Research projects

I’m interested in problems that blend discrete geometry, algorithms, and combinatorics, usually with a concrete motivation. Some of my past projects include:

  • The combinatorial rigidity of infinite and symmetric bar-joint frameworks
  • Matrix completion and other machine learning problems from a combinatorial / algebraic viewpoint
  • Bar-joint framework models for analyzing elastic materials

Some recent projects are:

  • Unlabeled distance geometry (aka, “hearing the shape of a (high dimensional) room”)
  • Hidden symmetries in the deformation spaces of polyhedral surfaces (aka, “why generic origami folds”)
  • Structure and applications of algebraic matroids

Academic positions

5.2016–
Lecturer in Pure Mathematics, University of St Andrews
6.2014–5.2016
Aalto Science Fellow. (Cofunded by AKA project COALESCE, PI Petteri Kaski)
9.2011–6.2014
Post-doc in the Discrete Geometry Group at Freie Universität Berlin. (Supported by the ERC Advance Grant Project SDModels of Günter Ziegler)
7.2009–8.2011
Research Assistant Professor (postdoctoral position) in the Geometry-Topology Group at Temple University. (Supported by NSF DMR-CDI grant 0835586 to Igor Rivin.)
9.2005–9.2010
Graduate student in the Computer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts, supervised by Ileana Streinu.