Lead AI/ML Engineer, Project Management Institute; February 2025 – Present
AI/ML Engineer II, Project Management Institute; April 2024 – January 2025
Bridging research and application in customer-facing AI systems
Data Scientist I, Project Management Institute; July 2021 – March 2024
Development of AI systems for customer insights
Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Houston (Houston, TX); 2016 – 2021
Theoretical foundations of learning in neural networks
Neural Network Learning Theory: Developed mathematical framework connecting synaptic plasticity rules to emergent network dynamics. Proved conditions under which learning preserves network balance in recurrent architectures. Theory validated through large-scale simulations.
Computational Neuroscience: Applied theoretical models to explain experimental observations of rapid plasticity in primate visual cortex. Demonstrated how inhibitory learning mechanisms maintain homeostasis during network perturbations.
Open Source Research Tools: Created [Python package]{https://github.com/alanakil/PlasticBalancedNetsPackage} implementing theoretical predictions, enabling reproducible research in plastic neural networks.
Mark Jayson Cortez, Alan Eric Akil, Krešimir Josić, Alexander J. Stewart. (2023). "Incorporating Computational Challenges into a Multidisciplinary Course on Stochastic Processes." SIAM Review 65 (4), 1152-1170.
Ariana R. Andrei, Alan E. Akil, Natasha Kharas, Robert Rosenbaum, Krešimir Josić & Valentin Dragoi. (2023). "Rapid Compensatory Plasticity Revealed by Dynamic Correlated Activity in Monkeys in vivo." Nature Neuroscience. 26(11), 1960-1969.
Alan Eric Akil, Robert Rosenbaum, Krešimir Josić. (2021). "Balanced Networks under Spike–Time Dependent Plasticity." PLOS Computational Biology. 17(5).
Lecture at 20 Years of Collaboration in Computational Neuroscience, Grossman Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Poster at NeuroNex3: The Third Annual NeuroNex Investigator Meeting, remote
Poster (peer-reviewed) at COSYNE 20, Denver, CO
Poster (peer-reviewed) at COSYNE 20, Denver, CO
Lecture (peer-reviewed) at SIAM NS19, Salt Lake City, UT
Poster (peer-reviewed) at SIAM DS19, Salt Lake City, UT
Poster (peer-reviewed) at COSYNE 19, Lisbon, Portugal
Poster at Gulf Coast Consortium for Theoretical & Computational Neuroscience, Houston, TX