About me

Hello, I am Trent B. Thomas. I am originally from a town in Southern New Jersey just outside of Camden, NJ and Philadelphia, PA. Because of this, I am a diehard fan of all Philadelphia sports teams, as painful as it may be. In my free time, I am an avid soccer player, runner, and reader.

My first passion in science was physics. So, in high school and early college I had big dreams of being a particle physicist and unifying all the fundamental physical forces. However, when I landed my first research position working on the evolution of Mars’s atmosphere, I quickly realized my passion for planetary science. To me, planets are fascinating examples of systems with complex behavior that emerges from a large number of interacting parts (i.e. a “complex system”). I am lucky to be alive at a time when we can represent this behavior mathematically, simulate it, and investigate it, thanks to the invention and development of modern computers.

Planets are not the only complex systems, and the beauty they exhibit can be found in many other unexpected places with many other mathematical structures. I like to explore these other places through the process of generative design by making art with code and attempting to capture The Computational Beauty of Nature. In general, I am very passionate about the intersection of art, mathematics, and science. Who knows, if this whole academia thing doesn’t work out, maybe I’ll be an artist. Or maybe this whole academia thing is art.