Resume
Hi, I’m Zach Maas 👋
PhD computer scientist working on interpretable AI and computational genomics. I build models we can understand and software that doesn’t waste your time.
TL;DR
| Focus | PhD ‘25: Bayesian models + transformers for genomics, now doing mech interp on LLMs |
| Experience | 6+ yrs Python ML/data stack, HPC infra, and scientific computing |
| Current | Independent research on sparse representations in language models |
Current Work
Independent Researcher • May 2025 – Present
Mechanistic interpretability and open-source tooling
Previous Work
| Role | Timeline | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| LincSwitch Therapeutics Data Science Consultant | Jun–Dec 2024 | Built greenfield data infrastructure (Nextflow, HPC, R) for early-stage biotech |
| University of Colorado Boulder PhD Researcher | Aug 2020 – May 2025 | - BERT + SAEs for genomic regulatory grammar - Bayesian MCMC for RNA-seq uncertainty quantification - SOTA cyanobacteria segmentation (U-Net) |
| University of Colorado Boulder Research Assistant | May 2019 – Aug 2020 | Large scale SQL-backed ETL system for genomics pipelines |
Stack
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| ML/DL | PyTorch, HuggingFace, scikit-learn, PyMC, CUDA, W&B |
| Data | Pandas, NumPy, SQL, Nextflow, Docker |
| Languages | Python, Bash/Awk, R, C++, JS/TS, Go, Zig |
| Infra | Linux, SLURM, Terraform, AWS |
Selected Publications
| Year | Title | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | *Supervised and Unsupervised Methods for Transcriptional Sequencing Data | PhD Thesis |
| 2025 | TFIIH kinase CDK7 drives cell proliferation through core TF network | Science Advances |
| 2024 | *Internal and External Normalization of Nascent RNA Sequencing | BMC Bioinformatics |
| 2024 | *Deconvolution of Nascent Sequencing Data Using TREs | PSB |
| 2021 | Transcription Factor Enrichment Analysis | Communications Biology |
* = first author
Education
| Degree | Institution | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PhD, Computer Science | CU Boulder (2025) | Dissertation: Supervised and Unsupervised Methods for Transcriptional Sequencing Data |
| B.A., Mathematics & Chemistry | CU Boulder (2019) | Summa Cum Laude |
Misc
Ham radio (AE) • 3D printing • Homelab experiments