About me

I’m a Senior Computer Scientist at Optym (2026–present), where I design heuristic solvers for the large-scale vehicle routing problems faced by less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers. Before that, I was an Applied Scientist at Schnackel Engineers (2024–25), developing software to automate the layout of HVAC systems in large commercial buildings.

During my M.S. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2016–19) and Ph.D. at Washington University in St. Louis (2019–23), I focused on making computer systems highly reliable and secure. Most of that work was in real-time scheduling theory: deciding when each piece of software gets to run, and proving ahead of time that each execution will meet its deadline. It grew into a few themes:

• Making streaming, dataflow-style systems analyzable with classical scheduling theory
• Understanding what makes scheduling hard, and speeding up the classic schedulability tests
• Using scheduling to defend against cache timing side-channel attacks
• Getting more useful work out of spare processor capacity
• Scheduling systems that include machine-learning components

My publications page groups the papers by these themes, with a plain-language explanation of each.

In 2023–24, I also volunteered as a developer for PolicyEngine, a nonprofit that builds free, open-source software for computing the impact of public policy.

What ties all of this together is a belief that applied mathematics, put to work in software, is one of the most effective tools we have for making the world a better place to live in. The payoff is rarely dramatic, but it adds up. A better routing algorithm means fewer trucks on the road and less fuel burned to move the same freight. Automating a building’s HVAC layout frees engineers to focus on making the system more efficient. A rigorous analysis of the software in a car or an airplane means it can be trusted to respond in time, every time. And an open model of tax and benefit rules helps people understand what a proposed policy reform would mean for their own household and for the country as a whole.

I started my career as a Member of Technical Staff at Adobe in Noida, India (2012–16). Working alongside researchers, UX designers, and engineers, I designed and implemented geometric algorithms in C++ for creating and editing vector graphics, work that led to U.S. Patents 10,535,121 and 11,288,778.

I’m drawn to movies, music, and philosophy. Among directors, my favorites are Paul Thomas Anderson, Gaspar Noé, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Andrei Tarkovsky, Krzysztof Kieślowski, and Ang Lee; in music, System of a Down, Tool, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Extrawelt, and Mica Levi. I can’t say I have a favorite philosopher, but I really enjoy Stephen West’s Philosophize This! podcast. I also play table tennis and guitar, and I run 5k every other day.