Nishant Mohanchandra
Class of 2014
New Delhi, India
The world is a series of mathematical laws and patterns to Nishant Mohanchandra, who is a passionate computer programmer.
Now the modern-day version of the child inventor who would take apart a toaster to learn how it worked, Nishant likes to try and recreate large computer applications in different programming languages.
As a senior at Sanskriti School in New Delhi, India, he took a shot at creating a version of the popular social networking Web site Facebook in C++. "Now I'm trying to recreate Monopoly," he says. "It's not easy.
The world of computers fascinates him because a small and simple set of rules at the core of programming can create vast, complicated operations.
"It seems difficult at first, but it's actually really simple," he says. "There are 31 words in the Python programming language, but from those you can create programs that change the way people experience the world. An operating system is made up of four million lines of code. Can you imagine that?"
Nishant's aspirations are grounded in rigorous study. After ranking in the first percentile on the SATs, he went on earn perfect scores on the chemistry and advanced math SAT IIs.
Coming to NYU Abu Dhabi marks the second time in Nishant's life that he has lived in the Middle East. As a child, his family was based in Saudi Arabia before returning back to India.
He hopes to use the liberal arts core curriculum at NYU Abu Dhabi to challenge himself to explore new subjects beyond his love of computer science. The Candidate Weekend inspired an "epiphany" about his academic future.
"It was like a tornado that blew through my thoughts and made me look at things in a completely different way," he says. "The education system in India is extremely rigid. I would rather have a more interactive experience in university."
He sees himself leading a major computer game company, such as Blizzard, the maker of his favorite World of Warcraft. But before he devotes himself fully to the craft, he wants to try his hand at writing about the quickly evolving world of technology.
Nishant, who was the chief editor of his high school's publication Blah-Phemy, already has a head start as a writer. His participation in the Model United Nations, where he was chosen as the "best candidate" of the International Labor Organization at a conference in Beijing, has developed his skill as an orator and leader.
One achievement that Nishant looks back on fondly is when he pushed himself to complete a 26-kilometer trek to a UNESCO world heritage site called "The Valley of Flowers" in the Uttarakhand state of India. The path was "daunting" and "extremely challenging to navigate" but he made it to the scenic landscape at the end.
Just in the first semester of his freshman year at NYU Abu Dhabi, Nishant's mind is already engaged with helping solve a puzzle with an ambitious NYU astronomy project where multiple observatories need to be coordinated in unison.
"It's not just about where to look, but how to do it efficiently to observe the most astronomical events," he says. "I like the challenge."
NYU Footer
