Mike Dairyko
Mike Dairyko
Dr. Dairyko was a Posse Scholar at Pomona College where a linear algebra class set him on a career path centered around mathematics. Through that class he found his way to two different summer REU programs and eventually to a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Iowa State University (2018). While initially believing that he would stay in academia after his graduate work, being introduced to machine learning methods caused him to pursue data science jobs after graduation.
Dr. Dairyko served as a Senior Manager of Data Science at the Milwaukee Brewers and is now the Director of Ticketing Analytics at the Milwaukee Bucks. Helping the organization get the most out of budgeting, revenue, and ticket sales allows him to fully use his training in mathematics and data science.
Topics covered
Dr. Dairyko’s graduate work is in graph theory, in particular, exponential domination. In a graph, exponential domination is the extent to which a particular vertex influences the remaining vertices in a graph. His published work falls very much within the realm of mathematics, proving that particular properties of graphs exist. However, graph theory is intimately related to machine learning; for example, it is the foundational structure of a neural network. Understanding properties of graphs help data scientists develop even more powerful models to harness information from data.
Relevant work
M. Dairyko, A linear programming method for exponential domination. The Golden Anniversary Celebration of the National Association of Mathematicians, Volume 759 of Contemporary mathematics. Eds O. Ortega, E. Lawrence, E. Goins (2020).
M. Dairyko, L.Hogben, J. Lin, J. Lockhart, D. Roberson, S. Severini, M. Young, Note on von Neumann and Rényi entropies of a graph. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 2017.
Outside links
Other
Dr. Dairyko’s path from mathematics to data science has been written about in SIAM and in the Iowa State University newsletter Math Matters.