Quang, born in 1997, was a mathematics major student at the HCM City High School for the Gifted, a member school of the HCM City National University. When he was in 12^th grade, after winning a high prize at the national competition for excellent students, Quang had an opportunity to attend a cultural exchange trip among Southeast Asian countries.

After visiting leading universities in Japan, the 17-year-old began nurturing the dream of studying abroad.

At that time, Minh Quang won the scholarship from some schools in the US and Singapore. He decided to study computing science at the National University of Singapore (NUS), rather than at a school in the US.

“Many people asked me why I didn’t choose a school in the US, but the experience I got at NUS made me believe that I had made the right choice,” he said.

NUS gave him a firm foundation and openness, which helped students overcome their own limits and get ready to adapt to new environments.

When he was a sophomore, just before the summer holiday, Quang applied for the post of research assistant to university professors. Though the 19-year-old did not have much experience at that time, he still was ready to “go out into the world and welcome everything”.

Quang received an invitation to work as a research assistant to a professor at Queensland University in Australia for two summer months. He studied supercomputer and discrete systems.

“The work helped me better understand myself. I had the chance of working with a good teacher, who was always open and encouraged me to study. Every time I raised an idea, he listened to me and gave criticism,” Quang recalled.

With the knowledge from the summer internship at Queensland University, one year later, Quang found an opportunity to go to Switzerland at a disciplinary exchange program at ETH Zurich, Europe’s leading engineering school. He worked at a lab of a professor and continued to study supercomputer and discrete systems.

In the summer of the fourth year at university, Quang applied for an internship at Carnegie Mellon University in the US for three months. Instead of companies, Quang chose a university because “the solving of research questions is more interesting. Thanks to this, I learned to approach problems in a deep and broad way”.

The three-month internship helped Quang to feel sure about the path he would follow. While working at the lab, he spent time to prepare dossiers to apply for a PhD scholarship.

When returning from the internship, he published a scientific article fir the IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory as the major author.

“Going further’ 

MIT in the US was one of the schools where Quang wanted to study for a doctorate. However, he knew there were many people with good profiles and research experience wanting to study there.

Candidates need to have scientific articles in prestigious journals and conferences. However, the school also wanted to find researchers with specific characteristics, potential and the ability to carry out research independently.

The professor with whom Quang worked at Carnegie Mellon University said that Quang has the ability of working independently and is proactive with his ideas.

“After the success of the article I wrote when studying at Carnegie Mellon, the teacher told me that I was very proactive and I could fulfill the research work with little dependence on him. So, I thought I had a good letter of introduction,” he said. 

This was the driving force that motivated him to continue research and find new directions in the field.

When he entered the computing science faculty at MIT, Quang felt fortunate as he could work with excellent researchers and learn from leading professors.

He said the environment at MIT is very open and seminars are organized every week so that students and professors can present their research and talk about the results that have not yet been publicized. 

“However, while working together, each individual seeks a specific direction for himself, and everyone is independent in carrying out their research,” he said.

Quang said it took him nine months to find a direction for his research. He can quickly adapt to new circumstances, so he actively grasps opportunities. 

Thuy Nga