Hi! My name is Ale Ballester, I am a PhD student in Computational Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech’s School of Physics. My main passion lies in mathematics and physics, specifically in how their intersection results in the theory of dynamical systems and control. I am particularly interested in how complex systems can encode and process information. As part of that, I got interested in neuroscience, trying to understand the so-called second-order neural field theories (with little success!). I also got interested in solid state physics, trying to understand magneto-optical effects in semiconductors (again, with little success). Currently, I am trying to learn more about plasma physics, structure-preserving machine learning, differential geometry and group theory, hoping to find interesting connections.
Before being a grad student, I was a simulation engineer at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine. I developed web-based and mixed-reality simulations that facilitated experiential learning for medical professionals, aiming to subsequently improve healthcare outcomes. Additionally, I also helped develop a visualization tool to drastically increase the accuracy of ultrasound-guided biopsy procedures.
Outside of research, I love music! My favorite genre is blues-rock and I am constantly trying to learn electric guitar (though I end up doing more collecting than learning…). I am always down for live music.