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Aditya S

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Cornell University

Expertise

computer science (including web dev and machine learning), economics (esp. game theory and/or behavioral economics), philosophy

Bio

I'm primarily interested in the intersection of economics and computer science. I enjoy creating compelling and realistic mathematical models of behavior, and rigorously investigating the outcomes of these models. For example, my Master’s thesis used competition to alleviate the harms of procrastination (in a rigorous model). In addition to my CS interests, I've also done significant work in Philosophy; I'm currently working on a new, social theory of evidence. For my personal interests, I did debate in high school and consider it one of my most formative experiences. I also enjoy gaming: both board games and video games. I've recently started playing drums as well. Finally, I enjoy writing and hope to either create a blog, or become a (part-time) scientific communicator.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Graph Theoretic Model of Procrastination

In this project we'll look at an existing model of procrastination in graph theory. Procrastination can be significantly expensive, so can we augment the model to help agents? For example, my M.S. thesis added competition to reduce the impact of procrastination. What other tools help combat procrastination, and how can we formally analyze their effectiveness? This project requires significant mathematical maturity (e.g., ability to write and read proofs, familiarity or ability to quickly learn discrete math, etc.).

Machine Learning for Handwriting Recognition

One of the earliest and most successful applications of machine learning is extracting text from images. For this project, we can investigate different machine learning models for handwriting recognition. We can start with the easier task of extracting digits, and then move to alphanumeric text.

Coding skills

Python, Java, C#, basic web dev, PyTorch (ML)

Teaching experience

I've been a teaching assistant for many courses, including Algorithms, Discrete Math, and Cryptography, both at Cornell and the University of Washington. I've also helped design and teach a course called "Incentives in Computer Science". Finally, I've mentored undergraduate students on research projects, both during my undergrad and my M.S. at UW.

Credentials

Work experience

Donuts Inc. (2020 - 2021)
Software Engineer
Amazon (2017 - 2017)
Software Development Engineer Intern

Education

University of Washington
BS Bachelor of Science (2019)
Computer Engineering
University of Washington
MS Master of Science (2020)
Computer Science
Cornell University
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Computer Science

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