Three CMNS Students Named 2026 University Medalist Finalists

Three undergraduates in the University of Maryland's College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences were named finalists for 2026 University Medalist, the highest honor bestowed on a graduating senior each academic year, based on academic distinction, exemplary character and service to the campus or broader community. 

Anirud Aggarwal

Anirud Aggarwal’s undergraduate research accomplishments read like a standout doctoral student’s: In Rio de Janeiro this year, the dual-degree scholar in computer science and mathematics presented a paper on artificial intelligence (AI) image generation at the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR). Next month he will present a paper on scaling vision systems at the IEEE/Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition—a study that earned him a Computing Research Association’s Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award honorable mention.

But it was during Aggarwal’s semester abroad at Kyoto University in Japan when his passions bloomed. By establishing a philosophy and ethics reading group that discussed Japanese and English texts, he developed a space for cross-cultural expression. He called Kyoto and UMD places “where curiosity sparks discovery, kindling the next generation of researchers.”

More recently, Aggarwal joined a San Francisco-based startup as their founding research engineer to advance computer vision and generative AI. His research impact has also rippled through his community; through his work with Computer Engineers of the Next Generation, he developed curricula and taught computer science to thousands of students and trained numerous instructors. 

Aggarwal “represents the very best of what the University of Maryland strives to cultivate in its students: exceptional intellectual ability, meaningful contributions to research, and a deep commitment to service and mentorship,” said Associate Professor of Computer Science Abhinav Shrivastava.

Nishkal Hundia 

Nishkal Hundia arrived at UMD from India as an international student struggling to find his place. He’s graduating as one who helped classmates find theirs, believing that “hard work is not rewarded equally when access is unequal,” said the double-major in computer science and mathematics.

In his freshman year Hundia co-founded UMD’s AI/ML Club, recruiting students without experience so they could find mentors, opportunities and a sense of belonging. He grew it to more than 800 members, many of whom partnered with startup companies or used the experience to land jobs.

A teaching assistant for discrete mathematics, Hundia has helped his peers not just academically but also financially. In 2024 he launched a “hackathon” awareness initiative and secured more than $5,000 in travel funding for UMD students who otherwise could not afford to compete.

Hundia’s paper on modern AI models was presented last year at an ICLR workshop in Singapore. Also last year he presented a paper on deep learning and historical storm data at the International Conference on Structural Safety and Reliability. The recipient of a $45,000 Open Philanthropy grant to study AI reasoning, Hundia also earned both the Andrew Reisse Endowed Memorial Scholarship and John D. Gannon Scholarship from the Department of Computer Science.

“Nishkal is extremely bright and has personally shattered my expectations of what undergraduate students are capable of and how quickly they can become strong researchers,” said Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sarah Wiegreffe.

Hundia this fall will enroll at Boston University as a Ph.D. student in computing and data science.

Raina Saraiya

Raina Saraiya has spent her UMD career fighting for healthcare accessibility through research and advocacy, aspiring to become a pediatric physician and policy expert who “serves patients at the bedside and advocates for them in the boardroom,” she said.

In 2023 the neuroscience major founded PERIOD.@UMD, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating “period poverty”—the inability to afford and access menstrual products—and countering stigma. Now 70 members strong, the team has distributed thousands of hygiene products to local shelters and run workshops on and off campus to promote menstrual health.

Saraiya’s time at UMD took her from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, where as a research fellow she engineered a system directing T-cells to key tissue cites, to the UMD College of Education’s Autism, Family, Culture and Communication Education Lab, where she researched culturally responsive interventions for autism care within immigrant families. 

At the Association of American Minority Physicians annual conference in 2024, she presented an abstract on cellular immunotherapies. For three years as a medical assistant for Med-Ped Healthcare, a College Park community clinic, she served low-income and immigrant patients. Her volunteer work includes tutoring K-12 students across Maryland and serving a New Jersey hospice.

Saraiya “is a scholar, a dedicated global citizen and a highly intelligent, empathetic and tireless warrior for justice,” said Stacy Kosko, associate research professor of government and politics and director of College Park Scholars International Studies.

In her spare time Saraiya performs as a member of UMD's EntouRaas dance team practicing Raas and Garba, a form of Indian classical dance. This fall she will enroll in the Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Written by John Tucker