the these cubers travel to WCA events they became my family. art of solving the Rubik’s Cube faster. every year. I graduated from Caltech —Tyson Mao, BS ’06 12 ENGINEERING & SCIENCE SPRING 2015 SPRING 2015 ENGINEERING & SCIENCE 13 A PASSION FOR STATS the NBA and for college basketball. in engineering and a lot of basketball A DANCE TO REMEMBER nusual for Caltech, what started In my sophomore year, Caltech experience. met my future wife on a blind date to for me was a career in sports, one hired longtime Mt. San Antonio At the time—1994—there was no a Ricketts House barn dance in my Uthat now has me in the front ofce of College coach Gene Victor to coach the market for what would eventually be Isophomore year, arranged by classmate the Sacramento Kings. In the last years basketball team—and I found another called “basketball analytics.” Tere was Bill Graham (BS ’59). We became of high school, the annual Bill James person to talk basketball with. Entering a market for environmental consulting, engaged in the middle of our senior Baseball Abstract was my link between my junior year, I showed Coach Victor so that’s what paid the bills. Ten, year (she was a student at Pomona), and sports and numbers. Tose books had some of the work I had done, and he in 2002, Michael Lewis sat down to we married the evening I received my me thinking when I entered Tech about encouraged me to work with and join write Moneyball, the story of how the BS in physics from Caltech: June 12, how to scientifcally break down sports his coaching staf—maybe because I Oakland A’s used analytics to win in 1959. I also was commissioned into the using statistics. In my freshman year, wasn’t a great player. baseball. At the same time, I took time Air Force Reserve at the graduation math professor Gary Lorden showed My friends at Tech weren’t all of from consulting to write Basketball ceremony. Quite a day! My wife and me how James calculated the chances sports fans, but they appreciated the on Paper, a book on how to use analyt- I recently celebrated our 55th wedding that the Detroit Tigers would have a science behind what I was doing. Being ics to win in basketball. Te coinciden- anniversary when we made a trip to 36-4 record after 40 games given their able to talk basketball to scientists and tal timing encouraged me to quit my Pasadena for my 55th class reunion previous performance. Conversations science to basketball people helped job and take a chance at getting into —Phil Harriman, BS ’59 with my freshman adviser, Peter Haf, build the language of sports analytics. the NBA. about the physics and statistics of For graduate school, I turned Tat was 2004. Since then, I’ve basketball encouraged me to apply what down MIT, Stanford, and Harvard to been to the NBA Conference Finals, A MUSICAL JOURNEY I was learning at Tech to sports. go to the University of North Carolina, worked with Hall of Famers like Magic hile Caltech certainly enhanced And so, as fnals wound down in which had both a great basketball team Johnson and Chris Mullin, helped my scientifc curiosity, it was my freshman year, I decided to system- and a great environmental engineering build the sports analytics industry, and myW interests in music and musical atically chart the NBA Finals that were program. Coach Victor put me in touch made sure to stay in touch with the theater that found their origins at occurring at the same time. Te system with Bill Bertka, assistant coach of the friends and coach from Caltech who Caltech. Never having done any musical I developed would ultimately form Los Angeles Lakers, so that I could helped get me here. activities in high school, I was plunged the basis for much of the basketball work as an advance scout in North —Dean Oliver, BS ’90 into the annual Caltech musical my analytics that are now used across Carolina. Four years later, I had a PhD sophomore year (Guys and Dolls), getting one of the leads, Nathan Detroit—a surprise given my utter lack of acting experience. But with the help of our A PLACE TO GATHER an ofce next to a meeting room, and exceptional director, Shirley Marneus, A COLLABORATIVE START-UP to wake up for their morning commute hen I visit Caltech and see the a split door was put in between the and the wonderful support of all the n 2014, fellow alumna Vanessa to work. Red Door Café, I am proud two, along with a service counter. I still other cast and crew, I had an absolutely Burns (BS ’11) and I cofounded Using millisecond pulses of light, toW remember helping to get it started. remember vividly when Astrid sug- and indescribably marvelous time. ILumosTech, a start-up based on tech- the smart sleep mask we are develop- Costas Synolakis (BS ’78, MS ’79, gested that we paint the door red. Tat I then went on to be in the musicals nology that hacks the body’s master ing can shift your circadian rhythm PhD ’86) suggested the idea of creating was not too well received, but then she for my following two years at Caltech, circadian regulator to treat jet lag and while you sleep, using the same neural a grad-student cofeehouse in the frst added if we did that we could call it the as well as joining the Glee Club. other circadian-rhythm disorders. pathways as natural light in a way that place. Te late L. Bruce Kahl, MD, Red Door Café. Everyone liked that, I can honestly say that those My experience as a TA at Caltech is optimized to your sleep schedule then the head of Counseling Services, and the name was set. experiences in the musicals had as was part of the inspiration for founding through a companion smartphone app. agreed that grad students needed a In the beginning, you could get much of an impact on me as my classes. LumosTech.

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