Michael Zargham

Michael Zargham is Founder of Block.Science, PhD at Penn, Complex Systems Scientist & Architect, AI/Decision Engineer, Complex Systems Research. Tweets about math, engineering, humans and society. Focus 1) Academic grade R&D on Complex Adaptive systems, Swarm Intelligence and Algorithmic coordination. Primary objectives are simple local algorithms with provable relationships to desirable well-defined global properties using the weakest possible assumptions about agent behavior. Focus 2) Developing a rigorous & ethical engineering practice for design, testing, deployment, measurement and stewardship of social and economic systems; this takes a sustainable design mindset when considering flows of information and financial value. Systems Engineering PhD with focus on optimization and control of decentralized systems, and over a decade of experience applying data to business decision making applications. My career started as a data scientist, deriving algorithms to isolate professional network effects in enterprise software adoption for technology market research firm Techtel Corp in 2005. I've also worked on adaptive aerospace materials, the guidance system for an arctic robot, gossip algorithms & reputation, evolutionary game theory, multi-agent control, coordination in decentralized optimization, green tech adoption & impact, machine learning & sensor fusion, and network resource allocations to prevent pandemics. Formerly, I was the Director of Data Science at Cross MediaWorks; working with the CTO/COO, I founded the firm’s data science team in January 2015 after spending a few months in 2014 consulting with one of their subsidiaries regarding their data strategy. The technology and team I built remain a driver of business at the firm. I have taught at the graduate level at the University of Pennsylvania and I consider teaching to be an important part of any technology professional's career. I am passionate about education, welcoming opportunities to continue share my knowledge and experience.