Marc Tunnell Email : mtunnell—at—purdue.edu
Education
Purdue University
PhD Computer Science Started August 2023
Advisor: David Gleich
Current Coursework: Numerical Optimization, Data Communication & Computer Networks
Grand Valley State University
B.S. Computer Science & Applied Mathematics April 2023
Grand Rapids Community College
Associate of General Studies April 2020
Research Experience
•
PhD Research Dr. David Gleich
PhD Student at Purdue University Fall 2023 — Present
◦ Project: This research focuses on evaluating the efficacy of preconditioners in solving real-world problems. The
project aims to understand the gap between theoretical efficiency and practical performance by applying these
methods to real data.
•
Collaborative Research Dr. Erik Boman
Sandia National Laboratory Collaboration Fall 2023 — Present
◦ Project: This project involves the development of a novel in-memory accelerated preconditioner, in collaboration
with Dr. Erik Boman at Sandia National Laboratories. The focus is on creating a preconditioner that can be
efficiently generated via GPU acceleration or multithreading paradigms.
•
Applied Computing Institute Drs. Erin Carrier & Zachary DeBruine
ACI Resident at Grand Valley State University. Fall 2022 — Summer 2023
◦ Project: Value-Compressed Sparse Column (VCSC): Sparse Matrix Storage for Redundant Data
◦ Details: We developed two novel methods of sparse matrix storage for data that is highly redundant. VCSC is
optimized for compute performance given a compressed footprint and IVCSC is optimized for compression.
•
Applied Computing Institute Drs. Erin Carrier, Nathaniel Bowman, & Zachary DeBruine
ACI Resident at Grand Valley State University. Fall 2022 — Summer 2023
◦ Project: Accelerating Large Scale Non-negative Matrix Factorizations with CUDA.
◦ Details: I developed high-performance code for rank determination in Non-negative Matrix Factorizations. This
work was supported by the Van Andel Institute and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
•
LANL Parallel Computing Summer Research Internship Dr. Darren Engwirda
Los Alamos National Laboratory. Summer 2022
◦ Project: Generating Very Large-Scale Unstructured Meshes for Storm-Surge Modelling: Parallelizing the JIGSAW
Library.
◦ Details: I developed the parallel implementation of JIGSAW, the unstructured mesh generation software utilized
by the ocean modeling team at LANL.
•
Undergraduate Research Drs. Erin Carrier & Nathaniel Bowman
School of Computing at Grand Valley State University. Fall 2021 — Summer 2022
◦ Project: Fast Gaussian Process Emulation for Mars Global Climate Model.
◦ Details: I developed a domain-specific method for Gaussian Process emulation of the NASA Ames Mars Global
Climate model that scales linearly in time and memory complexity. This work was supported by the Kindschi
Foundation competitive undergraduate fellowship.
•
National Science Foundation REU Dr. Yuchou Chang
College of Engineering at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Summer 2021
◦ Project: A Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Emotion Recognition Using Neurophysiological Signals.
◦ Details: I developed a novel Deep Neural Netwok for the classification of emotion using EEG signals. This network
takes advantage of features extracted using Thomson Multitaper PSD estimation, a first in this subdomain of
EEG-BCI research.
Work Experience
•
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Purdue University, West Lafayette Fall 2023 — Fall 2024
◦ Fall 2024: CS 515 Numerical Linear Algebra (Graduate).
◦ Fall 2023, Spring 2024: CS 240 Programming in C.
•
Math Center Tutor
Grand Valley State University Winter 2020 — Winter 2023
Papers
• Marc Tunnell, Erik Boman. Parallel Incomplete LU Factorizations Based on Alternating Triangle
Solves. In progress
• Marc Tunnell, Zachary DeBruine, Erin Carrier. Rank Suggestion in Non-negative Matrix
Factorization via Sensitivity Analysis. In submission
• Marc Tunnell, Nathaniel Bowman, Erin Carrier. Fast Gaussian Process Emulation of Mars Global
Climate Model. September 2023 in AGU Earth & Space Science
• Marc Tunnell, Huijin Chung, Yuchou Chang. A Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Emotion
Recognition Using Neurophysiological Signals. 2022 International Conference on Robotics and
Automation (ICRA) May 2022
Abstracts & Summaries
• Skylar Ruiter, Seth Wolfgang, Marc Tunnell, Timothy Triche, Erin Carrier, Zachary DeBruine.
Value-Compressed Sparse Column (VCSC): Sparse Matrix Storage for Redundant Data.
Accepted as One-Page Summary DCC 2024. Full Preprint at https:// arxiv.org/ abs/ 2309.04355
• Marc Tunnell, Darren Engwirda. Generating Very Large-Scale Unstructured Meshes for Storm-Surge
Modelling: Parallelizing the JIGSAW Library.
AGU Fall Meeting 2022. https:// ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/ abs/ 2022AGUFMOS52B0516T/ abstract
Technical Reports
• Marc Tunnell, Erik Boman. Parallel Incomplete LU Factorizations Based on Alternating Triangle
Solves
Honors and Grants
• Purdue Science Excellence Scholarship 2023
• GVSU Undergraduate Research Scholar 2023
• GVSU Excellence in a Discipline Award, Computer Science 2023
• GVSU Outstanding Senior Award, Mathematics 2023
• Kindschi Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Sciences Winter 2022
• Michigan Competitive Scholarship Winter 2020 — Winter 2020
• Dean’s List Recipient Winter 2019 — Winter 2023
Technical Skills
• Languages: C++, C, Julia, Python, MATLAB, R, Java, SQL.
• Miscellaneous: Git, Linux, Slurm, L
A
T
E
X.
• Frameworks & Libraries: MPI, CUDA, cuSPARSE, cuBLAS, Kokkos, Thrust, OpenMP, Eigen,
NumPy, pandas, SciPy, Matplotlib, scikit-learn.
Presentations
•
CSRI Summer 2024 Lightning Talk Lightning Talk
Parallel Incomplete LU Factorizations Based on Alternating Triangle Solves Aug 2024
•
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2022 Poster Presentation
Generating Very Large-Scale Unstructured Meshes for Storm-Surge Modelling:
Parallelizing the JIGSAW Library.
Dec 2022
•
West Michigan Regional Undergraduate Science Conference Poster Presentation
Accelerating Large Scale Non-Negative Matrix Factorizations with CUDA. Nov 2022
•
LANL Student Symposium 2022 Oral Presentation
Generating Very Large-Scale Unstructured Meshes for Storm-Surge Modelling:
Parallelizing the JIGSAW Library.
Jul 2022
•
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2022 Oral Presentation
Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Emotion Recognition Using Neurophysiological Signals. May 2022
•
Midwest Numerical Analysis Day 2022 Poster Presentation
Fast Gaussian Process Emulation for Mars Global Climate Model. May 2022
•
26th Annual Student Scholars Day Poster Presentation
Fast Gaussian Process Emulation for Mars Global Climate Model. May 2022
•
Undergraduate Research Panel Participant Panel Participant
Panel on Involvement in Undergraduate Research Oct 2021
•
Summer 2021 Final Presentation, UMass, Dartmouth (NSF REU) Oral Presentation
A Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Emotion Recognition Using Neurophysiological Signals. Aug 2021
Service & Volunteer Work
•
Graduate Student Senate
Purdue University Aug 2024 — Present
◦ Fall 2024: Board Constitution Review Committee Member
•
Graduate Student Interview with Prospective Computer Science Heads
Purdue University Jan 2024
◦ Details: I was selected to engage with the final three candidates for the CS department head position and provide
input to the direction of the department.
•
Undergraduate Research Fair
Dept. of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University Oct 2021, 2022, 2023
◦ Details: I represented the Department of Mathematics (2021) and school of Computer Information Systems (2022,
2023) at the annual undergraduate research fair. This fair seeks to increase engagement of undergraduates in
research.
Membership
• IEEE Feb 2022 — Present
• Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Society Feb 2022 — Present
• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Oct 2021 — Present
• Mathematical Association of America Dec 2021 — Present
Conferences & Workshops Attended
• Workshop on Sparse Tensor Computations | In-Person | Chicago (UIUC) Oct 18-19, 2023
• American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting | In-Person | Chicago (AGU) Dec 12-16, 2022
• West Michigan Regional Undergraduate Science Conference | In-Person | Van Andel Institute
Nov 5, 2022
• International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2022 | In-Person | Philadelphia (IEEE)
May 23-27, 2022
• Midwest Numerical Analysis Day 2022 | In-Person | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor May
2021, 2022
• Mathematical Association of America, West Michigan Meeting | In-Person | Grand Rapids
Apr 8-9, 2022
• Mars Global Climate Model Workshop | Virtual | NASA Ames Nov 2-4, 2021
• Data Science Day 2021 | Virtual | Columbia University Apr 21, 2021
