Nimit Jain, a junior in Saybrook College, is the rare student who steps beyond the strict boundaries that academia often constructs. Using an analogy from Kafka, “of a mouse being trapped in the maze that is this world,” he remarked, “To keep narrowing down what you are thinking about basically means to be walking into a trap.”
As a double major in Biomedical Engineering and German Studies, Nimit positions himself in a way to integrate different modes of knowledge and avoids being the victim of specialization’s trap. Through maintaining a balance between studies in the sciences and humanities, Nimit shatters the intellectual boundaries that each discipline oftentimes creates. The result of this rupture, Nimit believes, is a path towards innovate scientific solutions, particularly to problems in curing diabetes, a research subject in which he is especially interested.
Since the beginning of his studies at Yale, Nimit has forged his own unique path of learning. As a freshman, in addition to enrolling in a multitude of science and mathematics courses, he also participated in Perspectives on Science and Engineering. Furthermore, as a rising Junior, Nimit enrolled in the Yale-Berlin Summer Program and the Baden-Wuertemberg Exchange, two programs that allow him to acquire advanced knowledge in German language, culture, literature, and history. Throughout his time at Yale, Nimit has explored course offerings in numerous departments that span across drastically different fields.
While the desire to merge different disciplines is most salient in Nimit’s academic endeavors, they can also be seen in his diverse research experience. Following his freshman year, Nimit participated in organic synthesis research in the Scott Miller Group at Yale. Following this experience, Nimit decided to further expand his research repertoire and joined a biomedical engineering laboratory. Since then, he has been working with Professor Tarek Fahmy to optimize nano-particle based vaccine design.
However, Nimit’s passion to diversify is not limited to academic and research alone. His extracurricular activities contain a multitude of activities that span numerous categories. He volunteers at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center and is a founder of the Yale Undergraduate Diabetes Forum. He planned Insulin Shock, a dance party in Commons during the 2010 that raised $1500 for diabetics in the New Haven community to purchase laboratory test and supplies. Additionally, he serves on the Masthead of the Yale Scientific Magazine, is the Head Engineering Tour Guide, and is the President of the Yale Table Tennis Club. He also shares his enthusiasm and love for science by serving as a Science and Quantitative Reasoning tutor.
Since his time at Yale, Nimit has been immersed in a culture different in many regards from that of his home of New Delhi. While he initially decided to enroll at Yale because of its liberal atmosphere, he most relishes the conversations he has with his classmates and the infinite opportunities that are available to him. Due to his experiences in vastly different cultures, he believes that he possesses a different degree of appreciation for things that are often taken for granted at Yale and India. It is perhaps this unusual perspective that provides the rare approach and attitude that Nimit has to his studies and extracurricular activities at Yale.
“Many theoretical breakthrough including Einstein’s Theories of Relativity are based on very pure intuitive understandings of the world,” stated Nimit. He posits that science majors at Yale should take enormous advantage of various kinds of learning that are available. As multifaceted science students such as Nimit broaden their perspective through Yale’s extensive offerings, the world of science may just be taking another leap in its applicability and methodologies.