Samah Karim, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Decatur, Ga, Us

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

• Lead developer for a Python package, enabling causal inference and anomaly detection.• Developing fast subset scan methods for detecting emerging events in massive spatial and space-time datasets without the need for exhaustive searches.• Implementing a novel method for estimating heterogeneous treatment effects in randomized experiments. This approach frames the challenge of causal inference as one of detecting anomalous patterns, efficiently maximizing a non-parametric scan statistic over sub-populations.• Taking charge of comprehensive support through the implementation and enhancement of cutting-edge scientific algorithms, guided by a thorough analysis of academic research papers.• Driving the enhancement of code design, unit testing, and performance optimization for C++/Python packages, thereby improving research reliability, efficiency, and reproducibility.• Promoting productive engagement within a cross-functional team of researchers and software engineers, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.• Developing and managing intricate software code tailored to the complexities of diverse research environments.• Taking the lead in project planning, devising comprehensive scopes of work, establishing milestones, and adhering to timelines to ensure timely project delivery.• Constructing and maintaining internal code design and development guides, contributing to knowledge sharing, and facilitating the onboarding of future contributors.

• Designed and implemented a new interior-point optimization algorithm for the solution of constrained convex quadratic programming problems (QPs), leading to a first author publication at the SIAM Journal of Matrix Analysis (SIMAX). Implementation done in Python.• Minimized computational cost by 40% using a hybrid methodology which combines direct and iterative solvers.• Designed efficient preconditioners for the sparse linear system that provably reduced the solver’s iteration count by 70%.• Conducted extensive data analysis using Python’s statistical packages (NumPy, SciPy, Pandas, Seaborn, Matplotlib) in order to compare the performance of my algorithm to that of alternative interior-point variants.• Reduced condition number by a factor of 240 relative to the best alternative preconditioned iterative methods for QPs.• Developed performance models for multiple optimization solvers in order to predict the most efficient algorithm for given input data.• Presented work at national scientific conferences.

• Assisted in teaching four undergraduate and graduate level computer science courses ranging in size from 25-350 students.• Led discussion sections and tutorials for groups of 20+ students covering advanced concepts in numerical analysis.• Held weekly office hours to provide help and guidance for groups of 40+ students.• Prepared course material including homework, exams, programming assignments, and projects.

Champaign, Illinois, United States

• Worked in the research and development division on a mathematical optimization software package.• Collaborated with a team of 10 research scientists, software engineers, and aerospace engineers to implement, and test efficient numerical optimization algorithms in C++.• Performed numerical experiments to benchmark software on optimal control problems arising from trajectory optimization.• Prepared progress reports and funding proposals for NASA’s small business innovation research (SBIR) program.

• Leveraged parallel-in-time methods to compute the trajectory of a satellite.• Implemented in MATLAB parallel (multi-threaded) methods for the solution of time-dependent ordinary differential equations.• Designed a new algorithm which achieved a 32% improvement in execution time compared to traditional approaches.• Defended thesis to committee of 3 professors and department of 20 researchers.

• Introduction to Programming, Prof. George Turkiyyah, Prof. Wassim El-Hajj, Fall 2011, Prof. Mohamad Jaber, Fall 2012• Intermediate Programming with Data Structures, Prof. Mahmoud Bdeir, Spring 2012 • Discrete Structures, Prof. Faith Jordan Srour, Fall 2011• Numerical Computing, Prof. Nabil Nassif, Spring 2013

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Computer Science

Scientific Computing Group

Master Of Science (Ms), Computational Science

Bs, Physics

Minor: Computer Science, Computational Science