Graph Clustering Algorithms - 10/11-25/19


On Thursday, we went to Caltech to visit Dr. Hassibi for our biweekly meeting. Each of us would talk about our algorithm. Dr. Hassibi went over Spectral Clustering which works like finding the max eigenvalue and its eigenvector to create a k-number of cliques. Cliques are the ideal graph clusters because all the nodes in a cluster are connected to each other and never to other nodes outside. Our task for the next three weeks is to complete testing for our algorithms on the Karate Club dataset and understand the math behind it.
Picture of Dr. Hassibi and the whiteboard detailing the basics of what Spectral clustering is

I also went to West Torrance High School to do a math competition (BML) with my friends. I took the Pre-calculus, Calculus, and Number Theory tests, all of which were a challenge to me. I had studied for an extensive amount of time but my scores did not reflect my efforts. I tripped up on careless mistakes and some unexcusable mishaps but our team got 3rd place out of 10 teams. Hopefully, I can do better next month by practicing more!
Image result for west torrance high school
Picture of West Torrance High School

I also had a Waterpolo game against La Canada at their school. The varsity team won by a landslide but the Junior Varsity lost, ending with an incredibly close score of 9-10. Personally, I was not happy with myself and how I played and I guess all there is to do before our next game with Pasadena is to train harder.
Picture of me playing

Lastly, my friend Qize and I went to a hackathon in Los Angeles to have some fun. It was called Angelhacks and in the 12 hours that we had (which was not enough), we programmed and trained a neural network model to recognize if a bee is sick or not. This won us the Environment award and we are super grateful for the chance to be there. We're definitely going next year if they will host it again.
Picture of Scott Gruber, me, and Qize

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