Welcome to my digital domain!

I am Alex Washburn, pseudonymously known as Recursion Ninja.

Currently, I am a full-time computer science doctoral student matriculated at The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY GC), where I am advised by Subash Shankar. While a student of the CUNY GC, my research lab is based at Hunter College of the City of New York. I am also a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History.

My primary research interests include formal methods, programming language theory, compilers, and software ergonomics. Some ancillary research interests involve abstract algebra, logical systems, artificial intelligence, number theory, cryptography, and ethics.

The topic of my dissertation involves researching the interplay between strong type systems, both linear and dependent, when performing program synthesis and automatic program repair. Specifically, I am interested in how quantitative type theory coupled with oracle-based learning can enable ergonomic program synthesis requiring minimal specification. Additionally, I would like to explore heuristically detecting decidable sub-components of a program and perform special optimizations enabled by a combination of decidability, linear, and dependent type information. I am seeking out colleagues for collaboration. If your studies align with mine, please reach out!

Pedagogical methodologies, inclusive curricula development, and positive educational outcomes in computer science are of special interest to me. The practice and refinement of these pursuits has led to a persistent passion for providing collegiate education. Creating encouraging and inclusive environments for women, persons with disabilities, and members of underrepresented minorities in STEM, through teaching efforts and collaborative research has both provided immense satisfaction for myself and my students as well as nurtured numerous professional relationships which I cherish to this day.

You can find more information on my current and past projects, along with various contact methods, on my curriculum vitae.

My weblog catalogs a detailed record of some of my notable undertakings.