C&O PhD student Hanmeng (Harmony) Zhan has won first place in the inaugural Mathematics Doctoral Prize competition at
![Harmony Zhan](/combinatorics-and-optimization/sites/default/files/uploads/images/harmonyzhan.jpg)
Harmony's PhD thesis, entitled Discrete Quantum Walks on Graphs and Digraphs, was completed under the supervision of Professor Chris Godsil. A major contribution of Harmony's thesis was the introduction of a new model of quantum walk, called a vertex-face walk, based on orientable embeddings of graphs, and the development of tools from different areas of mathematics to study the properties of the model. "I view Harmony's thesis as a major and creative piece of work, which will need to be cited in any future publications in the area", said Professor Godsil.
Harmony is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Centre de Recherches Mathématique at the Université de Montréal.