Margareta Ackerman, PhD.

ab9wmc@r.postjobfree.com

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mackerma/index.html

A machine learning specialist and world leading expert in clustering is looking to apply her expertise to

industry challenges enabling companies to utilize their data to its full potential.

Highlights

Leading expert in clustering algorithm selection and author of primary publications in the field

Researcher in algorithm design, machine learning, and search engine optimization

Experience managing, directing, and training teams

Winner of a dozen research and academic awards

Exceptional public speaker with superb communication skills

Education

University of Waterloo 2007 –2012

PhD in Computer Science

Thesis: Towards Theoretical Foundations of Clustering

Supervisor: Professor Shai Ben-David

University of Waterloo 2006 – 2007

Masters of Mathematics

Winner of the Outstanding Graduate Student Award,

given to a single graduate student per faculty per year.

Thesis: A Theoretical Study of Clusterability and Clustering Quality

Supervisor: Professor Shai Ben-David

University of Waterloo 2001 – 2006

Bachelor of Mathematics in Honours Computer Science and

Honours Combinatorics and Optimization, Co -operative program. Graduated with distinction.

Postdoctoral Research

University of California San Diego Present

Jacobs School of Engineering

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 2012 –2013

Department of Computer + Mathematical Sciences

Consulting

Machine Learning Consultant 2012-Present

Consult companies on clustering and other areas of machine learning in domains in including bioinformatics

and online advertisement.

Design algorithms to solve clients’ unique machine learning needs

Manage, direct, and train developers in the data analysis process

Conduct client meetings, prepare reports, and present findings

Refereed Publications

Margareta Ackerman and Shai Ben-David. A Characterization of Linkage-Based Hierarchical Clustering. Journal of

Machine Learning Research (JMLR), 2013.

Margareta Ackerman, Shai Ben-David, Sivan Sabato, and David Loker. Clustering Oligarchies. Proceedings of the

Twelfth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics (AISTATS ), 2013.

Hossein Vahabi, Margareta Ackerman, David Loker, Ricardo Baeza -Yates and Alejandro Lopez -Ortiz. Orthogonal

Query Recommendation. ACM Recsys, 2013.

Margareta Ackerman, Shai Ben-David, Simina Branzei, and David Loker. Weighted Clustering . Proc. 26th AAAI

Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 2012.

Margareta Ackerman, Dan Brown, and David Loker. Effects of Rooting via Outgroups on Ingroup Topology in

Phylogeny. IEEE International Conference on Computational Advances in Bio and Medical Sciences (ICCABS,

2012). Upcoming Journal version in BMC Genomics.

Joshua Lewis, M. Ackerman, and Virginia De Sa. “Human Cluster Evaluation and Formal Quality Measures.”

Proc. 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitiv e Science Society, 2012.

M. Ackerman and Shai Ben-David. Discerning Linkage-Based Algorithms Among Hierarchical Clustering

Methods. International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI oral), 2011.

M. Ackerman, Shai Ben- David, and David Loker. “Towards Property-Based Classification of Clustering

Paradigms.” Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), 20 10.

M. Ackerman, Shai Ben- David, and David Loker. “Characterization of Linkage-Based Clustering.” Conference on

Learning Theory (COLT), 2010.

M. Ackerman and Erkki Makinen. “Three New Algorithms for Regular Language Enumeration.” Computing and

Combinatorics: 15th Annual International Confere nce (COCOON), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5609,

Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 178 -191, 2009.

M. Ackerman and Shai Ben-David. “Clusterability: A Theoretical Study.” Proceedings of the Twelfth International

Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics (AISTAT S oral), JMLR: W&CP 5, pp. 1-8, 2009.

M. Ackerman and Jeffrey Shallit. “Efficient Enumeration of Words in Regular Languages. ” Theoretical Computer

Science, Volume 410, Issue 37, pp. 3461 -3470, 2009.

M. Ackerman and Shai Ben-David. “Measures of Clustering Quality: A Workin g Set of Axioms for Clustering.”

Full oral presentation at the Neural Information Processing Systems conference (NIPS oral), 2008. (Acceptance

rate: 2.7%).

M. Ackerman and Jeffrey Shallit. “Efficient enumeration of regular languages.” Conference on Implementation

and Application of Automata (CIAA), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4783, Springer-Verlag, Berlin

Heidelberg, pp. 226-241, 2007.

M. Ackerman. “Towards Theoretical Foundations of Clustering.” Grace Hopper Conference (GHC), 2011.

M. Ackerman, Shai Ben- David, and David Loker. “Characterization of Linkage-Based Clustering.” NIPS

workshop “Clustering: Science or Art? Towards Principled Approaches.'' 2009.

Teaching Experience

Instructor University of Waterloo

Sep 2011 - Dec 2011 Waterloo, ON

Taught a third year course on the theory of computing (CS360)

Recognized among the top instructors at the School of Computer Science at the University of

Waterloo

Conducted 3 hours of lectures per week

Prepared lecture material, assignments, and examinations

Managed two graduate teaching assistants

Tutor/Instructional Assistant/Teaching Assistant University of Waterloo

Sep 2002- Apr 2012 Waterloo, ON

Prepared tutorial material and conducted up to four tutorials per week.

Conducted 2-3 hour midterm and final examination review sessions.

Organized and led weekly assignment marking meetings.

Managed 6 graduate teaching assistants, distributed workload and provided term evaluations.

Voluntarily held office hours and appointments on weekends preceding Midterm and Final exams.

Held up to 6 office hours per week as well as individual appointments with students.

Invited Talks

Formal Foundations of Clustering. LA Machine Learning, 2013.

Towards Theoretical Foundations of Clustering. I nformation Theory and Applications Workshop, 2013.

Weighted Clustering. University of California, San Diego, 2012 .

Towards Theoretical Foundations of Clustering. Caltech, 2012.

Towards Theoretical Foundations of Clustering. Columbia University, 2012.

On Theoretical Foundations of Clustering. University of California, Berkeley, 2011.

Characterization of Linkage-Based Algorithms. University of California, San Diego, 2010.

Conference Presentations

Effects of Rooting via Outgroups on Ingroup Topology in Phylogeny. Las Vegas, Nevada. ICCABS, 2012.

Discerning Linkage-Based Algorithms Among Hierarchical Methods. Barcelona, Spain. IJCAI, 2011.

Characterization of Linkage-Based Clustering. Haifa, Israel. COLT, 2010.

Three New Algorithms for Regular Language Enumeration. Computing and Combinatorics Conference

Niagara Falls, New York. COCOON, 2009.

Clusterability: A Theoretical Study. Clearwater beach, Florida. AISTATS, 2009.

Measures of Clustering Quality: A Working Set of Axioms for Clustering. Vancouver, British Columbia. NIPS,

2008. Opening talk. Presentation acceptance rate was 2.7%.

Enumeration of Regular Languages. Prague, Czech Republic. CIAA, 2007.

Refereeing

Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), 2010, 2012, 2013.

International Conference on Machine Learning, 2012.

Journal of Machine Learning Research.

Journal of Pattern Recognition.

IEEE Transactions on Pattern An alysis and Machine Intelligence.

Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering.

.

Awards

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship, $ 80,000

(NSERC PDF) (2012-2013)

Alexander Bell Canadian Graduate Scholarship, $140,000 (NSERC CGS D) (2009-2012)

President’s graduate scholarship $50,000 (2006- 2011)

David R. Cheriton Scholarship $20,000 (2010-2011)

Ontario graduate scholarship $51,000 (2006, 2007, 2009)

Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship finalist $1,000 (2010)

Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies designation (given to a single graduate student per Faculty each

year) (2008)

Frederick W. Bent Memorial Graduate Scholarship $5,000 (2007)

Mathematics Graduation Committee Award $500 (2005)

NSERC USRA $4,500 (2004)

K.C. Lee Scholarship $500 (2003)

Aiming for the Top award $500 (2001 – 2005)

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