Colton Griffin

2022 Goldwater Scholar

Hometown

Indianapolis, IN

Major

Physics Honors; Mathematics Honors

College

College of Science

 

2022 Goldwater Scholar, Colton Griffin aspires to a career in research following pursuing a Ph.D. in Mathematical Physics. Colton stood out among his peers when he received the 2021 Outstanding Sophomore Award from the Physics Department. What caught the attention of his mathematics professor was not simply that he excelled at coursework, but rather that he showed the ability to ask penetrating questions. Applying both skill and intuition, which can take years for researchers to hone, Colton was able to make substantial contributions to research projects and manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication.

Whether exploring topological quantum computing or quantum information theory, Colton uses computational methods to pursue purely theoretical research. Despite the difficult mathematics involved, Colton notes that oftentimes the research begins with a simple computational search or a very general optimization problem.

Colton’s application was supported by Purdue faculty Thomas J. Sinclair and Kiril Datchev, Department of Mathematics, and Shawn X. Cui, Department of Mathematics and the Department of Physics and Astronomy.