My name is Difan Song (宋迪凡). I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in Industrial Engineering (with specialization in Statistics) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. My research focuses on developing statistical and machine learning methods to address problems in science, engineering, and online applications. I am especially interested in the fields of optimal experimental design, high-dimensional active learning, Bayesian optimization, causal inference, and digital twin development, where data acquisition is difficult or expensive. I am lucky to be advised by Prof. C. F. Jeff Wu and Prof. V. Roshan Joseph, while also being supervised by Prof. Simon Mak for my research.
Before I came to Georgia Tech, I studied Finance at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, where I received great help from my two advisors: Prof. David Li and Prof. William Li.
The "Di" in my name stands for "Dihua," an old name for Urumqi, where I was born. "Fan" means ordinary, and that's who I am: an ordinary person from the city of Dihua. Other than research, I enjoy cooking, Chinese calligraphy, and spending time with my two energetic cats, Aaron (汤圆) and Annamarie (芝麻).