Chenyang Yuan
yuanchenyang@gmail.com

http://www.chenyang.co

http://www.github.com/yuanchenyang

Work
Research Scientist
Toyota Research Institute, Cambridge, MAEducation

2022–Present

PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Thesis: Polynomial Structure in Semidefinite Relaxations and Non-Convex Formulations

2018 – 2022
GPA: 5/5

SM in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
2016 – 2018
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
GPA: 5/5
Thesis: Focused Polynomials, Random Projections and Approximation Algorithms for Polynomial Optimization
over the SphereBA in Computer Science
The University of Berkeley at California, Berkeley, CA

2012–2016
GPA: 3.94/4

Preprints
Nikos Arechiga*, Frank Permenter*, Binyang Song* and Chenyang Yuan*, “ Drag-guided diffusion models
for vehicle image generation”, Preprint, arxiv:2306.09935
Frank Permenter* and Chenyang Yuan*, “Interpreting and Improving Diffusion Models Using the Euclidean
Distance Function”, Preprint, arxiv:2306.04848
Chenyang Yuan and Pablo Parrilo, “Rounding Semidefinite Relaxations of Quadratic Maps”, In preparation
Chenyang Yuan and Pablo Parrilo, “Semidefinite Relaxations of Products of Nonnegative Forms on theSphere”, Preprint, arxiv:2102.13220(* denotes equal contribution / alphabetical ordering)

Publications
Binyang Song, Chenyang Yuan, Frank Permenter, Nikos Arechiga and Faez Ahmed, “Surrogate Modeling ofCar Drag Coefficient with Depth and Normal Renderings”, International Design Engineering TechnicalConferences (IDETC 2023)
Benoı̂t Legat*, Chenyang Yuan* and Pablo Parrilo, “Low Rank Univariate Sum of Squares Has No Spurious
Local Minima”, To appear in SIAM Journal on Optimization (SIOPT 2023)
Chenyang Yuan and Pablo Parrilo, “Maximizing Products of Linear Forms, and the Permanent of PositiveSemidefinite Matrices”, Mathematical Programming Series A (MAPL 2022)
J. Thai, C. Yuan, A. Bayen, “Resiliency of Mobility-as-a-Service Systems to Denial-of-Service Attacks”, IEEE
Transactions on Control of Network Systems (TCNS 2016)
C. Yuan, J. Thai, A. Bayen, “ZUbers against ZLyfts Apocalypse: An Analysis Framework for DoS Attacks on
Mobility-as-a-Service Systems”, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Cyber-Physical Systems (ICCPS2015)(* denotes equal contribution / alphabetical ordering)Internships
Research Intern, Lyft Inc.
June – September 2016• Worked with locations team on estimation of travel times using real-time traffic data derived from driver
GPS routes.
Undergraduate Student Researcher, UC Berkeley
Spring 2015 – Spring 2016
• With professor Alex Bayen’s group, worked on applying optimization to traffic control, inferring route
flows of cars from cellular connection data and using queueing theory to investigate possible attacks on
on-demand rideshare networks.
Undergraduate Student Researcher, UC Berkeley

1Spring 2014 – Spring 2015

• With professor Ras Bodik’s group on the synthesis of a layout engine for an experimental browser, Servo,
using SAT/SMT solvers.
Software Engineering Intern, Clover Network Inc.
June – September 2013
• Amongst other projects, designed and built an API auto-documentation system and API Explorer.
Programming Skills
Proficient in Python, Julia, PyTorch, Javascript, LATEX, Emacs, Git, Docker
Experience in Java, C, Rust, Haskell, Scheme, HTML/CSS, Android, SQL, Assembly
Talks
ICCOPT Invited talk in Session on Algorithms for Large-scale Conic and Polynomial Optimization Jul 2022
MIT LIDS and Stats Tea Talk
Dec 2021
INFORMS Annual Meeting Optimization in Julia Session

Oct 2021

Fields Institute Workshop on Real Algebraic Geometry and Algorithms

Jun 2021

MIT LIDS Student Conference

Jan 2021

MIT CS Theory Lunch

Feb 2020

Teaching
Algebraic Techniques and Semidefinite Programming (6.256), MIT
Linear Algebra and Optimization (6.S084/18.061), MIT

Spring 2021
Fall 2020/2021

Nonlinear Optimization (6.252), MIT

Spring 2020

Efficient Algorithms and Intractable Problems (CS170), UC Berkeley

Spring 2016

Designing Information Devices and Systems (EE16A), UC Berkeley

Fall 2015

Discrete Mathematics and Probability Theory (CS70), UC Berkeley

Spring 2015

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (CS61A), UC Berkeley
Math/Physics Olympiad Trainer, NUS High School of Math and Science

Fall 2013 – Fall 2014
March-August 2012

Selected Software Projects
SumOfSquares.py
https://github.com/yuanchenyang/SumOfSquares.py
Sum of squares optimization modeller built on top of picos. Features easy access to pseudoexpectation
operators for both formulating problems and extracting solutions via rounding algorithms
Interactive SICP Textbook / coding.js
http://xuanji.appspot.com/isicp/1-1-elements.html
An interactive version of the classic Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs book, created together
with a friend. I wrote the asynchronous Javascript-based Scheme interpreter used on the website.
Selected Awards
Outstanding Course Development and Teaching Award, for developing a new linear algebra course(EE16A) at UC Berkeley
May 2016
First Place, Cal vs Stanford Big Hack
Created a scheme interpreter in C on my TI-89 graphing calculatorApr 2013

Honorable Mention, 12th Asian Physics Olympiad
One of the 8 students representing Singapore in this competition.

May 2011

Reviewing Experience
Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR); SIAM Journal on Optimization (SIOPT); Conference onDecision and Control (CDC); IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS); Optimization Letters; Journal ofCombinatorics; International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP); Sum ofSquares: Theory and Applications (book chapter)
Selected Coursework2CS: Berkeley: Graduate Algorithms and Theory, Compilers, Security, AI, Randomized Algorithms. MIT:
Advanced Algorithms, Inference and Information, Geometric Computing, Algebraic Techniques andSemidefinite Programming
EE: Berkeley: Information Theory, MIT: Dynamic Systems and Control
Math: Berkeley: Complex Analysis, Honors Abstract Algebra. MIT: High-dimensional Statistics
Physics: Berkeley: Analytical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, General Relativity, Electronics Lab3