Assistant Professor, Knox College
Aug, 2022 - Jan, 20234 months
My research interests focus on human-machine dialog, in particular on identifying speaker intent using a combination of logical, machine-learning, and neural network approaches. In the classroom, I seek to incorporate both classical and cutting-edge knowledge to best prepare students for the rapidly changing tech landscape. Outside of work, I enjoying tinkering with both analog and digital synthesizers and playing boardgames.
Assistant Professor, Knox College
Aug, 2022 - Jan, 20234 months
Visiting Assistant Professor, Knox College
Sep, 2020 - Aug, 20221 year 11 months
Visiting Research Scientist, IHMC
Apr, 2022 - Jan, 20238 months
Research Assistant, University of Rochester
Sep, 2012 - Sep, 20208 years
Graduate Student Representative, Department of Computer Science, University of Rochester
Aug, 2015 - Aug, 20161 year
Organized student body and represented student interests in faculty meetings.
Student Representative for The Computer Science Department, Graduate Student Organization, University of Rochester
May, 2014 - Aug, 20151 year 3 months
Represented the interests of the Computer Science Department and the general graduate student body in the Graduate Student Organization
Data Scientist, Buoy Health
Aug, 2016 - Apr, 20178 months
Improve symptom search bar using a combination of statistical and knowledge-based NLP algorithms
Intern, Buoy Health
May, 2016 - Jul, 20162 months
Research Intern, IHMC
May, 2015 - Aug, 20153 months
Student Body Representative for the SBU Steering Committee, Stony Brook University
Sep, 2011 - May, 20128 months
Represented student interests to the SBU Steering Committee in selecting a new email platform for the entire university.
Senator for The Computer Science Department, Stony Brook University
Aug, 2011 - May, 20129 months
President of Schomburg Apartments Residents Association, Stony Brook University
Aug, 2011 - May, 20129 months
Organized social and cultural events for the apartment complex. Represented residents interests to Residential Life. Negotiated rent increases on behalf of the student body.
Teaching Assistant, Stony Brook University
Sep, 2010 - May, 20121 year 8 months
CSE 102 Intro to Web Design and Programming
CSE 108 Introduction to Programming
CSE 110 Introduction to Computer Science
CSE 114 Computer Science I
CSE 208 Intermediate Programming
CSE 215 Foundations of Computer Science
CSE 548 Analysis of Algorithms
Research Assistant to Prof. Fethi Rabhi, UNSW Australia
May, 2010 - Aug, 20103 months
Developed a modular statistical analysis tool and a simple specification language for the Adage Project.
Teaching Assistant, Colgate University
Sep, 2008 - May, 20101 year 8 months
COSC101 Intro To Programming (6 semesters)
COSC202 Intro To Functional Programming
Research Assistant to Dr. Vijay Ramachandran, Colgate University
May, 2009 - Jan, 20108 months
Explored applications of Computer Science to game Theory. Designed and developed a framework to perform agent based simulations in Game Theory.
Research Assistant to Dr. Regina Betz, UNSW Australia
May, 2008 - Aug, 20083 months
Surveyed theoretical economics literature on auctions in preparation for a research proposal to the Australian Emissions Trading Scheme.
Computer Science, Master of Science (MSc), University of Rochester
Dec, 2012 - Dec, 2014
Mathematics and Computer Science, Bachelor's degree,
Dec, 2006 - Dec, 2010
Computer Science, Master of Science (MS), Stony Brook University
Dec, 2010 - Dec, 2012
Computer Science, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, University of Rochester
Aug, 2012 - Aug, 2020
The best kind of talent a team could hope for is someone who can take a problem and own the entire process of solving that problem well while being resourceful with others' time. Rik not only offered expertise in NLP to the complex set of challenges facing Buoy's search engine, but also had the kind of drive that a small company like ours needed - managing each project's root-cause analysis, prototype testing, code implementation, and validation without the hand-holding from leadership others might expect. He's the kind of colleague you can depend on to achieve real and trackable results.