TCNJ

18 The College of New Jersey Magazine sHe cONcedes tHat ecONOMics is a disMal scieNce, But sHe ditcHed a PreviOus career FOr it A survey of friends says Aine Mickey is energetic, sunny, and intelligent — perfect for her decade-long career in creative arts consulting. Yet, when she decided to earn a college degree as an adult learner, she chose to study economics. "I admit it is the dismal science," she says. "It's a harder way of looking at the world. We need to distribute resources as best we can. Arts are more utopian." But she loves data and seeing how math can inform decisions, particularly in demography and population studies. Specifically, she concentrated on how foreign direct investments into China affected where its people moved. Her proudest TCNJ moment, though, was not academic: "I successfully indoctrinated one person into playing pool." 18 The College of New Jersey Magazine MigHty dreaMs, FaB Futures usiNg ai, He Builds Fake galaxies tO zerO iN ON real ONes Joe Petrecca simulates theoretical galaxies. "I imagine different amounts of dust between us and a galaxy, and the levels of brightness the galaxy gives off," says the computer science major. He takes that data, and then, using AI-generated telescope images of his made-up galaxies, compares them to scientists' real observations. By ruling out the fakes that don't match within reason, he narrows down which scenarios have the potential to be real galaxies. Next up? He's off to a PhD in computational mathematics, science, and engineering at Michigan State University, where he'll use the same kind of simulations to study exploding stars.

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