profile picture

Youssef A

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Expertise

Machine Learning, Data Science, Behavioral Modeling, Statistics, Econometrics

Bio

I am a PhD researcher at MIT working on using machine learning to predict the choices that people make. This includes everything from predicting election outcomes to commuter travel mode choice and even demand for toilet paper during a pandemic! My research brings machine learning algorithms and methods to classical economic modeling. I graduated from KAIST (aka the Korean MIT) in South Korea with an engineering degree in 2017, and I came to MIT for graduate studies in computer science and economics. I have always enjoyed tutoring and mentoring. Starting in high school when I would explain and answer my classmates' doubts, to teaching calculus to freshman college students starting my sophomore year in college, and finally to teaching graduate courses at MIT. I am a strong believer in learning by doing and I take every opportunity to mentor and teach students! Outside of work I enjoy swimming, studying new languages (currently Japanese), and playing Beat Saber on my VR headset.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Predict patient vulnerability to COVID-19

For this project you will use patient demographics such as age, gender, pre-existing conditions, to build a machine learning model to predict how likely a patient is to suffer severe illness. This model can be deployed to the frontline to triage patients and help direct attention to patients who need it the most.

What makes or breaks an Influencer?

In this project you will use techniques from machine learning and graph theory to analyze social network graphs and determine the characteristics of influencers.

Are private colleges worth the tuition premium?

In this project you will use salaries of college graduates (both private and public) and machine learning techniques to determine if going to a private college is worth the extra tuition.

Coding skills

Julia, Python, Matlab

Teaching experience

I taught math and calculus to high school and freshman college students for four years. At MIT, I have taught and assisted in undergraduate and graduate classes.

Credentials

Work experience

MIT (2020 - 2017)
Teaching/Research Assistant
SS&C Intralinks (2019 - 2019)
Machine Learning Researcher

Education

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
BS Bachelor of Science (2017)
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
MS Master of Science (2019)
Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
MS Master of Science (2019)
Transportation Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Machine Learning and Behavioral Modeling

Interested in working with expert mentors like Youssef?

Apply now