Innovations
Revolutionizing Problem Solving Education
Prof. Loh created a new and deeply human ecosystem for teaching the core skill of how to solve previously-unfamiliar problems — essential in the age of AI. It is powered by a novel fusion of math stars and professional actors, teaching in a format that is as engaging as live-video streaming platforms like Twitch and Instagram Live. Simultaneously, it develops a generation of kind and clever future leaders, to guide our world into a more thoughtful place.
Winning Through Collaboration
Prof. Loh served a decade-long term as the National Coach of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad team from 2013–2023. During that decade, the team ranked #1 in the world four times. The last time the USA had won was more than 20 years prior. One of his innovations was to expand the national training program to include students from 10 other countries annually, building an international community of collaboration. He also leveraged his leadership position to travel extensively across the USA, teaching in hundreds of classrooms and bringing a new approach to math.
Bridging Worlds: Math + Entertainment
Supported by the Overdeck Family Foundation, Prof. Loh spent a year learning improvisational comedy. He then collaborated with influencers with remarkable not-obviously-mathematical talent. The resulting videos uncovered math in unexpected places. This experience inspired him to expand his outreach widely, and to reach students of all levels, backgrounds, and ages.
Academic Researcher
Prof. Loh's academic career focuses on original discovery in the areas of combinatorics, probability theory, and computer science. Prior to pivoting to focus on society-scale problems, he published numerous original discoveries in academic journals. He was recognized by the 2019 United States Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Pandemic Control Invention
Prof. Loh pioneered the network radar paradigm for pandemic control, which is fundamentally different from the strategies used by all other smartphone pandemic apps. The NOVID app was the first to empower the app user to directly avoid infection themselves. In contrast, all other apps primarily aimed to prevent the app user from infecting other people after the app user was already suspected of infection. This is a new approach for disease control which is driven by self-interest. This invention ended up making national press in several countries.
Multiplying Voices
Everyone is unique. To broaden the variety of styles of math and science lessons freely available on the Internet, Prof. Loh founded the free website expii.com. He also spearheaded the production of videos featuring other creatives, teaching math and science in a fresh and relatable way. The platform still has hundreds of thousands of visitors per month, where it defines many math and science terms, providing multiple styles of explanations for each concept. Today, Expii has grown into the umbrella organization housing all of the different initiatives in Prof. Loh's social impact work.
Quadratic Equations
While trying to teach elementary school students how to solve quadratics, Prof. Loh found a simpler and logically sound way to teach how to solve them. It has not been found in any previously published textbook.
Moderate Zoom Chat
While teaching online, Prof. Loh observed that big Zoom meetings (especially classrooms) were disengaged. He designed and developed a free system for anyone to turn their online lectures into lively interactions. The key was to create the first easy-to-use system that lets you moderate Zoom chat, and delete messages.
Speaking and Listening Tour
In Summer 2021, Prof. Loh conducted the largest outdoor solo math tour in history, visiting 40 cities over 7 weeks, holding free events in public parks. He significantly expanded this tradition, and now speaks in 100+ cities per year, which landed in the Wall Street Journal. Perhaps he will soon be speaking in a city near you.