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Samitha Samaranayake
Postdoctoral Associate
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
E32-D780, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02142
Tel: (617) 869-8767, Email: samitha@alum.mit.edu
Web: http://mit.edu/samitha/www
Education
University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. in Systems Engineering
Thesis: Routing strategies for the reliable and efficient utilization of road networks
2014
Stanford University
M.S. in Management Science and Engineering (Operations Research)
2009
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Thesis: A Reconfigurable Shared Scan-In Architecture
2003
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.B. in Computer Science with minor in Economics
2002
Research topics
Combinatorial optimization in stochastic networks
− Reliable routing with performance guarantees
− Search pruning algorithms for stochastic networks
Flow allocation algorithms for dynamic networks
− System optimal flow allocation in multi-commodity networks
− Control of user equilibrium departure times
Robust load balancing for distributed databases
− DB query load balancing using equlibrium network flow models
Awards and honors
Best Internship Award (Prix D’Option), as Advisor (student name: J.B. Lespiau)
Ecole Polytechnique, France
Dwight David Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship U.S. Department of Transportation
Anthony Fellowship University of California, Berkeley
MIT VI-A Fellowship MIT/Synopsys Inc.
Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society
Eta Kappa Nu National Computer Science Honor Society
2013
2012
2009-2010
2000-2003
2000
2000
Publications
Journal publications
1. S. Samaranayake, J. Reilly, W. Krichene, M.L. Delle Monache, P. Goatin, A. Bayen. “Discrete-time
system optimal dynamic traffic assignment (SO-DTA) with partial control for horizontal queuing networks.”Transportation Science, in review.
2. S. Samaranayake, A. Parmentier, E. Xuan, A. Bayen. “A mathematical framework for delay analysis in
single source networks.”IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, in review.
3. J. Reilly, S.Samaranayake, M.L. Delle Monache, W. Krichene, P. Goatin, A. Bayen. “Adjoint-based optimization on a network of discretized scalar conservation law PDEs with applications to coordinated ramp
metering.”Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, in review (second round).
4. S. Samaranayake, J. Monteil, D. Holstius, K. Tracton, E. Seto, S. Glaser, A. Bayen, “Real-time emissions estimation and dispersion modeling along the transportation network.”Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure
Engineering, Volume 29, Issue 7, Pages 546-558, August 2014.
5. M.L. Delle Monache, J. Reilly, S. Samaranayake, W. Krichene, P. Goatin, A. Bayen, “A PDE-ODE model
for a junction with ramp buffer.” SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Volume 70, Issue 1, Pages 22-39.
6. S. Samaranayake, S. Blandin, A. Bayen, “A Tractable Class of Algorithms for Reliable Routing in Stochastic
Networks.” Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Volume 20, Issue 1, Pages 199-217,
February 2012.
7. S. Samaranayake, N. Sitchinava, R. Kapur, M. Amin, T.W. Williams, “Dynamic Scan: driving down the
cost of test.” IEEE Computer Volume 35, Issue 10, Pages 63-68, 2002.
Refereed conference publications
1. S. Samaranayake, A. Parmentier, E. Xuan, A. Bayen. “Solving the user equilibrium departure time problem
at an off-ramp with incentive compatible cost functions.”2015 European Control Conference, Linz, Austria,
in review.
2. S. Samaranayake, J. Reilly, W. Krichene, M.L. Delle Monache, P. Goatin, A. Bayen. “Discrete-time system
optimal dynamic traffic assignment (SO-DTA) with partial control for horizontal queuing networks.”2015
American Control Conference, Chicago, IL, in review.
3. A. Parmentier, S. Samaranayake, E. Xuan, A. Bayen. “A mathematical framework for delay analysis in
single source networks.”2015 American Control Conference, Chicago, IL, in review.
4. J.B. Lespiau, S. Samaranayake, A. Bayen. “Solving the dynamic user equilibrium problem via sequential
convex optimization for parallel horizontal queuing networks.”Transportation Research Board 94th Annual
Meeting, 2015 Washington, D.C.
5. M. Abeydeera, S. Samaranayake. “GPU parallalization of the stochastic on-time arrival problem.” Proceedings of the 21st IEEE Conference on High Performance Computing (HiPC) 2014, Goa, India.
6. G. Sabran, S. Samaranayake, A. Bayen. “Pre-processing algorithms for the stochastic on-time arrival problem.”Proceedings of the 16th SIAM Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experiments (ALENEX), pp
138-146, January 5, 2014, Portland, Oregon.
7. P. Borokhov, S. Blandin, S. Samaranayake, O. Goldschimdt, A. Bayen. “An adaptive routing system for
location-aware mobile devices on the road network.”Proceedings of the 14th International IEEE Conference
on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), October 5-7 2011, Washington, DC.
8. S. Samaranayake, S. Blandin, A. Bayen. “Speedup Techniques for the Stochastic on-time Arrival Problem.”Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modeling, Optimization, and Systems, September 13, 2012, Ljubijana, Slovenia.
9. S. Samaranayake, S. Blandin, A. Bayen. “Learning Traffic Flow Dependencies in Highway Networks.”Proceedings
of the 50th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, December 12-15 2011, Orlando, Florida.
10. S. Samaranayake, S. Blandin, A. Bayen. “A Tractable Class of Algorithms for Reliable Routing in Stochastic
Networks.” Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium on Transportation and Traffic Theory (ISTTT),
July 18-20 2011, Berkeley, California.
11. S. Samaranayake, E. Gizdarski, N. Sitchinava, F. Neuveux, R. Kapur, T.W. Williams, “A Reconfigurable
Shared Scan-In Architecture.” Proceedings of the 21st IEEE VLSI Test Symposium (VTS), pp 9-14, 2003.
12. N. Sitchinava, S. Samaranayake, R. Kapur, E. Gizdarski, F. Neuveux, T.W. Williams, “Changing scan enable
during shift.” Proceedings of the 22nd IEEE VLSI Test Symposium (VTS), pp 73-78, 2004.
Other
1. S. Samaranayake, A. Parmentier, E. Xuan, A. Bayen. “Solving the user equilibrium departure time problem at an off-ramp with incentive compatible cost functions.”dx.doi.org/10.7922/G2057CVF, 2014. To be
submitted to Transportation Research Part B: Methodological
2. M.Niknami, S. Samaranayake, A. Bayen. “Tractable Pathfinding for the Stochastic On-Time Arrival Problem.”arXiv preprint arXiv:1408.4490, 2014. To be submitted to the 14th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms 2015
3. M. Kobitzsch, S. Samaranayake, D. Schieferdecker “Pruning Techniques for the Stochastic on-time Arrival
Problem - An Experimental Study.”CoRR abs/1407.8295, 2014.
4. A. Babb, et al. “Oracle Exadata Storage Server User’s Guide, 11g Release 2.”Oracle Coorporation.
5. T. Bednar, et al. “Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User’s Guide, 11g Release 1.”Oracle Coorporation.
6. T. Bednar, et al. “Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference, 11g Release 1.”Oracle Coorporation.
7. T. Bednar, et al. “Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User’s Guide, 10g Release 2.”Oracle
Coorporation.
8. J.W. Forrester, et. al. “Road maps: A guide to learning system dynamics.”Creative Learning Exchange.
Patents
− “Dynamically reconfigurable shared scan-in test architecture” (with Rohit Kapur, Nodari Sitchinava, Emil Gizdarski, Frederic Neuveux, Suryanarayana Duggirala and Thomas Williams)
1. U.S. Patent 7,900,105, March 11, 2011
2. U.S. Patent 7,836,368, November 16, 2010
3. U.S. Patent 7,836,367, November 16, 2010
4. U.S. Patent 7,418,640, August 10, 2010
5. U.S. Patent 7,596,733, June 22, 2010
6. U.S. Patent 7,743,299, September 29, 2009
7. U.S. Patent 7,774,663, August 26, 2008
Research experience
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
December 2014 – December 2015
Postdoctoral Associate, Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS)
− Modeling and control of networked multi-agent systems
University of California, Berkeley
September 2011 – November 2014
Graduate Student Researcher and Research Engineer, California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology
(PATH)
− Research Lead, Control Algorithms group in the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) sponsored
California Connected Corridors project. Manage two other PhD students in the group and engage in project
level planning and systems design.
− Dynamic and reliable database load balancing for distributed databases. This is a collaboration with the
Systems Technology Group at Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, CA.
French National Institute for Research in Computer Science
and Control (INRIA)
August 2012 – September 2012
Visiting Researcher, Optimization and control of complex multidisciplinary systems (OPALE)
− Research on optimal control strategies for traffic flow optimization on road networks.
University of California, Berkeley
August 2009 – June 2011
Graduate Student Researcher, California Center for Innovative Transportation (CCIT)
− Developed and implemented a new stochastic routing algorithm for maximizing probability of on-time arrival.
− Developed and prototyped an algorithm for learning macroscopic traffic flow models from traffic data.
− Integrated traffic estimation algorithms with pollution dispersion models for real time estimation of vehicle
based emissions. This is a joint project with Nokia Research Labs, Palo Alto.
Synopsys Inc.
June 2002 – December 2002
Research Intern, Test Research and Development Group
Designed and prototyped a reconfigurable scan-chain architecture that significantly reduces the cost of VLSI
testing. This research work was productized by Synopsys as Adaptive Scan, a highly successful and profitable
component of the Synopsys Design for Test (DFT) suite. See masters thesis and publications for details.
MIT Sloan School of Management
January 2000 – June 2002
Undergraduate Researcher, System Dynamics in Education Project
Worked with Professor Jay Forrester (the founder of System Dynamics) on the System Dynamics in Education
project. Created simulations of real-world physical systems using System Dynamics models and was a contributing
author of Road Maps: A Guide to Learning System Dynamics.
Synopsys Inc.
summer 2000 and 2001
Research Intern, Test Research and Development Group
Developed and analyzed the Dynamic Scan Chains as a Low Cost Test strategy. Showed significant tester time
and memory savings both analytically and through simulations. See publications for details.
Industry experience
Google Traffic
June 2011 – September 2011
Software Engineering Intern, Directions and traffic team
Prototyped and implemented a new feature in the Google Maps directions product. Worked with multiple groups
and technologies within Google to enable the development of this feature.
Oracle Corporation
August 2003 – August 2009
Senior Member of Technical Staff, System Technologies Group
Primary developer in charge of fast incremental backup technologies for the Oracle database. Extensive programming experience within the database kernel.
− Implemented fast incremental backups for standby databases in Oracle Database 11g.
− Implemented storage server block filtering for fast database backups in the Oracle Exadata Database Machine.
Teaching experience
Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering
CE92, University of California, Berkeley
− Guest lecturer. Using mobile sensing for reliable routing on road networks.
Fall 2011
Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering
CE290, University of California, Berkeley
− Guest lecturer. Two lectures on stochastic routing algorithms.
Fall 2010
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Spring 2003
6.001, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
− Teaching assistant. Conducted eight weekly one hour sessions explaining the concepts taught in class to
groups of no more than five students. Prepared tutorial questions and notes.
Invited talks and seminars
1. Aston University, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Birmingham, England, Oct. 2nd, 2014. Host:
Professor Bjorn Birgisson. “Research topics in smart mobility”.
2. TRB Integrated Corridor Management System Workshop, Irvine, California, June 23rd, 2014. Poster session.
“System optimal dynamic traffic assignment with multiple commodities”.
3. SIAM Conference on Optimization, San Diego, California, May 22nd, 2014. Mini Symposium on Optimal
Routing in Stochastic Networks with Transportation Applications. “Speedup algorithms for the stochastic
on-time arrival problem”.
4. Royal Institute of Technology, Automatic Control Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 19th, 2013. Host:
Professor Karl Henrik Johansson. “Adaptive routing in stochastic networks: maximizing the probability of
on-time arrival”.
5. Technical University of Delft, Department of Transport and Planning, Delft, Netherlands, Aug. 28th, 2013.
Host: Professor Serge Hoogendoorn. “Adaptive routing in stochastic networks: maximizing the probability
of on-time arrival”.
6. Imperial College, Centre for Transport Studies, London, England, Aug. 23rd, 2013. Host: Professor John
Polock. “Adaptive routing in stochastic networks: maximizing the probability of on-time arrival”.
7. XXVI EURO INFORMS Joint International Conference, Rome, Italy, Aug. 1st, 2013. Invited talk at the
special session on transit routing. “Stochastic on-time arrival problem on public transportation networks ”.
8. IBM Research Collaboratory, Singapore, Jun. 6th, 2013. “Optimal utilization of road transportation networks via adaptive routing algorithms”.
9. Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore, Jun. 7th, 2013. Host: Professor Emilio
Frazzoli. “Optimal utilization of road transportation networks via adaptive routing algorithms”.
10. Center for Urban Sustainability and Progress (CUSP), New York, NY. May 28th, 2013. Host: Professor
Claudio Silva. “Better utilization of road transportation networks via optimal demand allocation”.
11. INRIA Silicon Valley Research Workshop, Stanford University, CA, May 21th, 2013.
• Special session on CityLab. “Integrated Corridor Management: the Connected Corridors project”.
• Session on vehicles and traffic. “A junction model and framework for flow optimization on highways”.
12. 21st International Symposium on Mathematical Programming, Berlin, Germany, Aug. 21st, 2012. Invited
talk at the special session on stochastic routing. “Fast solutions to the stochastic on-time arrival problem”.
13. University of California Berkeley, Institute of Urban and Regional Development and the Boalt School of
Law, Berkeley, CA, Feb. 24th, 2012. The Sustainable Cities Conference Series: Sustainable Mobility and
Cities. Invited panelist on reactions and ideas from the coming generation of transportation and public
policy professionals and thought leaders.
14. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Theoretical Informatics, Karlsruhe, Germany, Dec.
21st, 2011. Host: Professor Peter Sanders. “Reliable routing in transportation networks: maximizing the
probability of on-time arrival”.
´
15. Ecole
Polytechnique F´ed´erale De Lausanne (EPFL), Urban Transport Systems Laboratory, Lausanne, Switzerland, Sept. 21st, 2011. Host: Professor Nikolas Geroliminis. “A tractable class of algorithms for reliable
routing in stochastic networks”.
16. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Automatic Control Laboratory, Zurich, Switzerland, Sept. 7th,
2011. Host: Professor John Lygeros. “Tractable algorithms for reliable routing in stochastic networks”.
Media
1. The Discovery Channel, Daily Planet Segment, “Traffic Jams”, by Barb Ustina, April 8, 2013.
Student mentorship
1. Paul Borokhov, masters student at the University of California, Berkeley.
Supervised the implementation of an iPhone application for providing real-time routing with reliability
constraints for the San Francisco Bay Area, September 2010 - May 2011. Currently at Apple.
2. Axel Parmentier, visiting masters student from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.
Supervised research on mathematical formulations of flow propagation for analysis of network equilibrium,
April - August 2012. Currently a PhD student at Ecole Centrale Paris.
3. Manuel Jacob, visiting masters student from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.
Supervised research on computing system optimal flow allocations in multi-commodity networks, April August 2012. Currently a PhD student at ETH Zurich.
4. Guillaume Sabran, visiting masters student from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.
Supervised research on preprocessing techniques for stochastic routing problems, April - August 2013. Currently a masters student at Harvard.
5. Jean-Baptiste Lespiau, visiting masters student from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.
Supervised research on adjoint based algorithms for system optimal flow allocations, April - August 2013.
Currently a masters student at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech.
6. Maleen Abeydeera, undergraduate student at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Supervising research on GPU based fast reliable routing algorithms, April 2013 - August 2014.
7. Mehrdad Niknami, undergraduate student at the Univerisity of California, Berkeley.
Supervising research on graph pruning methods for fast solutions to path based stochastic routing problems,
September 2013 - present. Currently a PhD student at at the Univerisity of California, Berkeley.
Academic service
Conferences and workshops
1. Co-organizer, Workshop on stochastic optimization on planar graphs with transportation applications.
SIAM Conference on Optimization, May 2014, San Diego.
Journal referee
1. Transportation Science
2. Computer Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (CACAIE)
3. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems (IEEE T-ITS)
4. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing (IEEE TMC)
Conference referee
1. IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)
2. Algorithm Engineering and Experiments (ALENEX)
3. International Confference on Cyber Physical Systems (ICCPS)
Other service
Volunteer work
1. Undergraduate research mentor and graduate student admissions advisor, SL2College
Professional associations
1. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Student Member
2. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Student Member