Apinan (Api) Hasthanasombat has been appointed as a College Teaching Officer in Computer Science, supported through a generous donation from Enactor. In the role, Api will deliver teaching to small groups, assist with the admission of prospective students, and conduct his own research.
Announced on the day of Alan Turing’s birth, the new Fellowship adds to the support being given towards the Enactor Alan Turing PhD Studentships, a cornerstone of The Alan Turing Programme at King's.
Originally from Thailand, Api studied an MPhil and PhD at the College. His recent research interests have a particular focus on understanding and improving the robustness of neural network models, a significant issue given the increasing use of black-box models for safety-critical applications. After being awarded his Fellowship, Api commented:
When I look back on my journey I always remember the people who have had a sizeable impact on my education, academically and beyond, and I hope I can pass that spirit on. This role will also allow me to continue pursuing my research interests; Cambridge continues to be an exciting place to be as there is a growing ecosystem of people translating research into useful applications.
The Alan Turing Programme at King’s
Alan Turing read mathematics at King’s from 1931 to 1934, gaining his degree with first-class honours. Shortly after graduating, on the strength of his mathematical dissertation, he was elected a Fellow of the College. In 1936 while at Cambridge Turing published his seminal paper On Computable Numbers, which introduced the key concepts of algorithms and computing machines, and gave birth to the idea of a computer.
The Programme is designed to build on Turing's legacy and bring together some of the most talented Research Fellows and graduate students from across data and computer science to biotechnology, mathematics and mathematical biology, as well as the politics of sexuality and gender.
