Tamara (Tammy) Kolda is a Principal Member of Technical Staff in the Mathematics, Informatics, and Decision Sciences department at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. Her research interests include multilinear algebra and tensor decompositions, data mining, optimization, nonlinear solvers, graph algorithms, parallel computing and the design of scientific software. Tamara has received the an ICDM2008 Best Paper Prize and a 2003 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). She current serves as Chair of the SIAM Activity Group on Computational Science & Engineering and edits the NA-Digest.  More...  Or see full CV...

What's New (what's old)...

• HOPSPACK 2.0 (the successor to APPSPACK) is now released - adds support for nonlinear constraints and integer variables (Nov 2009)
• Version 2.3 of the MATLAB Tensor Toolbox has been released, including Memory Efficient Tucker (MET) code from ICDM08 paper (July 2009)
• My department is looking to fill several research staff positions (#62042) and postdocs (#62808). Please drop me a line if you apply.
• Apply to attend the AIM Workshop on Computational Optimization for Tensor Decompositions by Dec 1st (June 2009)
• Now a Senior Member of ACM (May 2009)
• Opinion paper on Mathematical Challenges in Cybersecurity (Feb 2009)
• Elected Chair of SIAM Activity Group on Computational Science & Engineering (Jan 2009)
• Best Theoretical/Algorithms Paper Award at ICDM08 for Scalable Tensor Decompositions for Multi-aspect Data Mining (Dec 2008)
• APPSPACK 5.0 - now supports linear constraints (July 2006)

Selected Recent Papers: [Click here for complete publication list with abstracts]

Tensors

• An optimization approach for fitting canonical tensor decompositions (with E. Acar and D. Dunlavy), SAND2009-0857, Feb. 2009
• Tensor decompositions and applications (with B. W. Bader), SIREV, 51(3), Sep. 2009 (to appear)
•  Efficient MATLAB computations with sparse and factored tensors (with B. W. Bader), SISC, 30(1):205-231, Dec. 2007
• Algorithm 862: MATLAB Tensor Classes for Fast Algorithm Prototyping (with B. W. Bader), ACM TOMS, 32(4):635-653, Dec. 2006
• Multilinear operators for higher-order decompositions, SAND2006-2081, Apr. 2006

Tensors/Matrices and Data Mining

• Link Prediction on Evolving Data using Matrix and Tensor Factorizations (with E. Acar and D. Dunlavy), in LDMTA'09, Dec. 2009
• Generalized BadRank with Graduated Trust (with M. Procopio), SAND2009-6670, Oct. 2009
• Scalable Tensor Factorizations with Missing Data (with E. Acar, D. Dunlavy, and M. Morup), SAND2009-6764, Oct. 2009
• Scalable Tensor Decompositions for Multi-aspect Data Mining (with J. Sun), In ICDM 2008, Dec. 2008
• Resolving the sign ambiguity in the singular value decomposition (with R. Bro and E. Acar), J. Chemometrics, 22(2):135-140, Feb. 2008
• Temporal analysis of semantic graphs using ASALSAN (with B. W. Bader and R. A. Harshman), in ICDM 2007, Nov. 2007
• Cross-language information retrieval using PARAFAC2 (with P. A. Chew, B. W. Bader, and A. Abdelali), in KDD '07, pages 143-152, Aug. 2007
• Extracting clusters from large datasets with multiple similarity measures using IMSCAND (with T. M. Selee and W. P. Kegelmeyer and J. D. Griffin), in CSRI Summer Proceedings 2007
• Multilinear algebra for analyzing data with multiple linkages (with D. Dunlavy and W. P. Kegelmeyer), SAND2006-2079, Apr. 2006
• The TOPHITS model for higher-order web link analysis (with B. Bader), In Proc. Workshop on Link Analysis, Counterterrorism and Security at SDM06, Apr. 2006
• Higher-order web link analysis using multilinear algebra (with B. W. Bader and J. P. Kenney), in ICDM 2005, pages 242-249, Nov. 2005

Optimization

• Asynchronous parallel hybrid optimization combining DIRECT and GSS (with J. D. Griffin), Optimization Methods and Software, Aug. 2009
• Concurrent Optimization with DUET: DIRECT Using External Trial Points (with N. Goldberg and A. S. Yoshimura), SAND2008-5844, Sept. 2008
• Asynchronous parallel generating set search for linearly-constrained optimization (with J. D. Griffin and R. M. Lewis), SISC, 30(4):1892-1924, May 2008
•  A comparison of derivative-free optimization methods for groundwater supply and hydraulic capture community problems (with K. R. Fowler et al.), Advances in Water Resources, 31(5):743-757, May 2008
• Nonlinearly-constrained optimization using asynchronous parallel generating set search (with J. Griffin), SAND2007-3257, May 2007
• Stationarity Results for Generating Set Search for Linearly Constrained Optimization (with R. M. Lewis and V. Torczon), SIOPT 17(4):943-968, Nov. 2006
• Algorithm 856: APPSPACK 4.0: Asynchronous Parallel Pattern Search for Derivative-Free Optimization (with G. A. Gray), ACM TOMS, 32(3):485-507, Sept. 2006
• A generating set direct search augmented Lagrangian algorithm for optimization with a combination of general and linear constraints (with R. M. Lewis and V. Torczon), SAND2006-5315, Aug. 2006
• Revisiting asynchronous parallel pattern search for nonlinear optimization, SIOPT, 16(2):563-586, Dec. 2005

Software:

• HOPSPACK - A C++ hybrid optimization parallel search package for derivative-free optimization
• MET - Memory-efficient Tucker computation (requires Tensor Toolbox)
• Tensor Toolbox for MATLAB - Higher-order operations of multidimensional arrays
• NOX - A C++ Nonlinear Solver Package
• Trilinos - A suite of high-performance numerical codes (including NOX)
• APPSPACK - A C++ derivative-free optimization package
• SDDPACK - C and MATLAB code for the semi-discrete matrix decomposition

Conferences:  

• SIAM Conference on Applied Linear Algebra (LA09), Monterey, CA, October 26-29, 2009 (Minisymposium Organizer and Minisymposium Speaker)
• IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM09), Miami, Florida, December 6-9, 2009
  • Workshop on Large-scale Data Mining: Theory and Applications (LDM-TA) (Program Committee & Invited Speaker)
• BIRS Workshop on Sparse Random Structures: Analysis and Computation, Banff, Canada, January 24-29, 2010 (Invited participant)
• AIM Workshop on Computational Optimization for Tensor Decompositions, Palo Alto, California, March 29 - April 2, 2010 (Co-organizer)
• 2010 SIAM International Conference on Data Mining, Columbus, Ohio, April 29 - May 1, 2010 (Program Committee)
• BIT 50 - Trends in Numerical Computing, Lund, Sweden, June 17-20, 2010 (Invited Speaker)
• SIAM 2010 Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, July 12-16, 2010 (Invited Speaker)
• Conference on Numerical Linear Algebra: Perturbation, Performance, and Portability (in celebration of Pete Stewart's 70th Birthday), Austin, Texas, July 19-20, 2009 (Invited Speaker)
• ASONAM 2010: The 2010 International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining, Odense, Denmark, August 9-11, 2010 (Program Committee)
• Conference on Tensor Decompositions and Applications, Monopoli, Bari, Italy, September 2010 (Steering Committee)

Current Professional Service:

• Editorial Board, SIAM J. Scientific Computing (SISC)
• Chair (2009-2010), SIAM Activity Group on Computational Science & Engineering (SIAG/CSE)
• Member, American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) Human Resources Board
• Member, SIAM Systems Oversight Committee
• Editor, NA-Digest (click here for more information on NA-Net, including how to join and how to submit a post)

Miscellany:

• Recommended reading:
• Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering --- published by the National Academies in 2007 --- breaks the myths and stereotypes about women and science and has specific recommendations on what institutions and organizations can do to enable women in science to succeed and prosper!
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini --- Learn about the subtle biases that have an impact on decision making, whether it's buying a car or interviewing a job candidate. 
• A PhD Is Not Enough: A Guide To Survival In Science by Peter J. Feibelman --- A great book for soon-to-be and recent PhD's. I recommend it to all my postdocs and summer interns. 
• If you live in the Bay Area, you should subscribe to the BANANA (Bay Area Numerical Analysis Networking Alliance) Email List
• Slides from recent talks: The What, Why, Who, Where, & How of a Successful Career
• Do as I say, not as I do... How to Give a Talk: Advice on Preparing and Presenting Technical Talks in the Mathematical Sciences (updated in 2007)

Maintained by: Tamara Kolda (tgkolda@sandia.gov).
Disclaimer and Acknowledgment.