avatar

Minda Zhao

Ph.D. Student
Georgia Institute of Technology
mindazhao@gatech.edu


About Me

I am a final-year Ph.D. student in the Operations Research program at Georgia Tech ISyE, where I am fortunate to be advised by Prof. Xin Chen. I am also fortunate to collaborate with Prof. Linwei Xin at Cornell University and Prof. Brian Han at UIUC.

I got an M.S. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from the University of Chicago, where I worked closely with Prof. Lek-Heng Lim. Before that, I obtained my B.S. in Information and Computing Science from Sun Yat-sen University.

I am on the 2026-27 job market!

Research Interests

Preprints

  1. Benign Nonconvex Landscape for Policy Optimization: Infinite-Horizon Discounted MDPs with General State and Action.
    Xin Chen, Minda Zhao (alphabetic order)
    Submitted
    arXiv SSRN
  2. Hidden Convexity in Queueing Models
    Xin Chen, Linwei Xin, Minda Zhao (alphabetic order)
    Under Minor Revision at Operations Research
    arXiv SSRN
  3. A Simple Solution to Improving Human Supervision of Algorithms: Evidence from Smart Vending
    Minda Zhao, Brian Rongqing Han, Xin Chen, Tao Zhu
    Under Major Revision at Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
    Finalist, INFORMS BOM Section Best Working Paper Competition, 2026
    Winner, CBOM Junior Scholar Paper Competition, 2026
    Third Place, CSAMSE Practice Award, 2024
    arXiv SSRN
  4. Landscape of Policy Optimization for Finite Horizon MDPs with General State and Action
    Xin Chen, Yifan Hu, Minda Zhao (alphabetic order)
    Under Minor Revision at Operations Research
    arXiv

Publications

  1. Stochastic Steffensen Method
    Minda Zhao, Zehua Lai, Lek-Heng Lim
    Computational Optimization and Applications, vol. 89, no. 1, pp. 1-32, 2024
    PDF Page

Honors and Awards

Teaching

Instructor, Georgia Tech

Teaching Assistant, Georgia Tech

Guest Lecturer, Georgia Tech

Services

Journal Reviewers

Session Chair


Powered by Jekyll and Minimal Light theme.