Peng Shi

Permanent Address:
44 Boneset Road
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M2J 4X4
Peng Shi
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: http://www.mit.edu/~pengshi/
Education:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
− PhD in Operations Research; expected to graduate May/2016
Mailing Address:
70 Pacific St, Apt 260C
Cambridge, MA
USA 02139
Sep/2011-Present
Duke University, Durham, NC
Aug/2006-May/2010
− Double major in Mathematics (B.S.), Computer Science (B.A.) and minor in Economics
− Final Cumulative GPA: 3.984 out of 4.00 (class rank 6 out of 1246)
Academic Awards and Accomplishments:
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CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award Finalist (2010)
Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society (2008)
Part of the Duke team that placed 5th in the 2007 Putnam mathematics competition
Part of a three person team that won the highest designation of “Outstanding” in the 2007
Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM)
Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship (2006)
Silver Medal in the 2006 International Olympiad of Informatics (IOI)
Silver Medal in the 2005 and 2006 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
3rd place in North America in the 2005 USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO)
1st place in Canada in the 2005 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO)
Publications:
− Peng Shi, Vincent Conitzer, and Mingyu Guo. Prediction Mechanisms That Do Not Incentivize
Undesirable Actions. In the 5th Workshop on Internet and Network Economics (WINE), 2009.
− Sudipto Guha, Kamesh Munagala, and Peng Shi. Approximation Algorithms for Restless Bandit
Problems. In Proc. 19th ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), 2009.
− Kamesh Munagala, and Peng Shi. The Stochastic Machine Replenishment Problem. In Proc. 13th
International Conference on Integer Programming and Combinatorial Optimization (IPCO), 2008.
Work Experience:
Social Entrepreneurial Intern: Bless China International (BCI), Kunming, China
June/2010-July/2011
− Volunteered with BCI (a Christian humanitarian NGO) to develop social businesses which empower the
poor and the marginalized, while generating enough income to be self-sustaining.
− Conducted market research, developed business ideas, analyzed survey data, programmed simple web
and desktop applications, translated, and helped to write business plan.
Research Assistant: Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, NC
Jan/2007-Jan/2010
− Analyzed approximation algorithms for various special cases of the restless bandit problem—an
important problem in Operations Research that is intractable to solve optimally.
− Ran simulations using C++ to gain intuition.
− Created original proofs of new results, using tools from approximation analysis, stochastic processes,
queuing theory, linear programming, and primal-dual theory.
Student Instructor: Department of Mathematics, Duke University, Durham, NC
Aug/2009-Dec/2009
− Co-taught an upper-level undergraduate seminar in mathematical problem solving, geared toward
students interested in the Putnam mathematics competition.
− Created weekly 45-minute PowerPoint lectures and problem sets on various topics, such as the
pigeonhole principle, combinatorics, inequalities, calculus, functional equations, and number theory.
C-SURF Research Fellow: Department of Computer Science, Duke University, NC
May/2009-Aug/2009
− Created the theory of “principal-aligned” prediction mechanisms: mechanisms that do not incentivize
agents to commit actions that change the underlying distribution in a way that harms the principal.
− Created original proofs of new results, using tools from mechanism design and decision theory.
− Also worked on designing proper scoring rules that incentivize a certain amount of effort; used
numerical LP solvers to gain intuition, and proved a conjugacy relationship between the “optimal”
proper scoring rule and certain models of effort.
Quantitative Analyst Intern: D.E. Shaw Group, New York, NY
May/2008-Aug/2008
− Analyzed terabytes of data to build empirical models of various aspects of the US stock market.
− Created improved, predictive models for intraday volume and volatility.
− Programmed in Python and wrote code that ran on up to 300 machines in parallel.
Volunteer Experience:
Weekly Volunteer and Tutor: Reality Center, Durham, NC
May/2009-May/2010
− Helped to supervise Reality Center’s after-school program for local middle and high school kids, most
of whom come from lower-income households.
− Tutored kids in all subjects when needed.
Small Group Leader: Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Duke University, NC
Jan/2009-May/2010
− Co-led a weekly small group Bible study for Duke students.
− Prepared weekly passages and discussion questions.
Entrepreneurial Experience:
Kville Karepack: Duke University, Durham, NC
Sept/2007-May/2009
− Sold care packages to students tenting for tickets to the Duke/UNC basketball game, donating profits to
the Children’s Flight of Hope.
− Created a marketing website that allows users to order online.
− Marketed the product to parents, students, and student organizations.
− Formed partnerships with local businesses and the school administration.
Xinxifang Language Program: Beijing, China
Summer/2007
− Worked on creating a web platform that allows students from Duke and other American colleges to
teach oral English over a webcam to Chinese students.
− Created a low-cost prototype using PHP that allows Chinese users to register an online account and book
an appointment to evaluate their current English level and to test the webcam environment.
Leadership Experience:
− Duke University Math Union Executive (2006-2010)
− Duke Keohane Quad Council Hall Representative (2007-2008)
Extracurricular Activities:
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MIT Graduate Christian Fellowship (2011-Present)
Duke Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (2006-2010)
Duke Badminton Club (2006-Present)
Duke Outing Club (2006-Present)
Duke Environmental Alliance (2008-2009)
Duke Ballroom Dance Club (2007-2008)
Duke Investment Club (2007-2008)
Duke Venture Forward (2007-2008)
Skills and Interests:
− Completely fluent in Chinese (Mandarin) and English
− Programming skills (C++, Java, Python, PHP)
− Hobbies: basketball, badminton, salsa dance, cooking, kayaking