Congratulations to Year 12 student Viney Kumar, who was one of two Australian students selected to attend the Research Science Institute for six weeks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston.
Viney worked at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, working on ‘probabilistic computing’. His project presentation (titled "How to find a needle in a 27-dimensional haystack") was judged one of the top 10 presentations out of more than 80 others from around the world.
What is probabilistic computing?
Probabilistic computing is a branch of machine learning that combines cognitive science, probability theory and computer science in order to create systems that can reason in the face of uncertainty by mimicking human cognition. This is crucial in many real world situations where the causes of certain events are not known with certainty.
What was Viney’s research project?
Viney’s project was titled ‘A Probabilistic Modelling Framework for the Identification and Explanation of Outliers in High-Dimensional Data’.
What does this mean?
When searching for new breakthroughs, scientists often look for objects that possess traits which don't match current knowledge (known as outliers). However, these outliers can often be very difficult to find if the number of traits becomes large.
Viney’s project created a modelling framework to identify outliers in datasets of objects which can be indexed by hundreds of different traits. This improved method could potentially be applied in areas ranging from natural disaster prediction to finding potential targets for cancer drugs.
06 August 2025
The teams at Knox Prep performed well at the first VEX IQ ‘Mix and Match’ event of the 2025-26 season.
05 August 2025
The 2025 Cricket Tour of the United Kingdom was an unforgettable experience. Our students travelled across the UK, with the 1st XI team playing in 11 competitive fixtures. We spoke with Year 10 student Sean about the tour; here are his reflections on the journey.
30 July 2025
“Hello everyone. For those who don’t know me, my name is William. I’m a Year 12 student here at Knox – and I’m also a proud Trawlwoolway man from the northeast of Tasmania. This year’s NAIDOC Week is special. Not just because it’s a celebration, but because this year marks 50 years of NAIDOC. That’s 50 years of truth-telling. 50 years of strength. 50 years of celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s identity and resistance.”
