About me
I am an assistant professor in the Computer Science and Software Engineering department at Cal Poly.
I use he/him pronouns.
See my CV for research, teaching, and professional experience.
Email address: dfrishbe AT calpoly DOT edu
Cal Poly students: I am advising a club! It is called the Computing Research Society (CRS). If you are interested in joining or learning more about it, please email me and I will put you in touch with the club officers. Also, CRS will have a table at the ASI winter club fair on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, 11am-2pm in the Chumash Auditorium (building 65).
Also, Cal Poly students: I am seeking graduate and undergraduate students to work on research: both theorem-proving and experimental aspects. Please email me if you are a Cal Poly student and you are interested, and see my research interests below!
Education
- Ph.D. in Computer Science expected Spring 2023, UC Irvine
- M.S. in Computer Science awarded July 2020, UC Irvine
- B.A. awarded May 2007, Oberlin College
- Major: Computer Science
- Minor: Mathematics
Teaching
Current teaching (Spring 2025)
CSC 445: Theory of Computation
- Syllabus
- Class times and locations:
- Tue/Thu 2:10-4:00pm, 020-128 (Engineering East 020)
- Office Hours:
- Time: Tue/Thu 12:10-1:00pm (in person); Wed 2:10-4:00pm (Zoom - link on Canvas or by email request
- In-Person Location: My Office (Building 14 #223)
Past teaching
Cal Poly
- Discrete Structures (CSC 248), Winter 2025) (Syllabus)
- Advanced Algorithm Design and Analysis (CSC 549), Fall 2024 (Syllabus)
- Theory of Computation (CSC 445), Fall 2024 (Syllabus)
- Theory of Computation (CSC 445), Spring 2024 (Syllabus)
- Discrete Structures (CSC 248), Winter 2024 (Syllabus)
- Discrete Structures (CSC 248), Fall 2023
UC Irvine
- Instructor of Record, Data Structure Implementation and Analysis (ICS 46), Summer 2022
- Teaching Assistant, 12 quarters, Fall 2018-Fall 2022
- Four upper-division Computer Science theory courses
- Machine Learning
- Discrete Mathematics
- Data Structure Implementation and Analysis
Fellowships, awards, certifications, and training
Fellowships and awards
- 2022 Pedagoical Fellow, Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI), UC Irvine
- Summer Teaching Apprenticeship Program Fellow, Spring-Summer 2022, DTEI, UC Irvine
Certifications
- Certificate of Teaching Excellence, DTEI, UC Irvine
- Certificate in Course Design, DTEI, UC Irvine
- Associate Level Certificate, Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), DTEI, UC Irvine
Research
My recent algorithms research has largely focused on rapidly mixing Markov chains: using methods from graph theory and linear algebra to determine how fast randomized sampling algorithms, known as Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms, converge to an accurate sample. I have recently incorporated empirical methods into this analysis.
Other interests include hierarchical clustering algorithms and their relationship to combinatorial optimization problems; graph simplification; Hanoi graphs, which arise from the Tower of Hanoi puzzle; and graph drawing.
Service
Reviewer, Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) journal, 2023
Reviewer, European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA) conference, 2019
UC Irvine Teaching Assistant Professional Development Program (TAPDP) 2022 Computer Science facilitator
Teaching observations and interviews of Pedagogical Fellows at UC Irvine, 2022
Professional experience
My 12 years of professional software engineering experience have included:
- A Google Student Researcher position in Summer 2022
- Two Google Software Engineering Intern positions (Summer 2020 and Summer 2021)
- Six years of full-time web application and testing framework development at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 2012-2018 and Summer 2019
- Five years of nonprofit web development (2007-2012)