Hi there, I am
I'm a Masters student at the University of Chicago studying Applied Mathematics. My research lies broadly in large-scale optimization and generative modelling. I'm particularly interested in how generative models generalize — what properties of the data distribution they capture, and how this is shaped by the optimization methods used to train them. Before UChicago, I completed my B.S. in CS at FIU in 2026, where I was fortunate to be supervised by Professor Janki Bhimani in the DaMRL lab. Previously, I was a research intern at SINTEF, where I worked on modelling SDEs through discrete Markov chains. I also interned at the University of Washington, focusing on vision transformers and vision-language models. My research has been recognized with the CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award.
Education
University of Chicago
M.S Applied Mathematics
September 2026 - December 2027
Florida International University
B.S Computer Science
August 2022 - April 2026
Work Experience
Research Intern
SINTEF
May 2026 - August 2026
Research Intern
University of Washington
August 2025 - August 2025
Research Assistant
DAMRL Laboratory
November 2023 - Present
Software Engineer Intern
NG Nordic
May 2024 - August 2024
Publications
WSBD: Freezing-Based Optimizer for Quantum Neural Networks
AISTATS 2026 (28%)
[Click to Read]
Christopher Kverne, Mayur Akewar, Yuqian Huo, Tirthak Patel, Janki Bhimani
Aurora: Neuro-Symbolic AI Driven Advising Agent
SAC 2026 (23%)
[Click to Read]
Lorena Amanda Quincoso Lugones, Christopher Kverne, Nityam Sharadkumar Bhimani, Ana Carolina Oliveira, Agoritsa Polyzou, Christine Lisetti, Janki Bhimani
Quantum Neural Networks Need Checkpointing
ACM HotStorage 2025 (33%)
[Click to Read]
Christopher Kverne, Mayur Akewar, Yuqian Huo, Tirthak Patel, Janki Bhimani
Revisiting Noise-adaptive Transpilation in Quantum Computing: How Much Impact Does it Have?
ICCAD 2025 (24%)
[Click to Read]
Yuqian Huo, Jinbiao Wei, Christopher Kverne, Mayur Akewar, Janki Bhimani, Tirthak Patel
Course-Job Fit: Understanding the Contextual Relationship Between Computing Courses and Employment Opportunities
ASEE 2025 Conference (30%)
[Click to Read]
Christopher Kverne, Federico Monteverdi, Agoritsa Polyzou, Christine Lisetti, Janki Bhimani
Reviewing and Service
- Reciprocal reviewer ICLR 2027
Honors and Awards
- CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award 2026 – Runner up.
- CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award 2025 – Honorable Mention.
- Outstanding Graduate Student College of Computing – Selected as the most outstanding B.S CS student out of 350 graduates.
- Outstanding Senior Design Project – Selected as the best Capstone II project out of 120 projects.
- ACM SAC 2026 – Best paper AI & Agents Award.
- FIU OURS Research Scholarship ($8000) – One of 20 students selected for fully funded Spring-Fall research.
- ACM HotStorage Travel Grant ($500) – Fully funded registration and travel to present my paper.