same vector, new basis.

in her words

I come from a humanities and social justice background, drawn to the work of analyzing and sustainably transforming systems of power.

I’ve always been interested in the deeper mechanics of how people, institutions, and narratives shape the world around us: what gets protected, what gets erased, what gets normalized, and what gets rewritten. Over time, that lens didn’t just shape what I cared about. It shaped what I wanted to build.

the switch, freshman yearMy freshman year, I changed my major from Political Science to Applied Mathematics and Statistics. The two fields can seem unrelated, but the change was not a rejection of my original trajectory. It was a turn toward the deeper mechanics that truly interest me. Where I started, in computer science and political science, still drives my curiosity, and I’ve discovered that my interests come alive at the crossroads of abstract reasoning, structured problem-solving, and philosophical inquiry. My path may look altered, but my goals are the same: to bring technology, logic, and policy together.

Political science taught me how power moves through institutions and narratives. Mathematics gave me a framework to understand structure itself: a language for abstract reasoning, rigorous problem-solving, and systems building. It became the foundation I didn’t know I was missing.

I came to technology and AI not as an abstract academic pursuit, but as a tool for designing real systems that can create change at scale. Values don’t just live in mission statements. They get encoded into infrastructure, and the decisions we make in design, tooling, and systems building scale beyond any one person.

robotics team → pulp101Following that thread led me to my university’s robotics team, where a teammate recognized a real connection between Pulp’s mission and my own. Before I knew it, I was part of this incredible community.

Pulp is the most accurate reflection of my character and passion I’ve ever found in a community. It’s rare to be surrounded by people who treat ideas as engines rather than aesthetics, who turn instinct into structure and approach building with real intention.

ideas as engines, not aesthetics.

I’ve spent years paving my way through spaces where language was power and the stakes were real. I’ve learned that action is empty without intentionality, and that a stronger why will always lead to a stronger how.

I’ve also learned that transformative dialogue is one of the most powerful catalysts for empathy, growth, and change, and that our stories are more than anecdotes. They are acts of resistance.

I feel my most authentic and powerful self when standing firm in collective conviction with my community. By challenging the systems and attitudes that perpetuate injustice across generations, we can build environments that elevate the voices and insight of the right people: environments where care, rigor, and responsibility aren’t optional, but foundational.

I’m endlessly grateful to be part of Pulp101, not just because of what we’re building, but because of who we’re building it with.

Milana Kumar · Research Engineer, ML