CRISTINA POP

 

Stanford University

Stanford, CA USA

 

 

 

 


 

 

OBJECTIVE      To contribute to the field of bioinformatics and enhance understanding of biological systems through computational tools and mathematical models.

 

 

EDUCATION

 

2008-present    Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Student

                        Computer Science

                        Stanford University

                        Degree Expected: May 2013

 

2003-2008        Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc)

                       Computer Engineering, Honours Mathematics Option

                        The University of British Columbia (UBC)

                        Degree Conferred: May 2008 with Distinction

                        Ranked:

1 of 118 students in Year 4, Electrical and Computer Engineering

2 of 250 students in Year 3, Electrical and Computer Engineering

3 of 375 students in Year 3, Faculty of Applied Science

1 of 229 students in Year 2, Electrical and Computer Engineering

                        Notable Courses:

Applied Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
Circuit Analysis I and II
Complex Variables

Computer Architecture

Computer Communications

Digital Logic / Systems Design

Discrete Structures and Algorithms

Introduction to BioMEMS

Microcomputer System Design

Modeling and Simulation

Numerical Methods for Differential Equations

Operating and File Systems

Real-Time Digital System Design
Real Analysis I and II

Signals and Communications

Software Engineering

Systems and Control

Technical Communication

 

ACADEMIC AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

 

 

2008                 Faculty of Applied Science Prize for Academic Excellence, UBC

     Awarded to 1 out of ~600 graduating UBC students in the Faculty of Applied Science.

 

2008                 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarships:

Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (declined) and Postgraduate Scholarship M

     Canada Graduate Scholarship awarded to top-ranked Postgraduate Scholarship applicants, for

     academic excellence, research potential, and communication / interpersonal / leadership skills.

 

2008                 Computing Research Association Outstanding Undergraduate Award - Honorable Mention

     Awarded to North American undergraduates with outstanding potential in computing research.

 

2006                 PMC-Sierra Founders Award in Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBC

     Awarded to 1 UBC electrical / computer engineering student for academic achievement,  

     entrepreneurship, leadership, interest in integrated circuit and communication system design.

 

2006                 Microsoft Technical Scholarship

     Awarded to students studying in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, who show passion for

     software and academic excellence.

 

2005                 MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. Peter Kam Memorial Scholarship, UBC

     Awarded to 1 out of ~400 UBC electrical / computer engineering students in 3rd or 4th year.

 

2005                 UBC Golden Key Honour Society New Inductee Scholarship

     Awarded to 5 out of ~800 new members who showed outstanding scholastic ability.

 

2004                 Leslie and Greta Carter Memorial Engineering Scholarship, UBC

     Awarded to 1 out of ~600 UBC students entering 2nd year engineering.

 

2004                 UBC Nomination for C.D. Howe Memorial Engineering Award

 

2004                 The Canadian Club / Weyerhaeuser SOARS “Academic Award”

 

2004                 Featured in Ingenuity - UBC Faculty of Applied Science Engineering News, “Applied Science’s bright young stars”, Fall/Winter Issue 2004

 

2004-2007         Dean’s Honour List, UBC

 

2003-2007         Undergraduate Scholarship Program Award, UBC

     Awarded to UBC students with academic achievement (over 85% on their best 27 credits).

 

2003-2007         IBM Canada Limited Pacific Development Centre Scholarship

     Awarded annually to 10 Canadian students entering a BC university in fields in computing.


 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

2008 May-June

Research Assistant

Supervisor: Dr. Anne Condon, Computer Science, UBC

·    integrated two energy models for RNA secondary structure prediction with a heuristic prediction algorithm and a program for tuning the energy model parameters

 

2007 May-Aug

Undergraduate Student Research Award Recipient, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Supervisor: Dr. Anne Condon, Computer Science, UBC

·    implemented pseudoknot energy models into a C++ algorithm to compute the energy of RNA structures and into a C++ heuristic algorithm for RNA secondary structure prediction

 

2007 Jan-Apr

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Honours Integral Calculus, Mathematics, UBC

·    marker duties: marked tests and weekly homework assignments

 

2006 May-Aug

Undergraduate Student Research Award Recipient, NSERC

Supervisor: Dr. Anne Condon, Computer Science, UBC

·    implemented and tested a general and efficient RNA secondary structure prediction algorithm based on hierarchical folding, in Haskell and C++

·    created a tutorial on the algebraic dynamic programming technique used in implementation

 

2006 Jan-Apr

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Linear Systems, Mathematics, UBC

·    lab duties: supervised students and assisted them with Matlab problem sets

·    marker duties: marked tests and weekly homework assignments

 

2004 May-Aug

Undergraduate Student Research Award Recipient, NSERC

Supervisor: Dr. Joel Friedman, Mathematics, UBC

·    investigated the Ramanujan property of graphs

·    created C++ and Matlab programs to model and test graph properties

 

 

PUBLICATIONS & REPORTS

 

2007                 Hosna Jabbari, Anne Condon, Ana Pop, Cristina Pop, and Yinglei Zhao. “HFold: RNA Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Prediction Using Hierarchical Folding” (2007) 7th Workshop on Algorithms in Bioinformatics (WABI), Philadelphia, USA. Algorithms in Bioinformatics, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) 4645:323-334.

 

 

 

CONFERENCES & PRESENTATIONS

 

2007                 RiboWest 2007 Conference, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada

·    talk: “HFold: RNA Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Prediction Using Hierarchical Folding”

 

2007                 Bioinformatics Reading Group, Bioinformatics and Empirical & Theoretical Algorithmics Laboratory, UBC

·    talk on: “Predicting RNA pseudoknot folding thermodynamics” by Song Cao and Shi-Jie Chen (2006 Nucleic Acids Research 34:2534-2652)

 

2007                 ideas 2007 Open House, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBC

·    invited poster: “Synthesis of Initial Conditions for Biological Simulations of Hybrid Systems”

 

2007                 Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference, UBC

·    poster: “Synthesis of Initial Conditions for Biological Simulations of Hybrid Systems”

 

2006                 RiboWest 2006 Conference, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada

·    poster: “Hierarchical Model for Pseudoknotted RNA Secondary Structure Prediction”

 

 

COMPUTER SKILLS

 

Programming

Software and Technologies

Operating Systems

C, C++ (fluent)

Microsoft Visual Studio .NET

Windows 98 / XP / Vista

C#, Java, Matlab, Perl (comfortable)

Eclipse Java IDE

Linux

Haskell, R, SQL, VHDL (basic knowledge)

ASP.NET and HTML

 

 

 

NOTABLE PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

 

2008                 Numerical methods for solving differential equations (written in Matlab)

2007                 Hybrid systems modeling (analysis of reachability and verification techniques and tools for modeling and simulation of tryptophan regulation)

2006                 Distributed collaboration tool for chatting and shared file editing (written in Java)

2006                 Image processing algorithms for tracking small objects (written in C, C++, Matlab)

2005                 Simple multi-cycle CPU (VHDL description)

2005                 CPU simulator based on several CPU scheduling algorithms (written in C++)

2005                 Simple Linux shell (written in C)

2005                 Voice synthesis review (analysis of fricative sound production model for articulatory synthesis)

2004-2006         ASP.NET web application development

 

 

ASSOCIATIONS

 

2005-2008         Division for the Advancement of Women in Engineering and Geosciences

2004-present    Golden Key International Honour Society

2003-2008         Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC - Student Advantage Program

 

 

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

 

2008                 Student Leader, Engineering Day for High School Girls hosted by UBC Women in Engineering

2007                 Co-organizer and Co-initiator, Calliope Conference and Network for linking girls with artists and innovators

2004-2008         Technical Support, Transition Program Graduation Ceremonies

2004-2007         Event Organizer and Committee Member, UBC Physics Olympics

2004-2006         Marker, PIMS Elementary Grades Math Contest