UVA graduate student Shiraz Robinson celebrates holidays with themed equations and encourages others to find everyday applications for math. (Illustration by John DiJulio, University Communications)
Math isn’t just assignments and deadlines – it can be playful, creative and enjoyable as a puzzle or a game. That’s the spirit of what University of Virginia School of Data Science master’s student Shiraz Robinson II describes as “recreational math.”
“I really emphasize the idea of doing more math and finding use cases for it in your life,” he said. “Like puzzles or other methods of problem-solving, it will help you actually problem-solve in the real world.”
Robinson estimates he has spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours on the Khan Academy website since his teenage years, using the platform to explore mathematics not just as a subject but as a creative problem-solving tool. It also helped him find his way to his current fields of study.
“You build this mathematical literacy, where you spend so much time with math that it actually leads you to a field like data science or engineering or quantum computing,” he said.
What began during his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland and continued at UVA led to his most recent side project: creating holiday-inspired equations, discovering them, and animating the equations using a software package called Manim.
Robinson embaces what he calls "recreational math." He recently appeared on CBS19 to discuss quantum computing. (Contributed photo)
In December, he published a blog and a series of “Merry Christmas” equations on the School of Data Science’s website.
“Solving equations has become my own festive tradition, weaving mathematics into the magic of the holidays,” he wrote. “What began as a single puzzle years ago has grown into a yearly practice that challenges me to think more deeply about how I approach problem-solving.”
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Robinson unveiled a new set of equations that translate romantic phrases and symbols into mathematics. To create them, he drew on disciplines ranging from trigonometry and geometry to linear algebra, quantum computation, complex analysis, and deep learning.
“Some of these equations come from very familiar places,” he said. “For example, I created a heart-shaped graph using equations I learned in high school algebra, so you don’t have to know very high-level math to create one in this way.”
As a graduate research assistant at the National Security Data and Policy Institute, his main research focus is on Chinese large language models and how the 2022 U.S. GPU embargo has impacted Chinese AI development and innovation. This semester, he is enrolled in an independent study in quantum computing.
In January, he appeared on a CBS19 segment, “Inside the Numbers,” discussing how quantum computing is reshaping artificial intelligence and changing how we think about data science.
Looking ahead, he’s interested in pursuing a doctorate in data science and related fields, such as computer science and quantum science & engineering, while he gets creative with more holidays.
Director of Communications UVA School of Data Science
ec2ms@virginia.edu 434-297-9284
