Prateek Bhakta

Prateek Bhakta

Graduate Student (anticipated graduation May 2016)
School of Computer Science
Georgia Institute of Technology

Office: KACB 2124
Email: pbhakta (at) gatech (dot) edu

I am a Student in the ACO program at Georgia Tech working with Dana Randall. My research interests are in randomized algorithms and sampling, specifically the study of Markov Chain mixing rates. For more information on my research, see my publications.
I recieved Bachelors degrees in Mathematics and in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) from UC Berkeley. Before beginning my Ph.D. at Georgia Tech, I worked for two years at Redux, a start up company, where I researched recommendation algorithms by working on the Netflix challenge. Additional information can be found in my CV. I have a strong interest in teaching and education. My thoughts on teaching can be found in my Teaching Statement.

Publications

Sampling Integer Partitions with Biased Markov Chains, with Ben Cousins, Matthew Fahrbach, and Dana Randall. Submitted to the 48th ACM Symposium on the Theory of Computing (STOC), 2016.

Counting and Smapling Biased 3-D Monotonic Surfaces, with Sarah Miracle, and Dana Randall. Unpublished

Sampling Weighted Perfect Matchings on the Square-Octagon Lattice , with Dana Randall Proceedings of the 8th Workshop on Analytic Algorithmics and Combinatorics (ANALCO), 2016
Clustering and Mixing Times for Segregation Models on Z² , with Sarah Miracle and Dana Randall. Proceedings of the 25th ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), 2014.
Mixing Times of Markov Chains for Self-Organizing Lists and Biased Permutations , with Sarah Miracle, Dana Randall and Amanda Streib. Proceedings of the 24th ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), 2013.

Teaching Experience

Instructor. Georgia Tech CS 3510 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms, (upcoming) Spring 2016.
Teaching Assistant. Georgia Tech CS 3510 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Spring 2015.
Teaching Assistant. Georgia Tech CS 7535 - Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Fall 2014.
Teaching Assistant. Georgia Tech CS 3510 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Summer 2014.
Camp Instructor. Jeju Global Initiatives, Summer 2013.
Teaching Assistant. Georgia Tech CS 4540 - Advanced Algorithms, Fall 2012.
Study Group Instructor. UC Berkeley Student Learning Center - STAT 134, Fall 2006-Spring 2008.
Study Group Instructor. UC Berkeley Student Learning Center - Math 54, Fall 2005-Spring 2006.
Senior Tutor. UC Berkeley Student Learning Center, Fall 2004-Spring 2009.
Math Tutor. UC Berkeley Academic Center, Fall 2004-Fall 2006.

Academic Presentations

Paper Presentation. Sampling Weighted Perfect Matchings on the Square-Octagon Lattice, ANALCO 2016, (upcoming).
Paper Presentation. Clustering and Mixing Times for Segregation Models on Z², SODA 2014
Poster Presentation. Clustering and Mixing Times for Segregation Models on Z², Georgia Tech, Summer 2015
ACO Seminar. Clustering and Mixing Times for Segregation Models on Z², Georgia Tech, Fall 2013
Poster Presentation. Mixing Times of Markov Chains for Self-Organizing Lists and Biased Permutations, Georgia Tech, Summer 2013
ACO Seminar. Introduction to Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Fall 2011

Work Experience

Graduate Research Assistant. Georgia Tech, Aug 2009-Present
Director or Research and Development. Redux Inc. Aug 2007 - May 2009
Intern. Tellme Networks (Microsoft) Summer 2007

Selected Service

Paper Reviewer. Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA) 2016
Paper Reviewer. Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS) 2014
Organizer/Host. Georgia Tech CoC Visit Weekend, 2010-2015
Undergraduate Research Mentor. Georgia Tech, 2012-2014

Honors and Awards

Fellowship. Georgia Tech Algorithms Research Center, Fall 2012
Fellowship. Georgia Tech Algorithms Research Center, Fall 2011
Honor Society. Eta Kappa Nu, Fall 2006
Honor Society. Tau Beta Pi, Fall 2005