Research · Engineering · Education

Background

A compact view of publications, engineering experience, education, technical depth, and coursework.

Current focus SWE Intern - IBM WatsonX Orchestrate

Production AI systems, software engineering, and enterprise infrastructure. Starting May 2026.

Research

Publications

Preprint

Scalable Principal Agent Contract Design via Gradient Based Optimization

ICLR 2026 · Under review
A. Bookseller, T. Galanti, K. Ray · Preprint on arXiv

Presents principal agent contract design as a bilevel optimization problem. Efficient implicit gradient estimators use Hessian vector products (HVPs) and conjugate gradient solves for GPU accelerated updates. Sobol QMC sampling, JVP based tracing, and stability heuristics support robust training across CARA Normal, logistic signal, and misspecified settings.

  • Contributions: implicit gradient solver, stability heuristics, and a reproducible evaluation protocol.
  • Artifacts: reproducible PyTorch code, logging utilities, and publication quality figures.

Read the preprint on arXiv →

Bilevel optimization Implicit gradients GPU scale
Workshop paper

Gradient Based Bilevel Optimization for Principal Agent Contract Design

NeurIPS 2025 · Accepted
A. Bookseller, T. Galanti, K. Ray · GenAI in Finance Workshop

Formulates contract design as a bilevel program where the principal optimizes contract parameters and the agent responds with effort. Computes outer gradients through implicit differentiation with HVP/CG and demonstrates stable training across canonical benchmarks.

  • Contributions: implicit gradient solver, stability heuristics, and a reproducible evaluation protocol.
  • Artifacts: reproducible PyTorch code, logging utilities, and publication quality figures.

View workshop entry: NeurIPS 2025, GenAI in Finance →

NeurIPS Workshop Optimization Contracts
Work

Experience

IBM

Software Engineering Intern, AI Department

May 2026 · Incoming

Incoming software engineering role in IBM's AI organization. I am keeping the public description concise until the internship begins.

Production AI systems Software engineering Enterprise infrastructure
Texas A&M · Deep Learning Fundamentals Lab

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Texas A&M University · Jan 2025 to Present · Hybrid · College Station, TX

Research role focused on deep learning fundamentals, bilevel optimization, and reproducible large scale experimentation. The work connects theory, implementation, and empirical evaluation.

  • Bilevel optimization: Implemented gradient based principal agent contract design with implicit differentiation, Hessian vector products, conjugate gradient solves, and stabilization.
  • Experiment systems: Built reproducible training and evaluation pipelines with standardized configs, seed control, sweep automation, logging, aggregation, and figure generation.
  • Deep learning: Worked on self supervised learning pipelines, including SimCLR and MoCo style experiments in PyTorch.
  • Publication work: Contributed to experiment design, result analysis, manuscript writing, and code/figure preparation for academic submission.
  • Result: Coauthored paper accepted at a NeurIPS 2025 workshop; extended version submitted to ICLR 2026.
PyTorch Implicit differentiation GPU experiments Research writing
NaviAI

Machine Learning Engineer, NaviAI

Independent · Jan 2025 to Present · Remote

Independent ML product work around maritime routing, operational risk, and explainable decision support.

  • Routing engine: Designed a NetworkX routing system with dynamic weights for time, fuel, weather, cost, and risk.
  • NLP risk signals: Integrated Transformer maritime news analysis to create route level risk signals.
  • Decision support: Built route comparisons with visible tradeoffs and clear explanations.
  • Product interface: Developed a Streamlit app for interactive route exploration, constraint changes, and scenario comparison.
  • Operations: Added Prometheus and Grafana monitoring for runtime behavior.
Python NetworkX Transformers Streamlit GeoPandas
Zachry Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Software Developer

Zachry Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M · Sep 2024 to Apr 2025 · On site

Software development role supporting civil and environmental engineering research through simulation tooling and reusable model components.

  • Simulation systems: Built Java and AnyLogic models for infrastructure and environmental process analysis.
  • Modeling approach: Implemented agent based and discrete event simulations to test performance under realistic constraints.
  • Research support: Translated researcher requirements into modular simulation logic that could be reused and adjusted across experiments.
  • Collaboration: Worked with graduate researchers to debug model assumptions, validate outputs, and refine scenario parameters.
Java AnyLogic Simulation modeling Research software
Stochastic Geomechanics Laboratory

Data Analyst Intern

Feb 2024 to Sep 2024 · On site (US)

Data and probabilistic modeling role focused on uncertainty, resilience, and supply chain risk.

  • Probabilistic modeling: Applied Bayesian Networks to represent supply chain dependencies and reason about resilience.
  • Inference: Implemented MCMC and inverse modeling workflows to calibrate probabilistic models from data.
  • Analysis pipeline: Built Python and R workflows for cleaning, exploratory analysis, visualization, and reporting.
  • Communication: Converted model outputs into interpretable research deliverables for technical audiences.
Python R Bayesian networks MCMC
Texas A&M · Physics & Astronomy

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Texas A&M University · Aug 2022 to Dec 2022 · Hybrid · Bryan and College Station, TX

Early research experience in quantum communication and secure protocol modeling, which shaped my interest in the intersection of physics, computation, and uncertainty.

  • Security modeling: Studied parity qubit communication and analyzed leakage, errors, and eavesdropping resistance.
  • Protocol design: Modeled secure transmission protocols and explored quantum coin flip problems.
  • Tooling: Used Qiskit and computational experiments to reason about secure communication behavior.
Qiskit Quantum mechanics Python Security modeling
Foundation

Education

Texas A&M University

B.S. Computer Science

Physics and Statistics minors · Expected Dec 2026
Distinguished Student, College of Engineering · Dean's Honor Roll

My academic path connects computer science, physics, and statistics. Together they provide an engineering foundation, mathematical structure, and a rigorous approach to uncertainty.

The physics minor is not decorative. Classical mechanics, thermodynamics, and modern physics trained me to reason from first principles, build models under incomplete information, and think about systems in terms of energy, constraints, and equilibrium. These habits transfer directly into ML research and bilevel optimization work.

Statistics fills in the inferential layer. Mathematical statistics and applied ML from the statistics side give me a precise language for uncertainty that complements the engineering focus of the CS degree. Bayesian reasoning, estimation theory, and probabilistic modeling make it possible to think carefully about what a model actually knows versus what it is guessing.

Together the three disciplines help me understand why tools work, where they break, and how to build better ones.

Computer Science Physics Statistics Machine Learning Systems
Coursework

Computer Science

12 courses
CSCE 121 Program Design & Concepts CSCE 221 Data Structures & Algorithms CSCE 312 Computer Organization CSCE 313 Intro to Computer Systems CSCE 331 Software Engineering CSCE 411 Advanced Algorithms CSCE 420 Artificial Intelligence CSCE 421 Machine Learning CSCE 430 Problem Solving Strategies CSCE 481 Seminar CSCE 612 Distributed Systems and Networking CSCE 689 Deep Learning & LLMs
Coursework

Mathematics

5 courses
MATH 151 Calculus I MATH 152 Calculus II MATH 251 Calculus III MATH 304 Linear Algebra MATH 308 Differential Equations
Coursework

Physics

6 courses
PHYS 150 Programming for Physics PHYS 206 Mechanics PHYS 207 Electricity & Magnetism PHYS 221 Thermodynamics & Optics PHYS 226 Physics of Motion Lab PHYS 309 Modern Physics
Coursework

Statistics

4 courses
STAT 211 Principles of Statistics I STAT 212 Principles of Statistics II STAT 414 Mathematical Statistics STAT 421 Applied Machine Learning
Toolbox

Skills

Engineering

Core Engineering

Languages, version control, and systems
PythonC/C++Java JavaScriptGitLinux
Research

Machine Learning

Models, optimization, and experiments
PyTorchTransformersSimCLR / MoCo scikit learnBilevel OptimizationExperiment Design
Systems

Data & Infrastructure

Data products, APIs, and deployment
NumPyPandasParquet / CSV PostgreSQLREST APIsDocker
Product

Applications & Visualization

Interfaces, analysis, and communication
StreamlitReactDash MatplotlibPlotlyLaTeX
Credentials

Certifications

DeepLearning.AI

ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers

Mar 2026

Credential issued by DeepLearning.AI.

View credential →

DeepLearning.AI

PyTorch for Deep Learning

Dec 2025 · Professional Certificate

Professional credential issued by DeepLearning.AI.

View credential →

DeepLearning.AI

Attention in Transformers

Oct 2025

Credential issued by DeepLearning.AI.

View credential →

DeepLearning.AI

How Transformer LLMs Work

Oct 2025

Credential issued by DeepLearning.AI.

View credential →

LinkedIn Learning

Excel Essential Training

Mar 2023

Credential issued by LinkedIn Learning.

View credential →

LinkedIn Learning

Learning C++ Pointers

Mar 2023

Credential issued by LinkedIn Learning.

View credential →

Udemy

Complete Python Bootcamp

Dec 2022

Credential issued by Udemy.

View credential →

Coursera

Certified Secure Programmer (ECSP)

Aug 2022

Credential issued by Coursera.

View credential →