Jacob Laurel is a third year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on understanding how to best apply compiler optimizations to improve the runtime of probabilistic programs and machine learning models. In addition Jacob has also worked at NASA researching methods to statically analyze floating point error in probabilistic programs. He is an Alfred P.Sloan 2017-18 UCEM Scholar. Jacob received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, both Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Jacob has volunteered extensively with both undergraduate and high school students, with a particular emphasis on underrepresented students, through his efforts in various mentorship activities, ranging from robotics competitions to mentoring undergraduate research.