About

some background info

Sean Bearden recently earned his Ph. D. in Physics as a member of Dr. Massimiliano Di Ventra’s group at the University of California San Diego. He researched the application and development of memcomputing systems, a novel computing paradigm considered to be a classical alternative to quantum computing. Memcomputing is an efficient computing paradigm that uses memory to process and store information in same physical location. While many constraint satisfaction problems are approached by employing algorithmic solvers, their group leverages memory dynamics by designing nonlinear dynamical systems for particular problems, such as Boolean satisfiability and combinatorial optimization. The memcomputing technique can be applied to many real-world problems, such as, scheduling, searching, and optimizing (see case studies).

Shortly after Sean joined the research group, it was decided by MemComputing, Inc., a startup partially owned by Dr. Di Ventra, to part ways from the academic research group at UCSD due to patent concerns. Sean was given the difficult task of creating a unique memcomputing system that was independent of the implementation used at the company. After much frustration, failure, and assistance from group members, Sean was successful at creating a new system that could efficiently solve Boolean satisfiability problems that were previously difficult for his research group to solve. 

Identifying as a nontraditional learner, Sean was a bit of an underachiever prior to college. Sean found his love of education later in life by realizing he could learn on his own terms, utilizing his strengths and finding alternatives to his weaknesses. It was a process he had to explore on his own, but Sean later drew upon these introspective years to tutor other students whose learning styles were underrepresented in the classroom. He brings his unique approach to research, often resulting in unexplored possibilities, aiding the process of discovery.

Furthermore, Sean identifies as a lifelong learner. At any point in time, he is usually engaged in learning a skill outside of his PhD research. Past pursuits include accelerated MBA programs, programming language certification, and leadership and teamwork training. Beyond acquiring skills, Sean enjoys using his skills for creative projects. These can range from Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects to creating algorithms for daily fantasy sports prediction. 

These creative projects are especially alluring to Sean when a project requires merging several skills to create something intricate. For example, Sean’s mother once sent him a Deadpool mask as a gift for Halloween. The Deadpool had been released earlier that year, so Sean thought many people might dress up as Deadpool. However, he did not want the mask to go to waste, thinking to himself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if the Deadpool head played soundbites from the movie? I wonder if I can make it happen…” So, Sean figured out how to play audio files from an Arduino microcontroller connected to small speakers. To control which soundbite plays, he connected a button pad and programmed the Arduino to play sixteen Deadpool audio files. Once programmed, Sean carved out the mannequin head to fit the electronics inside, adding light up eyes for additional effect. The final result can be seen here.

Growing up in Buffalo, New York inspired Sean to move very far away from snowy winters, but he is still a connoisseur of chicken wings. To alleviate the stress that is inevitably coupled with graduate research, he enjoys training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the P5 Academy in San Diego.

Interests

Data Science
Machine Learning
Large Language Models
Public Speaking
Financial Markets