About Me

beach

  • I’m a researcher, aspiring boffin, mango and cocoa picker. Creative and analytic thinker; I ran away from Hollywood after a little more than a decade of working in that industry, and into science research; research seems to be a great blend of creativity, intellectual and analytical thinking, which suits me!
  • Here is my CV for linear thinkers: available upon request or see what I’m up to here.
  • I am currently working on mathematical cryptography research, specifically on post-quantum supersingular isogeny-based cryptography, advised by two professors; one in Pure Mathematics and the other in Computer Science (while being held hostage by the Pure Maths department at my University, much to my delight!). You will find me mostly in the Pure Maths lab, though. I am also working with a Combinatorics professor on a Graph Theory research project. In the past, I’ve also done research at the intersection of Provable Fairness, Differential Privacy / Trustworthy AI (having produced 4 papers, 2 of which we presented at peer-reviewed workshops).
  • I’ve done some Machine Learning in the past, and it’s cool, but I honestly enjoy Computational Pure Mathematics research more (and there are lots of students who do a rather great job at this AI / Deep Learning stuff i.e. it’s their passion. I didn’t like the “hand-waviness” and “one-notey” aspects of the field, although learning about data is a good abstraction for learning about noise, patterns, entropy and probabilistic methods). I discovered this a year or two into my PhD (i.e. that super duper applied stuff was not really my thing) and switched (it happens), although I’m always happy to give a very “high-level” overview of past work (based on memory or a quick review). Actually, I’ve spoken about how I feel about data science things before (circa 2018). I will talk your ears off about what I’m into now, though, and I want to stress that this is totally a normal thing in a PhD (when not under duress; the goal of a PhD is to learn how to be a researcher and find your research peer community), and you do your best work in the things you love working on, with proper support and room to grow! For me, it was 100% the Pure Mathematics community!
  • I am not taking any more coursework (unless it’s a sit-in occasionally type-class / seminar). I did take a 1.5-ish year-long mini-Master’s type format of Pure Maths classes, for a solid foundation on Elliptic Curves, Abstract Algebra, Graph Theory and Isogenies once I settled on what I wanted to do. However, I have been a part of the Number Theory community since 2018. I am going to become an computational pure mathematics researcher and to continue research in this direction after my PhD, wherever there are opportunities to do so. I love everything about the Pure Mathematics Community! (specifically in Arithmetic Geometry / Number Theory and Algebraic Graph Theory) and I love mathematical cryptography.
  • When I (sigh) have to code, my current tools are anything from Python, R, Matlab, SageMaths, Haskell, Rust, LaTeX, a calculator, mechanical pencils, paper, and most recently, chalk. I am a Systems thinker. It would be amazing to defend my thesis by iPad but I may end up having to TeX it.
  • My grad school Pure Maths peers have described me as having “Hermione energy”, which I’ll gladly accept.
  • I also recently joined Mastodon. You can find me at: kammitama@mathstodon.xyz. I joined the Maths one because that’s mostly what I’ve been hanging out around these days. Also, I found this particular one while looking up something in Combinatorics, and figured it would be a good fit for me. I probably won’t use it much, except to read, as I’m pretty busy.
  • Also a book junkie. Love Haskell, Hackerspaces, puzzles, making and sailing.

What’s Unique about me

  • I have the unique perspective of being an immigrant (and green card holder), having been through many pipelines of school, having work experience and having lived in locations and groups where my representation was quite scarce (both in terms of knowledge, having work experience and demographics). My career has been in a breadth of typically niche, proprietary knowledge/ technologies (which is a nice way of saying I know a lot about things that are absolutely useless but I have great stories!).
  • I would describe myself as intellectually curious. I’ve taken classes in sculpting, drafting, 3D modelling (I did hand-drafting on vellum, know how to draw in 2D-CAD and love Rhino hobby modelling), woodworking, electronics (low voltage/high-voltage/PCB-milling), welding, machining, and robotics (I also taught a robotics class weekly for about a year). I’ve sailed from MDR to Catalina Island, and to Newport beach. I like Haskell and programming languages in general, which I did not learn formally in school. I also worked in manufacturing for a couple startups, and understand the process of manufacturing real-world products (generating a BOM, 3-d modelling, ordering parts, bidding with client, etc). I’ve been told recently by a mentor that I may, in fact, actually be a theoretician, so take that as you will. I love lectures with chalk on blackboards. I believe that life experience/learning from failure is important.
  • I see programming as a tool, but these days, I spend a lot more time writing (badly-written, but improving and learning!) proofs. I believe that coming from a different perspective is important in solving new problems in research, and I enjoy collaborating with people who are from various backgounds in research.

Update (as of 2019)

  • I began focusing on Supersingular Isogeny-based Cryptography research in Winter 2020. I absolutely love it, and I am working on progress with my two advisors (I also attended a summer workshop on Isogeny Based Cryptography in 2020, and another affiliated workshop on post-quantum networks, which focused on implementation into current non-post-quantum secure protocols). In the past, I have done research on Provable Fairness and Differential Privacy, too. I have also TA-ed for Data Privacy coursework (Python), a Programming for Engineers Matlab course (Matlab), a Compilers course in Haskell and another CS course. For my oral quals, the agenda is: Quantum Computing and Mathematical Cryptography, Elliptic Curves and Graph Theory (yes, I convinced the department to let me take all Maths topics!)!
  • I do not work directly with Quantum Computers; post-quantum means “we assume that we have quantum computers; will this cryptography be subject to attacks where a quantum computer can break it?”. The cryptography with respect to this should have hardness properties to prevent this. However, I do have to know just enough about Quantum Computing (algorithms, how it works, what it can and cannot do) to write a dissertation with a solid introduction on Quantum Computing in general, and how it relates to (post-quantum) isogeny-based cryptography.
  • I have been forbidden from taking any more classes (for now) by “some professor(s)” who do Algebraic Graph Theory research :) In terms of coursework, I’ve taken Post-Quantum Mathematical Cryptography (Maths department), Data Privacy (CS), Secure and Distributed Computation (CS), Machine Learning (CS), Abstract Algebra I: Group Theory (Maths) and Abstract Algebra III : Groups, Fields, some Ring and Galois Theory (Maths: focused on preparing Maths PhD students for Quals), Abstract Algebra IV A: Ring and Module Theory (Maths), along with a Random Probabilistic Graphs class (Maths), Algebra IV C: Elliptic Curves and Modular Forms (Maths), and sat in on an Elementary Number Theory course (Maths). I also have taken Combinatorical Graph Theory (Maths), Spectral Graph Theory (Maths), Category Theory, and self-learning (Set Point) Topology (Maths), Matroids (Maths), while sitting in on the Theory of Algebraic Differential Equations and a Matroids and Polytopes class because why not. I’m also learning a bit of Model Theory, too, because sometimes Pure Maths professors reach out to me to learn things because of my enthusiasm and passion for the subject! Basically, if there is “Abstract anything”, you will find me there.
  • Some other things along the way I am learning (not for research) are Real Analysis, Ramsey Theory, HDX and Expander Graphs, and Extremal Graph Theory, through my awesome professors in my Pure Maths department who have been quite patient with me!
  • I have also participated in two Quantum Computing book clubs (2022 and 2023).
  • Q: I am a recruiter / person (??) and I have an opportunity.
    • A: I’m a bit crestfallen by my time in industry during my PhD, and exhausted (but I don’t regret it). Specifically, my experiences weren’t really great, particularly the capacity and degree of mentorship and imaginative scope of projects; coincidentally, I decided to pursue grad school because I found a lack of quality mentorship in the direction I was headed before grad school, too (in industry), and have strong thoughts on this topic wrt the tech industry, hierarchy and promotion aka “levels”; IMO in industry very “technical” people who are weak on leadership skills can be promoted based on seniority, fumbling along as they go. This can happen in Academia, too, but the structure of the PhD journey means that you are by definition learning to lead and mentor others, on some level, very early on (either by TA-ing, mentoring undergrads, and there is more incentive for doing this properly i.e. it is rewarded). At this time, I am punting to just do a postdoc somehow after I complete my PhD or become a cab driver and continue to work on research (as someone who spent a fair amount of time in a high-risk, high reward space, interesting problems and good collaborators motivate me most), but maybe there is a research opportunity or collaboration that might bring us both joy; I’m open to that.

How Pure Maths research can be different from Computer Science aka where are your ten papers?

  • In my experience, compared to my previous research focus, this topic takes a bit more time to produce a paper. I am okay with that. I am still a Computer Science PhD student…I think…(for now). Please stop asking me if “I’m sure”. You’re not helping :)

More Updates…

  • You can see a bit of my so far (quite busy) life in a blog post here. There is still much time in the year to go! I love working hard and pushing myself, while helping others to reach their fullest potential!

More Information

Ravenclaw. Started out in New York, mostly in California, but get around to the other states, too.

Trinidad -> New York -> California -> Vermont

Other

Groups I’m in

Books I’m currently reading

Awesome other things I used to enjoy!

Contact me

  • We may have met. Have we met?
  • I’ve removed my email from this website, but if you dig around, you can find ways to contact me. Thanks!