Princeton Computer Science

At the end of May, David Beeson ‘26, graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science. In the fall, he will enroll at the University of Oxford to pursue a master’s degree in computer science with a specialization in artificial intelligence.

At Princeton, Beeson was a member of the varsity squash team and was named a Scholar-Athlete by the College Squash Association. One of the most important things he learned at Princeton, Beeson said, was “how to incorporate my passions into my work.”

Working in the Princeton Visual AI Lab and advised by Olga Russakovsky, Beeson was able to combine his interests in squash and computer science, developing methods for reconstructing 3D squash ball trajectories from 2D video footage of squash matches. This project became his senior thesis.

For his junior independent work, also advised by Russakovsky, he combined his interests in conservation and technology, working with Mary Stoddard’s lab on a project to detect hummingbirds in long-form video. Applying computer vision techniques to ecological field work, he found ways to automate hummingbird detection.

Beeson’s favorite class at Princeton was COS 360: Computational Models of Cognition, taught by Tom Griffiths. The course, cross-listed in psychology, explores the development of computational brain models in parallel to the way AI systems have been developed. “It was the coolest interdisciplinary COS experience,” Beeson said. “It was fascinating to see how insights from one field can help inform our understanding of another.”

Last week, Brian Zhou ’26 graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science. Soon, he will begin work as an engineer at Cognition, helping to build AI tools for government.

Zhou said the most important thing the computer science department taught him was how to learn. Approaching new, complex ideas is a skill that he uses every day, especially across different fields. “Princeton does a great job of giving us the tools to be both deeply technical and broadly versatile,” he said.

Zhou’s favorite experience as an undergrad was interning at SpaceX. He helped redesign Starlink’s wifi telemetry system and even recalled using a lecture from COS 240: Reasoning about Computation in the process. Zhou later returned as part of the software team that launched Starlink Aviation, a popular product now on many commercial airlines.

Zhou was also part of the Army ROTC program at Princeton, where he led the region’s battalion as a senior. It was "tough but rewarding," he said, to balance his summer internships with other commitments, like the Army’s Air Assault School.

Other great experiences included working with Olga Russakovsky and physics researchers to improve quantum material discovery via computer vision. He also went with Princeton’s AI Alignment Club to Anthropic’s first alignment hackathon at their San Francisco office. “That pretty spontaneous trip ended up inspiring my senior thesis,” Zhou said.

For his thesis, advised by Arvind Narayanan, he researched how to make LLM systems more reliable in unique government environments — a problem he will now be working on full-time.