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Table of contents

General Information

Full Name Yikun Bai
Date of Birth 04/02/1989
Languages English, Mandarin
Email yikun.bai@vanderbilt.edu
Address Nashville, TN, USA
Phone +1 (302) 893-5956

Work Experience

  • 2022 - present
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Department of Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
    • Research on computational optimal transport and its applications
    • Unbalanced optimal transport theory and algorithms
    • Machine learning applications in computer vision and data science
    • Collaboration with interdisciplinary research teams

Education

  • 2017 - 2022
    Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering
    University of Delaware, Newark, DE
    • GPA 4.0/4.0
    • Dissertation: Optimal Transport in Information Theory and Machine Learning
    • Advisor: Dr. Dominique Guillot
    • Relevant Coursework
      • Advanced Signal Processing
      • Information Theory and Coding
      • Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition
      • Statistical Learning Theory
      • Convex Optimization
  • 2017 - 2019
    M.S. in Applied Mathematics
    University of Delaware, Newark, DE
    • GPA 4.0/4.0
    • Transferred to Ph.D. program in ECE
    • Relevant Coursework
      • Numerical Analysis
      • Partial Differential Equations
      • Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes
      • Functional Analysis
      • Real Analysis
  • 2007 - 2011
    B.S. in Mathematics
    Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
    • Major: Applied Mathematics
    • Strong foundation in mathematical theory and computational methods

Publications

  • 2024
    • Y. Bai, et al. 'Unbalanced Optimal Transport for Time Series Analysis.' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 2024.
    • Y. Bai, S. Kolouri. 'Computational Methods for Gromov-Wasserstein Distance.' ICML 2024.
  • 2023
    • Y. Bai, D. Guillot. 'Measure Concentration in Information Theory.' Information and Inference, 2023.
    • Y. Bai, et al. 'Applications of Optimal Transport in Machine Learning.' NeurIPS 2023.
  • 2022
    • Y. Bai. 'Optimal Transport in Information Theory and Machine Learning.' Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Delaware, 2022.

Research Experience

  • 2017 - 2022
    Graduate Research Assistant
    University of Delaware, Newark, DE
    • Research on optimal transport theory and applications
    • Developed novel algorithms for Wasserstein distance computation
    • Applied optimal transport methods to information theory problems
    • Collaborated on interdisciplinary projects in machine learning

Honors and Awards

  • 2023
    • SEAM Travel Grant (Clemson University)
    • Outstanding Postdoc Award (Vanderbilt University)
  • 2022
    • Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award (University of Delaware)
    • Graduate Research Excellence Award
  • 2021
    • ECE Seminar Best Presentation Award (University of Delaware)
    • Graduate Student Travel Grant
  • 2020
    • Dean's List for Academic Excellence
  • 2017-2022
    • Graduate Research Assistantship (University of Delaware)

Technical Skills

  • Programming Languages
    • Python (NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, Pandas)
    • MATLAB
    • R
    • C/C++
    • Julia
  • Machine Learning Frameworks
    • PyTorch
    • TensorFlow
    • Scikit-learn
    • Keras
  • Mathematical Software
    • Mathematica
    • Maple
    • LaTeX
    • Git/GitHub

Research Interests

  • Optimal Transport Theory
    • Computational algorithms for Wasserstein distances
    • Gromov-Wasserstein optimal transport
    • Unbalanced optimal transport
    • Applications to machine learning
  • Machine Learning & Data Science
    • Kernel methods and RKHS theory
    • Generative models
    • Time series analysis
    • Statistical learning theory
  • Information Theory
    • Measure concentration phenomena
    • Information-theoretic applications of optimal transport
    • Statistical inference and estimation theory

Professional Activities

  • 2023-present
    • Reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Information Theory
    • Reviewer for Journal of Machine Learning Research
  • 2022-present
    • Member of SIAM (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)
    • Member of IEEE Signal Processing Society

Other Interests

  • Hobbies: Anime, Hiking, Photography, Reading
  • Sports: Basketball, Swimming
  • Languages: Native Mandarin, Fluent English