CyMath-MLSP: (Cy)Math for Machine Learning and Signal Processing Lab

 

Director: Prof. Namrata Vaswani

The CyMath-MLSP Lab research and teaching includes various topics in statistical MLSP foundations (a.k.a. Math for MLSP) and applications in computational imaging (MRI reconstruction and video analytics). A huge part of what Dr. Vaswani also does is to direct and run the CyMath K-12 Math Tutoring and Support Program. CyMath is ISU College of Engineering's K-12 Math Tutoring and Support program founded by Dr Vaaswani in 2020. Its mission is to improve the likelihood of STEM college, research, and workforce success of all students by working to fill in gaps in their math skills early. Within CyMath, EE, CprE, Math, Stat, and other STEM graduate student or faculty volunteers and paid STEM or Education undergraduate students tutor K-12 youth in grades 3-12 in math. Because we start tutoring early in grades 3-5, it is much easier to fill the math learning gaps.  CyMath has resulted in growth in math skills for almost all its students and in very large growth (sustained growth of 20-percentile points or more) for over a third of its students (6/15) within a year.

 

CyMath-MLSP Seminar Series: Monthly on Friday Afternoons -- Fall 2025

Goal: CyMath K-12 program tutors or former tutors discuss their research contributions and how tutoring helps them in their day job (learning/teaching/research)

 

1.      Silpa Babu, Ph.D. defense Sept 26, 2025, 1-2pm, Generalizable Low-Latency and Accelerated Dynamic MRI  Reconstruction Algorithms

a.       Ph.D. defense talk. Silpa is a PhD student of Dr. Vaswani and a former CyMath tutors.  3043 Coover 

2.      Dr Mohamed Selim, October 24, 2025, 4-5pm, Engaging Students through Adapted Team-Based Learning

a.       Dr Mohamed Selim is an ECpE associate teaching professor, one of the best CprE educators and a former CyMath tutor

3.      Seounghun Son, October 31, 2025, Hardware Security and CyMath: How to effectively shine your presentation

a.       ECpE PhD student graduating soon and a former CyMath tutor

4.      Dr Sarah McCarty, December 5, 2025, Title TBD

a.       Recently graduated Math Ph.D. and former CyMath tutor

 

CyMath-MLSP: Research and Teaching and Outreach

1.      CyMath K-12 Math Tutoring & Support and EE 5900I

a.      Details on CyMath Website

b.      Team

c.       Former Team Members

d.      EE 5900 I: Special Topics in Signal Processing course on Learn by Tutoring Math

e.       Mission: see above

f.        REU students:

                                                              i.      Chloe McAleer, Math undergrad

                                                            ii.      Robyn Zachary Barton, Math undergrad

g.      ECpE FuTure key student: Amreen Chhina

h.      Former REU students

                                                              i.      David Ntako, EE, 2023-24

                                                            ii.      Hae tha lay Paw, Elem Ed, 2024

                                                          iii.      Jolien Hidalgo-Murrah, Elem Ed, 2025

2.      Statistical MLSP foundations and medical imaging applications

a.      Publications on Google Scholar

b.      Research topics

                                                              i.      Distributed and Federated Learning

                                                            ii.      Low Rank Matrix and Tensor Recovery Problems

                                                          iii.      Two and Multi-Block Alternating GD and Minimization (AltGDmin)

                                                          iv.      Applications in Dynamic MRI reconstruction

c.       Current Graduate Students:

                                                              i.      Silpa Babu, started Spring 2020, BS from

                                                            ii.      Ahmed Ali Abbasi, started Spring 2023, MS from Tufts University, BS from LUMS, Pakistan

                                                          iii.      Ankit Pratap Singh, started Fall 2021, MS from IT-BHU, Statistics

                                                          iv.      Tusher Karmarkar, started Fall 2025

                                                            v.      Chevonne McInnis, co-advised with Stephen Holland, Aerospace Engineering (Engineering Mechanics)

    1. Former Graduate Students

                                                              i.      Silpa Babu, Ph.D., 2025

                                                            ii.      Zhengyu Chen, Ph.D., 2022

                                                          iii.      Praneeth Narayanamurthy, Ph.D., 2021, Postdoc at USC, Data Scientist at Alcon

                                                          iv.      Seyedehsara (Sara) Nayer, Ph.D., 2021, ASML, USA

                                                            v.      Han Guo, Ph.D., 2019; now at Adobe, USA

                                                          vi.      Jinchun Zhan, Ph.D., 2015 (B.S. from USTC, China), at Google, USA

                                                        vii.      Brian Lois, Ph.D., 2015 (co-advised with Prof Leslie Hogben from the Math dept at ISU), Data Science Manager, Capital One, Texas, USA; Earlier at AT&T, Dallas.

                                                      viii.      Chenlu Qiu, Ph.D., 2013, at Traffic Management Research Institute (TMRI), China

                                                          ix.      Man Basnet, Ph.D., 2013 (co-advised with Prof. Fritz Keinert from the Math dept at ISU), Lecturer at ISU Mathematics dept.

                                                            x.      Wei Lu, Ph.D., 2011, Senior Algorithms Engineer at KLA-Tencor

                                                          xi.      Samarjit Das, Ph.D., 2010, R&D Group Manager at Bosch Research, USA (earlier: postdoc at the Robotics Institute at CMU)

                                                        xii.      Komal Krishna Mogilipalepu, M.S., 2025

                                                      xiii.      Rituparna Sarkar, M.S., 2012

                                                      xiv.      Fardad Raisali, M.S., 2012

                                                        xv.      Taoran Li, M.S, 2011

3.      Teaching

a.       EE 5900 I: Special Topics in Signal Processing course on Learn by Tutoring Math Fall and Spring (started in 2025)

b.      EE 6230 / Math 6230: High-Dimensional Probability and Linear Algebra for Machine Learning  Fall course (started in 2021)

c.       EE 4250/5250: Machine Learning: A Signal Processing Perspective Spring course (started in 2019)

d.      EE 3220 / Stat 3220: Probabilistic Methods for Electrical Engineers Every other year

 

 

Partial History of the CyMath K-12 Math Program

CyMath 1.0: Fall 2020 to Spring 2022, ran for Moulton Elementary within Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS), remotely

o   3rd and 4th grade students from Moulton Elementary of DMPS (Des Moines Public Schools)

o   Tutors are grad student volunteers from Math, EE or CprE

o   10-12 tutors, 35 kids in 2021-22 year

o   5 tutors, 14 kids in 2020-21 year

-          To support all Math learners, CyMath focuses on both

o   Math-help and

o   Math-challenge: provide extra and more challenging work to students for whom the regular school work is not challenging enough

-          Quotes from 3rd grade Moulton kids and tutors:

https://hs.iastate.edu/more/isu-4u/supporting-activities/cymath/

 

Coordinated by:

-          Prof. Namrata Vaswani (Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering)

-          Prof Christa Jackson (School of Education) in 2020-21, but she moved

-          Prof. Mollie Appelgate (School of Education), in 2021-22

-          Shari Miller (ISU 4U Promise)

Volunteer Tutors for 2023-24

1.      Yingchao Zhou (Stat Ph.D. student)

2.      Seounghun (Hun) Son (ECE Ph.D. student)

3.      Yan-Han Chen (Stat Ph.D. student)

4.      Ruoyu Meng (ECE Ph.D. student)

5.      Sarah McCarty (Math Ph.D. student)

6.      Silpa Babu (ECE Ph.D. student)

7.      Shana Moothedath (ECE professor)

8.      Xuan Hien Nguyen (Math professor)

9.      Chevonne McInnis (AeroE Ph.D. student)

 

Volunteer Tutors for all or part of 2020-22

1.      Dr. Payas Awadhutkar (former ECE Ph.D. student)

2.      Abby Martin (Math Ph.D. student)

3.      Zac Brennan (Math Ph.D. student)

4.      Anindya Das (ECE Ph.D. student – now graduated)

5.      Seounghun (Hun) Son (ECE Ph.D. student)

6.      Ronak Tali (ECE Ph.D. student)

7.      Kostas (ECE Ph.D. student – now graduated)

8.      Dr. Li Tang (former ECE Ph.D. student)

9.      Anayse Miller (Math postbac student – now graduated)

10.  Sarah McCarty (Math Ph.D. student)

11.  Aditya Ramamoorthy (ECE professor)

12.  Pavan Aduri (CS professor)

13.  Adithya Kulkarni (CS Ph.D. student)

14.  Soumya Indela (ECE postdoc – now teaching professors at ASU)

15.  Praneeth Narayanamurthy (ECE Ph.D. student – now graduated)

16.  Abigail Burnett (Math Postbac student – now graduated)

 

 

More Details

 

CyMath was started in Fall 2020 as a Math tutoring project for grade-school students. Prof. Namrata Vaswani of ECpE started/runs it with help from School of Education colleagues (Prof. Christa Jackson who now moved out of ISU, Prof. Mollie Appelgate, and Shari Miller). Its eventual goal is to significantly improve the diversity of the student population in computing-based majors, most of which require a solid grasp of Mathematics concepts. Graduate student volunteers from Engineering and Mathematics provide school-year-long virtual small-group Mathematics support and challenge (extension) to a subset of students from under-resourced schools. Currently, this serves about 35 students from 3rd and 4th grade students from one Des Moines school, Moulton Elementary. The overall longer-term goal is to keep mentoring the same group of students until they graduate from high school, while also expanding the group of students that is served.