Curriculum Vitae

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Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA
Candidate for PhD in Operations Research; expected completion, JUNE 2028 Advisor: Swati Gupta
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering; May 2023 Highest Honors, College of Engineering Honor Graduate

Research Experience

2023–Present
Graduate Research Assistant
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Advisor: Prof. Swati Gupta
Projects:
1. Algorithms for multi-armed bandits with costs for improved feedback.
2. Machine Learning solutions to minimize organ non-utilization and improve equity in the deceased-donor kidney allocation offer process.
3. Analyzing policy proposals for safe and progressive use of AI in hiring, infrastructure investments, and more.
  Presented at INFORMS 2024.
2022–2023
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Supervisors: Prof. Swati Gupta and Prof. Daniel Molzahn
Project: Optimizing infrastructure investment decisions for powerline undergrounding to prevent power loss, decrease wildfire risk, and ensure equitable benefit across socioeconomic groups.
Presented at INFORMS 2023.
2020–2023
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Supervisor: Prof. Lauren Steimle (2020–2022)
Project: Optimal aggregation of the state spaces of Markov Decision Processes to balance precision of state space definition with accuracy of estimated transition probabilities to maximize infinite-horizon reward.
Presented at IISE 2022 and INFORMS 2022.

Teaching Experience

2023–Present
Blended Learning Project Lead
Cambridge, MA
Project Lead for the Operations Management and Supply Chain Analytics course.
Teaches weekly seminar-style classes on network optimization, business analytics, and optimization software skills to Chinese high school students.

Publications

Pollack, M., Piansky, R., Gupta, S., & Molzahn, D. (2025).
Equitably allocating wildfire resilience investments for power grids: The curse of aggregation and vulnerability indices.
Applied Energy.
DOI:10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125501

Preprints

Kim, C. W., Moondra, J., Verma, S., Pollack, M., Kong, L., Tambe, M., & Gupta, S. (2025).
Navigating the Social Welfare Frontier: Portfolios for Multi-objective Reinforcement Learning.
arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.09724.
Pollack, M., & Steimle, L. N. (2024).
The implications of state aggregation in deteriorating Markov Decision Processes with optimal threshold policies.
arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.12912.

In Preparation

Pollack, M., Gupta, S., & Duvall, D. (2025).
Cost-Averse Learning with Mixed-Fidelity Bandit Feedback.
Daillak, T., Gupta, S., Lee, J., Pollack, M. (2025).
Towards Minimizing Non-Utilization of Organs: Interpretable and Transparent AI for Navigating Regional Differences in Organ Acceptance Decisions.

Work Experience

Fall 2022
Industrial Engineering Intern
Tesla Motors, Fremont, CA
- Developed headcount recommendations, saving Tesla $12.5 million annually using Markov Decision Process models.
- Built Multiple Linear Regression and MDP models to support data-driven decision-making.
Fall 2021
Flight Sciences Engineering Intern
Hermeus Corporation, Atlanta, GA
- Developed Python tools to enhance data analysis efficiency, including an optimizer script to maximize efficiency for a given target Mach number and angle of elevation.
- Designed data visualization and sensitivity analysis scripts, and implemented Machine Learning algorithms.
Summer 2021
Brooke Owens Fellow, Venture Capital Intern
Space Capital, New York, NY
- Actively involved in deal sourcing and participated in founder introductions with prospective portfolio companies.
- Contributed to writing content on early-stage investment methodology, best practices for founders hiring their first twenty employees, and a report on the state and direction of the InsurTech sector.

Honors and Awards

2025–2028
NSF-GRFP Fellowship
2023–2024
Henry Gabbay Fellowship
Awarded to one promising incoming first-year ORC student each year.
Spring 2023
Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineering (IISE) National Capstone 1st Place
National capstone award for a supplier selection decision-support tool utilizing Thompson sampling frameworks.
Spring 2023
Davidson Family Tau Beta Pi Award
Awarded to the best graduate in the School of Engineering (across 11 majors) at Georgia Tech.
Spring 2022
Adobe Women in Technology Scholarship
$10,000 scholarship awarded nationally to 10 women for demonstrated skills in computing.
2021–2023
Georgia Tech IISE Awards:
- Best 2nd/3rd Year Student in Industrial Engineering (2021).
- Best Undergraduate Researcher in Industrial Engineering (2022).
- Best Display of Leadership in the GT Industrial Engineering Department (2023).
- Best Graduating Senior in Industrial Engineering (2023).
2021, 2022
Georgia Tech Undergraduate Research Awards:
- 3rd Place Poster, School of Engineering (2021).
- 2nd Place Oral Presentation, School of Engineering (2022).
Fall 2021, Fall 2022
Society of Women Engineers Undergraduate Research Competition Finalist
Top 5 women based on demonstrated research in engineering.
Fall 2021
INFORMS Undergraduate Travel Scholarship
Competitive scholarship to attend the INFORMS Annual Meeting based on academic record, research, and leadership.
Fall 2021
Brooke Owens Fellowship
Competitive fellowship for internships and mentorship in aerospace for women and gender-minority students.
Fall 2020
Literature Media & Communications First Year Writing Award
Best first-year research composition at Georgia Tech (out of ~4,500 students).

Skills, Activities, and Citizenship

Software: Julia, Python, R, Windows, Git
Skills: Project management, analytics, presentations, and cross-industry (tech, healthcare, engineering, venture capital) & cross-academic (CS, engineering, business) communication
Citizenship: United States Citizen