New Computer Science Faculty, New Collaborations

02/28/2019
Departments: Computer Science

New faculty hires in the computer science department brings expertise on topics ranging from brain-machine interfaces to cryptocurrencies and the ethics of artificial intelligence.

In the last year, the CS department has expanded by an additional five faculty members. Many of the new faculty have already begun collaborations with Yale researchers outside of SEAS, and noted that the climate at Yale fosters these types of projects.

“In addition to meeting the interests of many students, the fields of study of the new faculty members will lend themselves to collaborations with numerous other disciplines on campus, including neuroscience, law, ethics, economics, electrical engineering, biology, math, and statistics,” said Zhong Shao, Thomas L. Kempner Professor of Computer Science and department chair.


Abhishek Bhattacharjee, associate professor of computer science

An experimental computer scientist, Bhattacharjee builds computer systems for all scales of use, from large-scale systems for datacenters and the cloud, to embedded systems for biomedical devices such as brain-machine interfaces. His lab’s research focus spans the hardware/ software interface and its applications to the brain sciences. While a faculty member at Rutgers University from 2010 through 2018, he received the Chancellor’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Research. Abhishek received his Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he was awarded the Wu Prize for distinction in dissertation research, and the CV Starr Fellowship from the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He also holds a BEng from McGill University, where he received the British Association Medal for graduating at the top of his class.


Yang Cai, assistant professor of computer science and economics

Cai’s research interests include algorithm design, the connection between Economics and Computation, and machine learning. In particular, his research focuses on the question: How should we rethink algorithm design facing new challenges posed by the ever-growing technology platforms such as sponsored search, online marketplaces, crowdsourcing, sharing economies, and cryptocurrencies? To address these challenges, Cai’s research combines tools from mathematical optimization and machine learning, as well as ideas from economic theory, such as mechanism design and contract theory. Before joining Yale, Cai was an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at McGill University. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and a B.Sc. from Peking University.


Robert Soulé, assistant professor of computer science

Soule’s research interests are in distributed systems, networking, and applied programming languages. He received his PhD from New York University in 2012, and his BA from Brown University in 1999. For two years he was a research co-op in the Data Intensive Systems and Analytics Group at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. He is the recipient of an IBM Invention Plateau Award, a Google Faculty Research Award, and Best Paper Award at ACM DEBS 2012 and USENIX NSDI 2018.


 


Marynel Vázquez, assistant professor of computer science

Vázquez’s research crosses the boundaries between human-computer and human-robot interaction, and often combines elements from machine learning, design, social science and rapid fabrication. Her goal is to understand how we can make interactive computing technologies meaningful, intuitive, and appropriate for users, especially in complex social environments. Vázquez has been recognized for her achievements with scholarships and support from Apple, Google, and Disney Research. Prior to joining Yale, Dr. Vázquez received her M.S. and Ph.D. from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in 2013 and 2017, respectively. She received her bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar, Venezuela, in 2008.


Nisheeth Vishnoi, professor of computer science

Nisheeth Vishnoi’s research spans several areas of theoretical computer science: from approximability of NP-hard problems, to combinatorial, convex and non-convex optimization, to tackling algorithmic questions involving dynamical systems, stochastic processes and polynomials. He is also broadly interested in understanding and addressing some of the key questions that arise in nature and society from the viewpoint of theoretical computer science. Here at Yale, his current focus is on natural algorithms, emergence of intelligence, and questions at the interface of AI and Ethics. He was the recipient of the Best Paper Award at FOCS in 2005, the IBM Research Pat Goldberg Memorial Award in 2006, the Indian National Science Academy Young Scientist Award in 2011, and the IIT Bombay Young Alumni Achievers Award in 2016. He earned his Ph.D. in the Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization program at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2004.