Max Wasserman

Graduate Student

Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics
2145 Sheridan Road, Room M455
NorthwesternIllinois 60201USA

Bio

I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland and went to high school in Silver Spring as part of the Math and Science Magnet Program in my county. I attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where I studied mechanical engineering. While there, I learned that I much preferred the theory of mechanical engineering to the actual engineering, and I made a decision to make a transition towards applied mathematics. I spent the summer of 2008 writing articles on statistics, math, and sports for the popular sports blog The Big Lead, performing my own homemade calculations and simulations using MATLAB . After obtaining my bachelors degree in 2009, I joined the Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics here at Northwestern.

Currently, I work in the Amaral Lab studying networks contained within the Internet Movie Database. I have become proficient in Python, which I use to perform most of my analysis. I also use R, MySQL, C++, LaTeX, Django, and various plotting programs in my work at the Amaral Lab. I have had one paper published and a second paper is in the review process. I am currently writing my dissertation as I plan to graduate at the end of 2014.

I am a member of the Northwestern Graduate Curling Club and am an avid fan of the sport. In my spare time, I run tournaments for video games and have written Python programs in order to automate the bracket-making process. I am also a former blogger, having written for the Ivy League-themed blog IvyGate, washingtonpost.com, and various sports blogs.

Education

  • M. Sc. Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University (2010)
  • B. Sc. Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University (2009)

Awards and Honors

  • John McMullen Dean's Scholar, College of Engineering, Cornell University (2005)