Autumn 2026 New Members

Mateo joins us from Johns Hopkins Uiversity where he was a member of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics and the Mathematical Institute for Data Science. Mateo received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University.

You can learn more about his research on his personal site here: https://mateodd25.github.io/

1. If you could analyze any dataset in the world, what would it be and why?

   I'd choose a dataset that doesn't really exist: a record of the distances between people over time. I've always wondered how close my wife and I came to crossing paths before we actually met. Were we ever on the same street, in the same café, or just a few steps apart without knowing it?  

2. What do you like to do outside of work?

   I love biking. I went to college next the Andes and used to go up the mountains for a ride every weekend. These days you’ll find me on the lakefront trail, missing the hills. I also enjoy playing video games with friends. During the pandemic, when we were all living alone in different parts of the country. To this day, we still play together at least once a week.

3. What is your favorite candy/snack?

   Hazelnut milk chocolate and mango sticky rice are definitely up there. 

Eitan joins us from California Institute of Technology where he earend his PhD in Applied and Computational Mathematics under the advisement of Venkat Chandrasekaran.

You can learn more about his research on his personal site here: https://www.eitanlev.in/

1. If you could analyze any dataset in the world, what would it be and why?

   I'd analyze brain networks, both chemical and electrical, and figure out how the two interact. It'd be interesting to see if and which graph-theoretic concepts have biological significance in this context.

2. What do you like to do outside of work?

   Running, hiking, and classical music

3. What is your favorite candy/snack?

   Baked milk wafers

Hao Shen joins us from UW-Madison where he was a professor in the Department of Mathematics. Hao received his PhD in Mathematics from Princeton University.

You can learn more about his research on his personal site here: https://sites.google.com/view/haoshen

1. If you could analyze any dataset in the world, what would it be and why?

   Perhaps a massive ultra-high-resolution dataset comprising the micro-level brushstrokes and geometric compositions of paintings across major global art movements. To quantify the evolutionary trajectories of techniques across different art movements.

2. What do you like to do outside of work?

   Listen to classical music ...

3. What is your favorite candy/snack?

   Avoiding these...

Tianyu joins us from the University of Minnesota where he received his PhD in Applied Mathematics under the advisement of Mitchell Luskin and Alexander watson.

You can learn more about his research on his personal site here: https://timkong98.github.io/

1. If you could analyze any dataset in the world, what would it be and why?

   I have been modeling electronic properties of two-dimensional moire materials (e.g. twisted bilayer graphene), as they host a variety of novel quantum phases including superconductivity. I would like a complete dataset from every experiment conducted, including microscopic parameters such as twist angle, local strain measurements, gate distance, fabrication procedures. For each sample, I want its corresponding measurements of phase diagrams (resistance versus filling, temperature, and field, plus any superconducting, correlated insulating, or anomalous Hall states). A major challenge in this field is reproducibility, where seemingly identical samples might have vastly different properties. I want to understand all the parameters that affect the electronic properties in order to propose accurate mathematical models for describing these systems.

2. What do you like to do outside of work?

   I enjoy watching and playing sports. I also like to explore museums and exhibits, and also watch movies.

3. What is your favorite candy/snack?

   Gummy bears and Biscoff cookies.

Phillip joins us from Harvard University where he received his PhD in Biostatistics under the advisement of Rafael Irizarry and Jeff Miller.

You can learn more about his research on his personal website here: https://phillipnicol.github.io/

1. If you could analyze any dataset in the world, what would it be and why?

   The "Tahoe-100M" because it is the world's largest single-cell genomic dataset, with over 100 million cells containing different CRISPR perturbations.

2. What do you like to do outside of work?

   I like to run and swim

3. What is your favorite candy/snack?

   Reese's cups