Assistant Professor Qizhen Zhang.
Get to know Qizhen Zhang, assistant professor, who joined the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences (University of Toronto Scarborough) and the tri-campus graduate Department of Computer Science in August 2023.
Zhang received his PhD in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022.
What attracted you to your specific area of research in computer science?
I am deeply attracted to large-scale problems that are likely to generate real-world impact. Processing data in a timely manner — a fundamental task in computer science — is getting exceedingly challenging because of exponential data growth. Thanks to cloud computing, we can now deploy millions of data processing services across hundreds of thousands of machines. This paradigm shift raises the scale, complexities, and potential impact of research in this domain to unprecedented levels.
Tell us about some of the key questions you’re looking to answer through your research in data management and computer systems, and the possible practical applications of your work.
My lab’s research centres around three high-level questions: How can we build software systems and cloud infrastructure to make hyperscale data management more efficient? What novel applications can we enable leveraging advanced systems and ever-growing data? Is it opportune for us to rethink existing approaches in both systems and applications in light of emerging challenges? Pursuing answers to these questions would create a constructive feedback loop such that we can pinpoint problems that truly matter and build solutions that scale.
One of the specific problems we are investigating is how to integrate modern programmable network cards (called DPUs) with the architecture of cloud-native database systems. We are developing a DPU framework that can significantly improve the performance and decrease the cost of cloud database services.
What’s one thing you hope students who study or work with you will come away with?
That computer science is a layered science, but real problems, especially the more important ones, often require cross-layer solutions.
What drew you to the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto?
The department, the school and the city are a perfect combination. U of T is a prestigious school, and DCS is a top computer science department worldwide. Working here allows me to recruit the best students from different countries and collaborate with top-of-the-field researchers. Toronto is also a vibrant metropolis where diverse cultures coexist. Many IT companies now have a presence in the city, which makes it easy to forge industrial connections.
What are you looking forward to doing or experiencing in Toronto?
I have never lived in Toronto before, so I’d like to get more familiar with the city and its history first by exploring the city’s must-sees, including its parks, museums and, of course, the CN Tower.
What do you enjoy doing outside of your work as a computer scientist?
Being a computer scientist is not the healthiest job, so I exercise as much as I can. I used to play table tennis a lot and am still good at it (I think). I also like hiking, swimming and rowing.
This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.