About Me

Hello! My name is Taiki Aiba, a first year master’s student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I am double majoring in Computer Science, with a specialization in Machine Learning, and Mathematics. I also graduated with a triple bachelor’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in August 2025 in Computer Science, with concentrations in Intelligence and Systems/Architecture, Mathematics, with concentrations in Discrete Mathematics and Business, and Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies, with a concentration in Japanese. I also finished a minor in Economics.

I used to participate in math competitions a lot. Here are some of my achievements:

University of Illinois Freshman Math Contest Honorable Mention (2021) (rank 3)
Princeton University Mathematics Competition (PUMaC) Division B Individual Finalist (2021) (rank 39)
American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) Qualifier (2019, 2020, 2021) (top score 10)
USA Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS) Bronze Medalist (2019, 2021)

I was also an active member on the Art of Problem Solving forums as DeToasty3.

Below is a list of organizations and communities I am currently/was formerly involved with:

Computer Science:

Amazon | Boston, MA

Software Development Engineer Intern
June 2024 – August 2024

Worked in the Artificial General Intelligence team.
Created a discrete event simulation model in SimPy for 100+ engineers to visualize packet flows in one of Alexa’s nodes.
Developed a C++ script that interacts with Alexa’s internals, feeding packets of variable sizes and recording latencies.
Parsed 100k+ lines of CSV strings/JSON arrays with Python to extract mean and individual packet latency/size data.
Formed an 85%-accurate quadratic of fit, training with small sizes and comparing latency to size graphs with Matplotlib.

Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering | Atlanta, GA

Research Assistant
August 2023 – December 2023

Worked in the Retrofuturistic Hardware team under Prof. Aaron Lanterman.
Translated docs of the Japanese NEC PC-FX game console to English, storing 12 files of 15k+ lines in Github Pages.
Researched the PC-FX’s address map, register list, and I/O access space and the specs of its sound processing device.
Analyzed the C Compiler of the GMAKER Starter Kit (processing flow/registers), allowing user-made software to run.
Wrote graphical software in C with the kit to run on the PC-FX to showcase its usability to a team of 3 and a professor.

Georgia Tech College of Computing | Atlanta, GA

Teaching Assistant for CS 3510: Algorithms
August 2024 – May 2026

Under Prof. Abrahim Ladha in Fall 2024, Fall 2025, and Spring 2026 and Prof. Zongchen Chen in Spring 2025.
Graded homework and exams, hosted weekly 2+ hour office hours, and taught exam review sessions averaging 50 students.
Evaluated 100+ submissions weekly for assignments testing divide-and-conquer and graph algorithms, dynamic programming, and complexity.

Georgia Tech College of Computing | Atlanta, GA

Teaching Assistant for CS 2050: Discrete Mathematics
May 2023 – May 2024

Under Prof. Ronnie Howard in Summer 2023 and Fall 2023 and Prof. Gerandy Brito in Spring 2024.
Graded homework and exams, wrote the homework assignments, and hosted weekly office hours.
Taught weekly recitation sections with 5-10 students.

The Grainger College of Engineering | Remote

Course Assistant for CS 124: Intro to CS I
January 2022 – May 2022

Under Prof. Geoffrey Challen in Spring 2022.
Hosted virtual office hours and assisted students on the course help forum.

Competitive Programming @ Tech | Atlanta, GA

Member
August 2022 – Graduation

Participated in weekly practices and attended competitions like ICPC and MAPS since Fall 2022.
Competed in the 2022 and 2024 ICPC Southeast Regional competitions.
Specialist on the platform Codeforces, but am hoping to improve and eventually become a Candidate Master (or better!).

Big O Theory Club | Atlanta, GA

Member
August 2023 – Graduation

This is a club where members can volunteer to present topics on theoretical computer science and mathematics.
Occasionally attended meetings since Fall 2023.

Mathematics:

Quads Research Group | Remote

Research Assistant
January 2025 – Present

Met other researchers at the 2025 JMM and formed the Quads Research Group, an extension of the Quads Packing subteam of the 2024 Polymath Jr REU.
Declared the King of Set in the first annual JMM National Set Championships.
Attend weekly meetings and co-author a WIP paper to be completed by the end of 2026.
In January 2026, we presented new results at the 2026 JMM.

Georgia Tech College of Sciences | Atlanta, GA

Research Assistant
August 2023 – Graduation

Work in the Georgia Tech School of Mathematics under Dr. Ernie Croot.
In 2023-2024, we explored bijections of counting problems to spanning trees and explored ways to use the Matrix-Tree Theorem to strengthen known bounds on the counting of configurations.
In 2024-2025, we worked on finding asymptotic upper and lower bounds on the size of a maximal induced forest in grid graphs over a result by Noga Alon from 2001.
In 2025-2026, we are working on a simpler but related problem involving 4-cycle avoidance in induced subgraphs of 2D grid graphs.
First-authoring a WIP paper estimated to be completed in mid-2026.

Williams College | Remote

Graduate Research Mentor
June 2025 – August 2025

Worked in the Games and Finite Geometry team of the Polymath Jr REU.
Mentored 20 undergraduates on a research problem of the real-time card game Quads through weekly reading sessions.
Wrote 2 C++ scripts to find the maximum number of quads, one recursive and one using the Moser-de Bruijn sequence.
Optimized recursion in Rust, reducing runtime by over 400% via multithreading, specifying targets, and early exiting.
Proved bounds on the maximum number of quads in a deck of size a power of 2, presented at the 2025 and 2026 JMM.

Williams College | Remote

Research Assistant
June 2024 – August 2024

Joined the Quad Packing subteam within the Games and Finite Geometry team of the Polymath Jr REU, whose goal is to find the maximum number of quads in a deck of a given size.

Georgia Tech College of Sciences | Remote

Learning Assistant for MATH 2551: Multivariable Calculus
January 2023 – May 2023

Under Prof. Gregory Mayer in Spring 2023.
Assisted high school students in the Distance Math program, hosting weekly office hours and grading homework and exams.

Art of Problem Solving | Waltham, MA

Math Teaching Assistant
July 2022 – June 2026

Assisted 300+ elementary, middle, and high students at AoPS Academy Lexington.
Helped instructors in the 2022 (prealgebra and geometry) and 2025 (high school math contests and algebra 1) summer camps.
Assisted students in Zoom office hours throughout the school year, averaging 10 students per session.

Undergraduate Mathematics Advisory Committee | Atlanta, GA

Co-President, Member
August 2022 – May 2025

This is a new organization that plans events and activities for undergraduate math majors.
In Fall 2022 and Spring 2023, one of the website editors as well as one of the members in the Design/Marketing branch.
From Fall 2023 to Spring 2025, served as a co-president of UMAC, leading and handling the logistics of all events and updating the website after each one with photos and the flyer.

Directed Reading Program | Atlanta, GA

Mentee
August 2022 – May 2025

Read about generating functions in combinatorics and algebra in Fall 2022, combinatorial problem solving techniques in Spring 2023, the Union-Closed Sets Conjecture in Fall 2023, the game of Sudoku in relation with graph theory in Spring 2024, quantitative finance in Fall 2024, and data structures and algorithms, focusing on the Gomory-Hu Tree, in Spring 2025.

GT Competitive Math | Remote

Founder & Co-President
May 2023 – Present

This is a new organization formed in May 2023 that discusses math contests in a club Discord server.
Founder and a current co-president of the club.

Club Math | Atlanta, GA

Member
August 2022 – Graduation

This is a social club that comes up with problems to solve every week.
Occasionally attended meetings since Fall 2022.

Math Competition Problem Writing:

Math League, LLC | Remote

Curriculum Specialist, Intern
July 2021 – Present

As an Intern since July 2021 and Curriculum Specialist after three years, wrote 300+ math problems for competitions aimed at elementary, middle, and high school students.
Lead writer for the Number Sense Challenge, a speed-based challenge for elementary school students.
In 2022-2023, was the lead instructor for the middle school AfterMath program, which goes over problems from the middle school contests.

Mathematical Association of America | Remote

AMC 10/12 Editorial Board Member
September 2024 – Present

Propose problems for the AMC 10/12.
Attend meetings to discuss proposals and determine which problems are suitable for the contests.

MATHCOUNTS Foundation | Remote

Question Writing Committee Member
February 2025 – Present

Propose problems for the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series.
Attend in-person meetings to review and edit the problems.
Volunteer at the annual MATHCOUNTS National competition held in-person.

De Mathematics Competitions | Remote

Founder & Director
September 2020 – Present

This is a group founded and directed by me that has written mock American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) contests for avid math students on the website Art of Problem Solving since September 2020.

Georgia Tech High School Math Day | Atlanta, GA

Student Volunteer
August 2022 – Graduation

This is a math contest hosted to high school students mostly centered around Georgia.
Since the 2023 HSMD, served as a problem writer and a volunteer on the day of the contest.
Wrote problems for the contest, proctored, collected papers, and graded submissions.
As a bonus, competed in the 2021 HSMD, earning 4th place individual and 1st place team!

Mustang Math | Remote

Problem Writing Team Member
July 2024 – Present

This is a non-profit organization that hosts math contests primarily aimed at middle school students.
Propose, edit, and review problems for the contests.

Other:

Japan Student Association | Atlanta, GA

Executive Board Officer, Member
August 2022 – Graduation

Executive Board Officer of JSA from Fall 2023 to Spring 2026.
Lead weekly conversation practices to enrich Japanese learners’ conversation skills.
Assisted in hosting occasional special events related to the Japanese language and culture.

Schoolhouse.world | Remote

Volunteer Tutor
June 2022 – Present

This is a website where students can receive help on work, learn new topics, and even become certified as a volunteer tutor.
Certified tutor at Schoolhouse.world since June 2022 and user since March 2021.
Hosted a few sessions, most notably a series on how to write mock AMC problems in 2022.