Directory

Wei Ai

Dr. Wei Ai joined the UMD iSchool and UMD Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (joint) in January 2020 as an assistant professor in data science. New developments in data science are opening the doors to world-changing social applications. Dr. Ai’s research focuses on harnessing this potential of data science, particularly around machine learning and data mining algorithms. With a background in computer science, economics, and information science, Dr. Ai is creating end-to-end data science pipelines that have real-world applications. He utilizes industrial partnerships, stakeholder collaborations, and hands-on field experiments to develop tangible applications that promote social good. In recent work, Dr. Ai designed and deployed an innovative recommender system on the world’s leading ride-sharing platform, DiDi. Benefiting millions of users, Dr. Ai’s recommender system is helping DiDi to achieve its mission of solving global transportation, environment, and employment challenges. Dr. Ai’s research has been published in top journals and conferences, including PNAS, ACM TOIS, WWW, and ICWSM.

Current Research Interests

• Machine learning
• Data mining algorithms
• End-to-end data science pipelines that have real-world applications

Education

Ph.D., Information, University of Michigan