Willow Ahrens
Assistant Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Summary
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Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolWillow Ahrens is an assistant professor and compiler researcher with 12 years of engineering experience, building data-driven array languages and tooling that move complexity from loops to the data itself. Creator of Finch, she focuses on making array programming more productive across domains from scientific computing to analytics, and her PhD and postdoctoral work at MIT under Saman Amarasinghe centers on compilers for complex data like sparse arrays, graphs, and images. She has deep open-source impact as a back-end contributor to projects such as the Tensor Algebra Compiler (taco) and SymbolicUtils.jl, improving IRs, parsing, and symbolic representations. Based in Atlanta, she combines rigorous academic training (PhD/MS MIT; BS EECS Berkeley) with practical systems work that refactors core infrastructure to enable higher-level productivity. An interesting throughline: she deliberately designs languages and compilers to surface data semantics so programmers write less control flow and more declarative intent.
12 years of coding experience
9 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Minor in Mathematics, Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Minor in Mathematics at University of California, BerkeleyDoctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Github Skills (12)
macros10
code-generation10
c-language10
tensor10
cprogramming-language10
pattern-matching10
algebra10
julia10
testing9
linear-algebra9
parserator9
parser9
Programming languages (13)
Github contributions (5)
tensor-compiler/taco
Apr 2017 - Dec 2017
The Tensor Algebra Compiler (taco) computes sparse tensor expressions on CPUs and GPUs
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:1 review, 38 commits, 8 PRs in 8 months
Contributions summary:Willow primarily focused on refactoring and cleaning up the code within the Tensor Algebra Compiler (taco) project. They made changes to several core files, including those related to parsing expressions and tensor representation. Their work involved renaming files, updating the internal representation (IR) to reflect mode dimensions and updating packing code, and addressing dimension issues in the project. The user's contributions appear geared towards improving the project's internal structure and functionality.
compilertensortensor-algebralinear-algebracode-generator
JuliaSymbolics/SymbolicUtils.jl
Aug 2021 - Oct 2021
Symbolic expressions, rewriting and simplification
Role in this project:Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:1 review, 10 commits, 2 PRs in 1 month
Contributions summary:Willow primarily contributed to the development of the `symbolicutils.jl` repository, focusing on enhancements to the symbolic expression manipulation capabilities. Their work involved implementing a capture macro for pattern matching, adding tests, and refactoring the `PolyForm` struct for polynomial representation. These changes aimed to improve the symbolic expression handling and simplification processes. The commits also included documentation updates and the removal of an unnecessary export.
symbolic-expressionsjuliasymbolic-mathsymbolic-manipulationpattern-matching
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