I am working under the supervision of Prof. Jeff Chase and Prof. Shivnath Babu

My main research interest is in the field of distributed systems and data-intensive systems. Specifically, I have been working on automated management of data-intensive workloads, which includes designing an optimizer that minimizes the overall execution time of data-parallel workflows for systems like Hadoop MapReduce, and also designing control systems that dynamic provisions resources for both front-end Web servers and storage servers.

Other past projects include designing a privacy-preserving architecture for social networks, designing a power control system for virtualized data centers, characterizing interference in the cloud, and other projects involving computer vision and robotics.

Current and Past Research Projects:

Fall 2008 - Present Research Assistant
New Internet Computing Lab (NICL)
Duke University, Durham NC

  • Cyclops: Automated management of data cycle workloads
  • Starfish: a self-tuning system for big data analytics
  • A control system for elastic applications and cloud computing
  • Vis-a-Vis: a privacy-preserving architecture for location-based online social networks

Summer 2011 Research Intern
Silicon Valley Lab
Microsoft Research, Mountain View, CA

  • Characterization of interference in the memory subsystem

Summer 2010 Research Intern
Networked Embedded Computing Group
Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA

  • A power control system for data centers

May 2005 – December 2006 Graduate Research Assistant
Polymorphic Robotics Laboratory: Underwater Robots
Information Sciences Institute, Marina del Rey, CA

  • Catalina Project: A dual-use underwater vehicle (ROV and AUV) to monitor ecology systems in shallow and deep water

April 2005 – December 2006 Student Researcher
USC Competition Robotics: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

  • BeoSub: A computer vision-based autonomous underwater vehicle