Congratulations to Dr. Michael Zhang! In May 2018, Michael Zhang has graduated from the PhD in Statistics Program in the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences.
Now that you have graduated from the PhD in Statistics Program, what are you planning doing next?
I will travel around South America in the summer, starting from Colombia, and I'll try to make my way down to Argentina. In the fall, I will start a post-doc position, the exact location is still to be determined.
How would you describe your research to a non-expert?
My research deals with how to improve the computational speed for a class of models that have very nice theoretical properties for statistical modeling but are very slow to use in practice.
What is your favorite memory of the time you've spent at UT?
My most favorite memories are the experiences that I've been afforded as a grad student to travel to a lot of different and interesting places and meet a lot of very smart people.
What advice do you have for the incoming new PhD students?
Start working on research immediately and try to work with a lot of different faculty members so you can get an idea of who you work best with. Your choice of advisor is the most important decision you make during a PhD program.
