Drexel Computer Science Theory Reading Group

Topics Members Alumni

Current Members

Vasilis Gkatzelis

Vasilis Gkatzelis is an associate professor in computer science at Drexel University. He previously held positions as a postdoctoral scholar at the computer science departments of UC Berkeley and Stanford University, and as a research fellow at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. He received his PhD from the Courant Institute of New York University and his research focuses on problems in algorithmic game theory and approximation algorithms.



Manolis Pountourakis

Manolis Pountourakis is an assistant professor in computer science at Drexel University. He previously held positions as a postdoctoral fellow at the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin and as a research fellow at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. He received his PhD from Northwestern University in 2017 and was a long-term visitor at Microsoft Research New England from 2014 to 2016. His research focuses on algorithmic game theory, algorithmic mechanism design, and approximation algorithms.



Shahin Jabbari

Shahin Jabbari is an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department of the College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel University. Before Drexel, Shahin was a CRCS postdoctoral fellow in the Computer Science Department of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard and a PhD student in the Computer and Information Science Department at University of Pennsylvania. Shahin's research interests include algorithmic fairness, machine learning and game theory.



Xizhi Tan

Xizhi Tan, currently a PhD candidate at Drexel University under the guidance of Vasilis Gkatzelis, holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the same institution. Her research is centered around the integration of mechanism design and machine learning. Her thesis focuses on "learning-augmented mechanisms," exploring how predictions can be used to enhance mechanisms in strategic settings while maintaining worst-case guarantees. She has been a member of the reading group since the fall of 2019.



Cassidy Buhler

Cassidy Buhler is a PhD student with the Decision Sciences department at Drexel University, advised by Prof. Hande Benson. Her research focuses on continuous and mixed-integer programming, particularly in solving large-scale optimization problems with applications in business analytics and machine learning. She earned a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Utah where she worked on modeling androgen deprivation therapy for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer as dynamic systems with Prof. Frederick Adler. She has been a member of the reading group since the summer of 2020.



Marius Garbea

Marius Garbea is a PhD student at Drexel. He previously graduated from Drexel in 2021, with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics. He has been a member of the reading group since the fall of 2018.



Rishi Patel

Rishi Patel is a PhD student at Drexel. He previously graduated from Drexel in 2021, with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics. His interests include the applications of mathematics to computer science. He has previously researched type systems and he spent two terms as a research co-op conducting research in the design and analysis of ascending auctions. He has also previously worked as a software engineer for Lockheed Martin. He has been a member of the reading group since the fall of 2018.



Omesh Dwivedi

Omesh is a Ph.D. student at in Drexel's Computer Science department. He previously graduated from Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences in 2022, with a double major in Physics and Mathematics. He had previously worked on several different research projects involving observational dark matter physics at the Drexel Physics Department, quantum chemistry of nanomaterials at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and Jacobi-Trudi Determinants and Hankel Matrices in finite fields at the Drexel Mathematics Department. His research interests lie at the intersection of combinatorics and number theory with theoretical computer science. In his spare time, he likes to play chess, water polo, and squash, and engage in competitive debating. He has been a member of the reading group since the winter of 2022.



Kruthika Ravi

Kruthika Ravi is a PhD student in CS at Drexel. She previously graduated with a Master's in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas at Arlington and worked in the industry as a Machine Learning Engineer for over 3 years. Her interests include areas of multi agent systems and machine learning. She has been a member of the reading group since the fall of 2022.



Kshitij Kayastha

Kshitij Kayastha is a PhD student at Drexel. He is from Nepal, and he previously graduated from Drexel in 2022, with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science. During his undergraduate, Kshitij worked as a Software Engineer and Data Scientist at SAP for 3 years. His research interests include algorithmic fairness and machine learning. He has been a member of the reading group since the Winter of 2022



Alvand Vahedi

Alvand Vahedi is a PhD student at Drexel University, supervised by Dr. Jabbari. He earned his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Amirkabir University. Alvand's academic interests revolve around algorithmic fairness, machine learning, and game theory. He worked as a software engineer for four years. He has been a member of the reading group since the Fall of 2023



Emma Rewinski

Emma Rewinski is a senior at Drexel University. She is pursuing a major in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. Her concentrations are in Data Structures & Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence. She currently works as a software developer for RVH Solutions. She has been a member of the reading group since the winter of 2021.



Mathilda Nguyen

Mathilda Nguyen is a senior at Drexel University, pursuing a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science, and a minor in Linguistics. Her current interest is statistical modeling and anything Bayesian. She has been a member of the reading group since the summer of 2020.



Mihir Rao

Mihir Rao, a junior at Drexel University, is majoring in Computer Science. His interests lie at the intersection of Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Economics. Specifically, he is interested in Algorithm Design & Computational Complexity Theory in the field of Theoretical Computer Science, Algorithmic Game Theory in the field of Economics, and Computational Models of Artificial Intelligence in the field of Neuroscience. Currently, he is working as a STAR researcher under Dr. Vasilis Gkatzelis. He has been a member of the reading group since the Winter of 2022.



Jonathan Parlett

Jonathan Parlett is a junior at Drexel University pursing a B.S in Computer Science, and a B.S in Mathematics. His research interests include, Algorithmic Game Theory and Economics, MCMC Algorithms, Cryptography, and Structure-Function coupling in the field of Connectomics. He is currently researching Delegated Choice with Dr. Manolis Pountourakis. He has been a member of the reading group since the Winter of 2022.



Alex Zavalny

Alex is a junior at Drexel University studying Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. He researches trustworthy large language models under Dr. Xu and has done research in large scale computer vision algorithms as part of the STAR Scholars program presenting his work at Harvard and Yale undergraduate research conferences. He is the current president of the Drexel Society of Artificial Intelligence and has previously worked at JP Morgan as a software developer. He has been a member of the reading group since Winter of 2023.