Honor Society® member
Mark Raspopov
- Dual majors: Computer Science & Psychology; Minors: Biomedical Engineering & Mathematics
- Class of 2027
- Los Angeles, California
Member since February 2026
About
I'm Mark Raspopov, a 15-year-old rising 4th-year undergraduate student at California State University, Los Angeles, accepted through the Early Entrance Program (EEP) at age 12. I am pursuing dual majors in Computer Science and Psychology, as well as double minors in Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics.
I'm currently involved in 2 research projects. I am an Undergraduate Research Fellow in Dr. Pourhomayoun's AI Wildfire Spread Prediction project in collaboration with NASA and the City of Los Angeles, where I build AI models to predict how wildfires spread. This has given me exposure to the research process, including working with real data, building and evaluating models, and contributing to a project with meaningful real-world impact.
My second research project is supervised by Dr. Beltran and is focused on AI-based structural representation learning for antimicrobial peptide discovery, with an emphasis on generating fixed-size embeddings from predicted three-dimensional peptide structures to capture spatial residue relationships and support the identification of promising antimicrobial peptide candidates.
My goal is to become an AI researcher. I want to work on building AI models that can solve real-world problems such as disaster prevention and disease classification. In the long term, I hope to contribute to research in AI/ML to benefit the world. I am particularly interested in applying AI to problems in health and environmental science, as these are areas where it can directly improve and save lives. I plan to pursue a PhD program after I graduate, where I can work closely with researchers in the field and develop the skills needed to conduct independent research as well as teach at the university level. A PhD will give me the training and resources to work on harder problems and make a larger contribution to the field than I could on my own.
Education
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California State University, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; Minors: Biomedical Engineering & Mathematics; Honors Program; Early Entrance Program
2023 – Present
Honors and awards
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Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholar 2026
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Barry Goldwater Scholar 2026
Awarded to students who show exceptional promise as the nation’s next generation of research leaders planning to pursue a PhD and a research career, recognizing outstanding academic achievement (GPA 3.8+) and significant research experience.
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NIH U-RISE Scholar 2026
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Robert Sprague Foundation Scholarship for STEM Majors (2025-2026)
Competitive $5,000 merit scholarship awarded annually to only two STEM students per university
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Maryann C. Moore Memorial Scholarship (2025-2026)
Awarded for academic excellence and sustained service in academic governance
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Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA) University Program (MUP) Scholarship (2 x $500 for 2 semesters in a row)
Selected as a MESA University Program Scholarship Recipient for both the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters, recognizing dedication, perseverance, and commitment to academic achievement
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William James Dermody Scholarship (2025-2026 & 2024-2025)
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John B. Willis Scholarship Endowment 2025-2026 & 2024-2025)
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Elliott R. Barton Endowment (2025-2026 & 2024-2025))
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Edison Scholars (2025-2026)
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The Blanca Flanagan Rios Scholarship Fund (2025-2026 & 2024-2025)
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Kim, S Memorial (2024-2025)
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Lucy Venzor Memorial Scholarship (2024-2025)
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The Prabir K. Pal Endowed Scholarship (2024-2025)
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Golden Eagle Outstanding Student Leader of the Year Award for the 2025-2026 academic year (May 2026)
This award recognizes an exceptional student officer who demonstrates exemplary leadership, dedication, and commitment to their organization and the broader campus community.
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Wingspan Leadership Program - Rising Leader Award for the 2025-2026 academic year (May 2026)
Social responsibility and change for the common good are achieved through the development of 7 core values targeted at enhancing students' levels of self-awareness and ability to work with others.
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ECST Honors Convocation Awards (2026 & 2025)
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Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society (April 2026)
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Psi Chi - The International Honor Society in Psychology (April 2026)
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Mensa Honor Society Exemplary Service Award (November 2025)
Award for service, scholarship, leadership, and character; achieved Exemplary Level with 552 cumulative service hours over three years.
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Golden Key International Honour Society (June 2025)
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The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (May 2025)
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The National Society of Leadership and Success (October 2024)
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Dean’s List for all semesters: Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026
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ACM’s Master Coder Award for Advanced Project (Spring 2024)
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Qubit x Qubit Quantum Computing Full Scholarship (2023-2024)
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Harvard International Relations Scholar (Spring 2023)
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Inspirit AI Scholar (Spring 2023)
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Award of Grand Honors from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth - CTY (Spring 2023)
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Gold Medal at the International Junior Math Olympiad (IJMO) (2022)
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Global Math Olympiad Scholarship twice in a row (2022 & 2021)
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Let’s Talk Science Champion twice in a row (2022 & 2021)
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National Spelling Bee of Canada Champion twice in a row (2021 & 2020)
Goals and interests
- Career goal
AI Research Professor
- Graduate school interests
Carnegie Mellon University (PhD)
- Outside the classroom
Skiing, diving, table tennis, tennis, travelling, and programming
Experience
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Undergraduate Researcher Fellow, supervised by Dr. Armando Beltran
California State University, Los Angeles
May 2026 – Jun 2026
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Undergraduate Research Fellow, supervised by Dr. Mohammad Pourhomayoun
AI and Data Science Research Lab, California State University Los Angeles
Jan 2025 – Jun 2026
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Founder & President - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Club
California State University, Los Angeles
Sep 2024 – Jun 2026
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Vice President & Controls Team Lead - RoboSubLA
California State University, Los Angeles
Sep 2024 – Jun 2026
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Undergraduate Academic Senator - Associated Students, Incorporated (ASI)
ASI, California State University, Los Angeles
Aug 2024 – Jun 2026
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Software Engineer Fellow - Headstarter AI
Headstarter AI
Jul 2024 – Sep 2024
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Builder - Nights & Weekends S5 Cohort
Buidspace
Jul 2024 – Aug 2024
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Student Director & Fiscal Committee Chair - University-Student Union (U-SU) Board of Directors
University-Student Union, California State University, Los Angeles
May 2024 – Jun 2026
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Secretary - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
California State University, Los Angeles
May 2024 – Sep 2024
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Central Processing Lead of Micromouse Team - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
California State University, Los Angeles
Sep 2023 – May 2024
Volunteering
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Tabling Volunteer
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Club
Sep 2024 – Jun 2026
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Teacher Assistant Volunteer for Pre-Calculus
Honors Academy at California State University, Los Angeles
Jun 2024 – Jul 2024
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MESA Volunteer
Cal State LA MESA
Sep 2023 – May 2026
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Coding Teacher Volunteer, Web Developer & Designer Volunteer
Kids4Kids Global
Jun 2022 – May 2026
Languages
- English (US) Fluent
- French (Canada) Fluent
- Ukrainian Fluent
Additional information
Organizations
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American Psychological Association (APA) (opens in a new tab)
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (opens in a new tab)
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IEEE Computer Society (opens in a new tab)
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IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (opens in a new tab)
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IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (opens in a new tab)
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Mathematical Association of America (MAA) (opens in a new tab)
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American Mensa (opens in a new tab)
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The Knowledge Society (TKS) (opens in a new tab)
