My current research interests include network/graph analysis, combinatorial scientific computing, and societally-relevant computer science education. Funding sources have included Pomona-internal grants, a CRA CREU grant, as well as NSF grants.
Faculty careers at liberal arts colleges, Janet Davis, Jeannie Albrecht, Christine Alvarado, Tzu-Yi Chen, Amy
Csizmar Dalal, and Sohie Lee. ACM XRDS, 21(3). Spring 2015. ACM online
A new augmentation based algorithm for
extracting maximal chordal subgraphs, Sanjukta Bhowmick, Tzu-Yi
Chen, and Mahantesh Halappanavar. Journal of Parallel and Distributed
Computing, 76: 132–144. February 2015.
ScienceDirect link
Commonsense understanding of concurrency: computing students and concert tickets, Gary Lewandowski, Dennis
Bouvier, Tzu-Yi Chen, Robert McCartney, Kate Sanders, Beth Simon, and Tammy VanDeGrift. Communications of
the ACM, 53(7): 60–70, July 2010. DOI link
Commonsense computing: Debugging (Episode 4), Beth Simon, Dennis Bouvier, Tzu-Yi Chen, Gary Lewandowski,
Robert McCartney, and Kate Sanders. Computer Science Education, 18(2): 117–133, 2008. Taylor & Francis Online
link
Balancing sparse matrices for computing eigenvalues, Tzu-Yi Chen and James Demmel. Linear Algebra and Its
Applications, 309: 261–287, April 2000. ScienceDirect link
Teaching Site Reliability Engineering as a Computer Science Elective, Mikey Dickerson and Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer
Science Education (SIGCSE). March 2023. pages 521--527. DOI
link
An Exploration of the Network Installation and Recovery Problem with Blackstart Nodes,
Kayla S. Cummings (Pomona ’18), Janie Neal (Pomona ’19), Andi Chen (Pomona ’18), and Tzu-Yi Chen. In
Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Complex Networks and their Applications. Cambridge, England,
December 2018.
User Interface Evaluation: Comparison of Novices to Upperclass Computer Science Students, Tzu-Yi Chen and
Tammy VanDeGrift. In Proceedings of the Hawaii University International Conference on STEM/STEAM &
Education. June 2018.
A new augmentation based algorithm for extracting maximal chordal subgraphs, Sanjukta Bhowmick, Tzu-Yi Chen,
and Mahantesh Halappanavar. Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, 76: 132–144. February 2015.
ScienceDirect link
Optimizing leader proportion and behavior for evacuating buildings, Paul McCormack (Pomona ’12) and Tzu-Yi
Chen. In Proceedings of the Symposium on Agent-Directed Simulation (ADS’14), part of SpringSim 2014. Tampa,
FL, April 2014.
A structure-preserving hybrid-chordal filter for sampling in correlation networks, Kathryn Dempsey, Tzu-Yi Chen,
Sriram Srinivasan, Sanjukta Bhowmick, and Hesham Ali. In Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on
High Performance Computing & Simulation (HPCS). Helsinki, Finland, July 2013. IEEE Xplore link
Evaluating the stability of communities found by clustering algorithms, Tzu-Yi Chen and Evan Fields (Pomona ’13).
In Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Complex Networks (CompleNet ’13). Berlin, Germany, March
2013. SpringerLink
On the design of advanced filters for biological networks using graph theoretic properties, Kathryn Dempsey, Tzu-Yi
Chen, Sanjukta Bhowmick, and Hesham Ali. In Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Conference on
BioInformation and BioMedicine (BIBM 2012). Philadelphia, PA, October 2012. IEEE Xplore link
User interface evaluation by novices, Dennis Bouvier, Tzu-Yi Chen, Gary Lewandowski, Robert McCartney, Kate
Sanders, and Tammy VanDeGrift. Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in
Computer Science Education (ITiCSE). Haifa Israel, July 2012. ACM DL link
Using reinforcement learning to vary the
in GMRES(),
Lisa Peairs (Scripps ’09) and Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Computational
Science. Singapore, June 2011. Also Procedia Computer Science, 4: 2257–2266. June 2011. ScienceDirect link
Leveraging existing outreach programs to reach underrepresented minorities, Maribel Gonzalez (Pomona ’10),
Lucy Vasserman (Pomona ’10), Sara Owsley Sood, and Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of CCSC-SW 2011. Also Journal
of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 26(4): 190–196. April 2011. ACM DL link
Commonsense computing (episode 6): logic is harder than pie, Tammy VanDeGrift, Dennis Bouvier, Tzu-Yi Chen,
Gary Lewandowski, Robert McCartney, Kate Sanders, and Beth Simon. Proceedings of the 10th Koli Calling
International Conference on Computing Education Research. Koli National Park, Finland, October 2010. DOI link
Commonsense computing (episode 5): Algorithm efficiency and balloon testing, Robert McCartney, Dennis Bouvier,
Tzu-Yi Chen, Gary Lewandowski, Kate Sanders, Beth Simon, and Tammy VanDeGrift. Proceedings of the 2009
International Computer Science Education Research Workshop (ICER). Berkeley CA, pg 51–62, August 2009. DOI
link (Awarded the John Henry award, given for paper that “attempts a task that may seem impossible, but pushes
’the upper limits of our pedagogy.”’)
On using reinforcement learning to solve sparse linear systems, Erik Kuefler (Pomona ’09) and Tzu-Yi Chen.
Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Computational Science. Krakow Poland, June 2008. Also
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 5101: 955–964, 2008. DOI link
Neural networks for predicting the behavior of preconditioned iterative solvers, America Holloway (Swarthmore ’05)
and Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of the 2007 International Conference on Computational Science. Beijing China, May
2007. Also Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 4487: 302–309, 2007. DOI link
Commonsense Computing: Using student sorting abilities to improve instruction, Tzu-Yi Chen, Gary Lewandowski,
Robert McCartney, Kate Sanders, and Beth Simon. Proceedings of the 2007 Technical Symposium on Computer
Science Education (SIGCSE). Covington KY, March 2007. Also SIGCSE Bulletin, 39(1): 276–280, March 2007. DOI
link
Metrics for ranking the performance of supercomputers, Tzu-Yi Chen, Meghan Gunn (University of San Diego ’09),
Beth Simon, Laura Carrington, and Allan Snavely. Cyberinfrastructure Technology Watch, 2(4B): 59–67, November
2006. pdf online
Commonsense computing: What students know before we teach (Episode 1: Sorting), Beth Simon, Tzu-Yi Chen,
Gary Lewandowski, Robert McCartney, and Kate Sanders. Proceedings of the 2006 International Computer
Science Education Research Workshop (ICER). Canterbury UK, pg 29–40, September 2006. DOI link
Using performance profiles to evaluate preconditioners for iterative methods, Michael Lazzareschi (Pomona ’06) and
Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications.
Glasgow Scotland, May 2006. Also Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3982: 1081–1089, 2006. DOI link
Relationship of early programming language to novice generated design, Tzu-Yi Chen, Alvaro Monge, and Beth
Simon. Proceedings of the 2006 Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). Houston TX,
March 2006. Also SIGCSE Bulletin, 38(1): 495–499, March 2006. DOI link
The (relative) importance of software design criteria, Tzu-Yi Chen, Stephen Cooper, Robert McCartney, and Leslie
Schwartzman. Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science
Education (ITiCSE). Monte da Caparica Portugal, June 2005. Also SIGCSE Bulletin, 37(3): 34–38, September 2005.
DOI link
On the existence of nonsymmetric matrices with perfect elimination orderings, Melissa Egan (Pomona ’03) and
Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of the Fifth Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Chicago IL, October
2004. (5 pages on CD-ROM)
A multi-national, multi-institutional study of student-generated software designs, Sally Fincher, Marian Petre, Josh
Tenenberg, Kenneth Blaha, Dennis Bouvier, Tzu-Yi Chen, Donald Chinn, Stephen Cooper, Anna
Eckerdal, Hubert Johnson, Robert McCartney, Alvaro Monge, Jan Erik Moström, Kris Powers, Mark
Ratcliffe, Anthony Robins, Dean Sanders, Leslie Schwartzman, Beth Simon, Carol Stoker, Allison Elliott
Tew, Tammy VanDeGrift. Proceedings of the 4th Annual Finnish/Baltic Sea Conference on Computer
Science Education. October 2004. Invited to Informatics in Education, 4(1): 143–162, 2005. pdf online
ILUTP_Mem: A space-efficient incomplete LU preconditioner, Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of the 2004 International
Conference on Computational Science and its Applications. Assisi Italy, May 2004. Also Lecture Notes in Computer
Science, 3046: 20–28, 2004. SpringerLink
Toward an efficient column minimum degree code for symmetric multiprocessors, Tzu-Yi Chen, John Gilbert, and
Sivan Toledo. Proceedings of the 9th SIAM Conference on Parallel Processing for Scientific Computing. San Antonio
TX, March 1999. (11 pages on CD-ROM)
DARPA’s HPCS Program: History, Jack Dongarra, Robert Graybill, William Harrod, Robert Lucas, Ewing Lusk,
Piotr Luszczek, Janice McMahon, Allan Snavely, Jeffery Vetter, Katherine Yelick, Sadaf Alam, Roy Campbell,
Laura Carrington, Tzu-Yi Chen, Omid Khalili, Jeremy Meredith, and Mustafa Tikir. Chapter 1 (pages 1–100) in
High Performance Computing, volume 72 in series Advances in Computers. Academic Press, 2008.
Performance prediction and ranking of supercomputers, Tzu-Yi Chen, Omid Khalili, Roy L. Campbell Jr., Laura
Carrington, Mustafa Tikir, and Allan Snavely. Chapter 3 (pages 135–172) in High Performance Computing, volume
72 in series Advances in Computers. Academic Press, 2008.
Balancing sparse matrices for computing eigenvalues, Tzu-Yi Chen and James Demmel. Section 7.2 (pages
152–157) in Templates for the Solution of Algebraic Eigenvalue Problems: A Practical Guide. Editors
Z. Bai, J. Demmel, J. Dongarra, A. Ruhe, and H. van der Vorst. SIAM, Philadelphia, 2000. online
book
EngageCSEdu: A Collection of engaging assignments, Briana Morrison, Michelle Craig, Mark Gondree, Rebecca
Vivian, Chris Mayfield, Helen Hu, Cindy Arnold, Anastasia Kurdia, and Tzu-Yi Chen. Proceedings of the 2020
Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). Portland OR, March 2020. (Conference cancelled)
Commonsense probability: Preconceptions of entering engineering students, Robert McCartney, Dennis Bouvier,
Tzu-Yi Chen, Gary Lewandowski, Kate Sanders, Beth Simon, and Tammy VanDeGrift. Proceedings of Frontiers in
Education. San Antonio TX, October 2009. pdf online
Analyzing Airbnb Data, Tzu-Yi Chen. In EngageCSEdu collection. Available at
https://www.engage-csedu.org/node/4633. 2020.
On assessing ethics learning, Maddie Zug (Pomona ’19) and Tzu-Yi Chen. 2020 Technical Symposium on Computer
Science Education (SIGCSE). Portland OR, March 2020. (Conference cancelled)
On the effect of varying the restart parameter of GMRES(m), Lisa Peairs (Scripps ’09) and Tzu-Yi Chen. Grace
Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Atlanta GA, October 2010.
Minimum fill with column permutations is NP-complete, Steven Ehrlich (Harvey Mudd ’09) and Tzu-Yi Chen.
SIAM workshop on Combinatorial Scientific Computing. Monterey CA, October 2009.
Research mini-projects for high school students, Tzu-Yi Chen. 2009 Technical Symposium on Computer Science
Education (SIGCSE). Chattanooga TN, March 2009.
Using supervised machine learning techniques to understand preconditioner behavior, America Holloway (Swarthmore ’05)
and Tzu-Yi Chen. SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering. Costa Mesa CA, February 2007.
What do beginning students know, and what can they do?, Tzu-Yi Chen, Gary Lewandowski, Robert McCartney,
Kate Sanders, and Beth Simon. Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in
Computer Science Education (ITiCSE). Bologna Italy, June 2006. Also SIGCSE Bulletin, 38(3): 329, September
2006. DOI link
Preconditioning sparse matrices for computing eigenvalues and solving linear systems of equations, Tzu-Yi Chen.
Ph.D. Thesis, University of California at Berkeley, December 2001.
Balancing sparse matrices for computing eigenvalues, Tzu-Yi Chen. Masters Thesis, University of California at
Berkeley, May 1998.
Efficient implementation of out-of-core conjugate gradient algorithms, Tzu-Yi Chen. Undergraduate Thesis,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 1995.