Maryam Fazel

Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
Adjunct Associate Professor of: Computer Science and Engineering, Mathematics, and Statistics

Electrical Engineering Department,
University of Washington

Office: Paul Allen Center, CSE 230
Address:: University of Washington
Department of Electrical Engineering
Campus Box 352500
Seattle, WA 98195-2500
Phone: (206) 616-4781
Fax: (206) 543-3842
E-mail:: mfazel (at) ee(dot)washington(dot)edu
URL:: http://faculty.washington.edu/mfazel

I am an Associate Professor in EE, and have adjunct appointments in the departments of Computer Science and Engineering, Mathematics, and Statistics at UW. My research interests lie in the intersection of mathematical optimization, data analysis, and control theory. Prior to joining UW EE, I was a Research Scientist at the Control and Dynamical Systems Department at Caltech. I received my PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University where I was part of the Information Systems Lab. In 2009, I received an NSF Career Award and the UW EE Outstanding Teaching Award.

My entry in the Mathematics Genealogy Project
Google Scholar page
A citation graph from Microsoft Academic search
My Erdos number is 3! (path)

News and Events

UW CORE Seminar, an interdepartmental invited seminar series. Organized by UW EE, Math, Statistics, and CSE. Next talk is Jan 13 2015, by Professor Jim Renegar (Cornell).
UW Trends in OPtimizations Seminar (TOPS) continues in 2015. Organized by UW Math and EE.
Article in the IPAM Annual Newsletter featuring our research.

Research Interests

Convex Optimization; Parsimonious Modeling and Compressed Sensing; Matrix Rank Minimization; Distributed Online Optimization; Applications in large-scale data analysis and machine learning, signal processing, and system identification.

Funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is gratefully acknowledged.

Research group

Students:

De Meng, EE (BS Zhejiang Univ, China)

Amin Jalali, EE (BS Sharif Univ of Technology, Iran)

Reza Eghbali, EE (BS Sharif Univ of Technology, Iran)

Alumni:

Ting Kei Pong, PhD in Mathematics, June 2011. Co-advised with Prof. Paul Tseng.
Currently: Assistant Professor, Dept. of Applied Mathematics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Brian Hutchinson, PhD in EE, August 2013. Co-advised with Prof. Mari Ostendorf.
Currently: Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University.

Dvijotham Krishnamurthy, PhD in Computer Science and Engineering, June 2014. Co-advised with Prof. Emo Todorov.
Currently: CMI Postdoctoral fellow at Caltech.

Palma London, BS in EE and Math, June 2014. Currently: PhD student at Caltech.

Karthik Mohan, PhD in EE, December 2014.
Soon to join Amazon, Inc. as a Research Scientist.

Publications

Preprints:

K. Dvijotham, E. Todorov, M. Fazel, Convex Structured Controller Design, Submitted. arxiv link.
Published in Journal or Peer-reviewed Conference:
S. Oymak, A. Jalali, M. Fazel, Y. Eldar, B. Hassibi, Simultaneously Structured Models with Applications to Sparse and Low-rank Matrices, Submitted. arxiv link. To appaer in IEEE Trans. on Information Theory.
K.-M. Tan, P. London, K. Mohan, S.-I. Lee, M. Fazel, D. Witten, Learning Graphical Models With Hubs, To appear in Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR). Related R code.
Universal Convexification via Risk-Aversion. K. Dvijotham, E. Todorov, M. Fazel, Conference on Uncertainty in Artifical Intelligence (UAI), July 2014. Best Student Paper Award .
K. Mohan, P. London, M. Fazel, D. Witten, S.-I. Lee, Node-Based Learning of Multiple Gaussian Graphical Models. Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR), 15(Feb):445-488, 2014. Related Matlab codes (.zip file).
S. Oymak, A. Jalali, M. Fazel, B. Hassibi, Noisy estimation of simultaneously structured models: Limitations of convex relaxation. To appear in Proc. Conference on Decision and Control, Dec 2013. Longer version to be posted soon.
K. Dvijotham, E. Theodorou, E. Todorov, M. Fazel, Convexity of Optimal Linear Controller Design. To appear in Proc. Conference on Decision and Control, Dec 2013.
K. Dvijotham, E. Todorov, M. Fazel, Convex Control Design via Covariance Minimization. Proc. of Allerton Conference, Oct 2013.
M. Fazel, T. K. Pong, D. Sun, P. Tseng, Hankel matrix rank minimization with applications in system identification and realization. SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications, 34(3): 946-977, 2013. Related Matlab codes (zip file).
B. Hutchinson, M. Ostendorf, M. Fazel, Exceptions in Language as Learned by the Multi-factor Sparse Plus Low-rank Language Model. Proc. Intl. Conf. on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), May 2013.
F. Fazel, M. Fazel, M. Stojanovic. Random Access Compressed Sensing over Fading and Noisy Communication Channels. IEEE Trans. on Wireless Communications, 12(5): 2114-2125, May 2013.
K. Mohan, M. Chung, S. Han, D. Witten, S.-I. Lee, M. Fazel, Structured Learning of Multiple Gaussian Graphical Models. Proc. Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), Dec 2012.
K. Mohan, M. Fazel, Iterative Reweighted Algorithms for Matrix Rank Minimization. Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR), 2012. Related Matlab codes (zip file).
B. Hutchinson, M. Ostendorf, M. Fazel, A Sparse Plus Low Rank Maximum Entropy Language Model. Proc. InterSpeech Conference, Sep 2012 (oral presentation).
M. Nabi-Abdolyousefi, M. Fazel, Mehran Mesbahi, A Graph Realization Approach to Network Identification, Proc. of Conference in Decision and Control (CDC), Dec. 2012.
F. Fazel, M. Fazel, M. Stojanovic, Compressed Sensing in Random Access Networks with Applications to Underwater Monitoring. Physical Communications Journal (Elsevier), special issue on Compressive Sensing in Communications.
F. Fazel, M. Fazel, M. Stojanovic, Random Access Compressed Sensing: An Integrated Architecture For Energy-efficient Networking. Proc. Asilomar Conf. on Signals, Systems, and Computers, Nov 2011.
B. Hutchinson, M. Ostendorf, M. Fazel, Low Rank Language Models for Small Training Sets. IEEE Signal Processing Letters. 18(9), pages 489-492, Sep 2011.
F. Fazel, M. Fazel, M. Stojanovic, Random Access Compressed Sensing in Energy-Efficient Underwater Sensor Networks. Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC), 29(9), Sep 2011.
S. Oymak, K. Mohan, M. Fazel, B. Hassibi, A Simplified Approach to Recovery Conditions for Low-rank Matrices. Proc. Intl. Sympo. Information Theory (ISIT), Aug 2011.
R. Arora, A. Kapila , M. Gupta, M. Fazel, Clustering by Left-Stochastic Decomposition. Proc. of International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), July 2011.
F. Fazel, M. Fazel, M. Stojanovic, Design of a Random Access Network for Compressed Sensing. Proc. Information Theory and Applications Workshop (ITA), Feb 2011.
F. Fazel, M. Fazel, M. Stojanovic, Random Access Compressed Sensing in Underwater Acoustic Networks. Proc. Allerton Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing, Sep 2010.
K. Mohan, M. Fazel, Iterative Reweighted Least Squares for Matrix Rank Minimization, Proc. Allerton Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing, Sep 2010.
B. Recht, M. Fazel, P. Parrilo, Guaranteed Minimum-Rank Solutions of Linear Matrix Equations via Nuclear Norm Minimization. SIAM Review, Vol 52, no 3, pages 471-501, 2010. Arxiv link.
K. Mohan, M. Fazel, New Restricted Isometry Results for Noisy Low-rank Matrix Recovery, Proc. Intl. Symp. Info. Thoery (ISIT), Austin, TX, June 2010.
K. Mohan, M. Fazel, Reweighted Nuclear Norm Minimization with Application to System Identification, Proc. American Control Conference (ACC), 2010.
D. Georgiev, M. Fazel, E. Klavins, Model Discrimination of Chemical Reaction Networks by Linearization, Proc. American Control Conference (ACC), 2010.
K. Dvijotham, M. Fazel, A Nullspace Analysis of the Nuclear Norm Heuristic for Rank Minimization, Proc. of ICASSP 2010, Dallas, Texas, March 2010.
M. Fazel, E. J. Candes, B. Recht, P. Parrilo, Compressed Sensing and Robust Recovery of Low Rank Matrices, Proc. of Asilomar Conference, Pacific Grove, CA, Nov 2008.
N. Yamamoto, M. Fazel, Computational Approach to Quantum Encoder Design for Purity Optimization. Physical Review A, vol. 76, no. 1, July 2007. Available at http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v76/e012327
B. Recht, M. Fazel, P. Parrilo, Guaranteed Minimum-Rank Solutions of Linear Matrix Equations via Nuclear Norm Minimization. Allerton Conference, Allerton House, Illinois, Sep 2007.
M. Lobo, M. Fazel, and S. Boyd, Portfolio Optimization with Linear and Fixed Transaction Costs. Annals of Operations Research, special issue on Financial Optimization, 152(1):376-394, July 2007.
D. Gayme, M. Fazel, J. Doyle, Complexity in Automation of SOS Proofs: An Illustrative Example. Proc. Conference on Decision and Control, San Diego, California, Dec 2006.
M. Fazel, D. Gayme, M. Chiang, Transient Analysis for Wireless Power Control. Proc. Globecom Conference, San Francisco, California, Nov 2006.
H. El-Samad, M. Fazel, X. Liu, A. Papachristodoulou, S. Prajna, Stochastic Reachability Analysis in Complex Biological Networks. Proc. American Control Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 2006.
A. Fakheri, M. Fazel, A Methodology for Optimization of Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers in Series . International Journal of Heat Exchangers, volume VII, number 1, June 2006.
M. Fazel, M. Chiang, Network Utility Maximization with Nonconcave Utilities Using Sum-of-Squares Method. Proc. Conference on Decision and Control, Seville, Spain, Dec 2005.
T.-M. Yi, M. Fazel, X. Liu, T. Otitoju, A. Papachristodoulou, S. Prajna, and J. Doyle, Application of Robust Model Validation Using SOSTOOLS to the Study of G-Protein Signaling in Yeast . In Proc. Foundations of Systems Biology and Engineering, Santa Barbara, California, August 2005.
M. Sharif, C. Florens, M. Fazel, B. Hassibi, Amplitude and Sign Adjustment for Peak to Average Power Reduction . IEEE trans. on Communications, volume 53, number 8, pp. 1243--1247, August 2005.
M. Fazel, H. Hindi, and S. Boyd, Rank Minimization and Applications in System Theory. Proc. American Control Conference, Boston,
Massachusetts, June 2004.
M. Sharif, C. Florens, M. Fazel, B. Hassibi, Peak to Average Power Reduction Using Amplitude and Sign Adjustment. Proc. International Conference on Communications, Paris, France, June 2004.
M. Fazel, H. Hindi, and S. Boyd, Log-det Heuristic for Matrix Rank Minimization with Applications to Hankel and Euclidean Distance Matrices. Proc. American Control Conference, Denver, Colorado, June 2003.
M. Fazel, H. Hindi, and S. Boyd, A Rank Minimization Heuristic with Application to Minimum Order System Approximation. Proc. American Control Conference, Arlington, Virginia, June 2001.
Technical reports:
M. Fazel, J. Goodman, Approximations for Partially Coherent Optical Imaging Systems. Technical Report, Stanford University, 1998.
M. Fazel, S. Boyd, T. Kailath, Electron-beam Proximity Correction Using Convex Optimization. Technical Report, Stanford University, 1997.

Teaching

2014-2015:

EE/AA/ME 578: Optimization in System Sciences
Winter 2015
Course Webpage

EE235: Continuous-time Linear Systems (Signals and Systems)
Spring 2015

2013-2014:

EE235: Continuous-time Linear Systems (Signals and Systems)
Fall 2013
Course webpage

EE/AA/ME 578: Optimization in System Sciences
Winter 2014

EE 546: Frontiers in Optimization: Convex Optimization Algorithms
Spring 2014
Course webpage

Education

Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, CA, March 2002
M.S. Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, CA, June 1997
B.Sc. Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 1995

Ph.D. Thesis

Matrix Rank Minimization with Applications. Elec. Eng. Dept, Stanford University, March 2002.
Thesis: (ps file), (pdf file), (gzipped ps file)

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