Wai-Hin Wayne Ngan

See my LinkedIn profile for a complete list.

Wayne Ngan
Workflow
Agile Scrum, JIRA, Subversion, GitHub
General
C/C++, Java, Python, Ruby, MPI, OpenMP, Csh, Bash
Web
HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, Javascript, CGI, D3.js, Bootstrap
Data analysis
Matlab, R, NumPy, Matplotlib, MS Excel
2016 - present

Database Software Developer (Teradata Unity)

  • Designed and implemented algorithms to handle synchronization between multple SQL databases
  • Tested software functionalities against future regressions via automated verification tests
  • Investigated customer issues and reported bugs where necessary
  • Communicated ideas with product owners through design documents and daily stand-up meetings
2009 - 2015

Graduate Student Researcher (U of Toronto)

  • Simulated and analyzed high-resolution astrophysical systems using parallel computation facilities (see GitHub project)
  • Published 4 papers as the first author and 2 papers in collaborations in peer-reviewed journals
  • Presented results in 2 international conferences per year
2010 - 2013

Webmaster of Departmental Student Association (U of Toronto)

  • Developed new features for web portal for student profiles and seminar records
  • Coordinated with network administrator to alleviate security concerns
2012

Arctic Observer (U of Toronto)

  • Coordinated with an atmospheric science team to deploy new astronomical instruments
  • Developed code to operate the instruments automomously
2007 - 2008

Undergraduate Research Assistant (U of British Columbia)

  • Developed a new mathematical technique for astronomical image analysis
  • Published results as the first author in a peer-reviewed journal
2007

Software Developer (U of British Columbia)

  • Developed new features for biomechanical simulator Artisynth in a team of ~10 developers
  • Awarded "Best Student Poster" in an international conference
2006

Junior Researcher (National Research Council of Canada)

  • Extracted and reduced raw astronomical data from the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre
  • Fitted data to analytical models to obtain best-fit parameters
2013 - present
Vice-chair of the Canadian Yo-yo Association
2012 - present
Manager of the Toronto Yo-Yo Club
2016
2014 - 2015
Head organizer of the 2014 and 2015 Eastern Canadian Regional Return Top Championships
2011 - 2015
Founder and President of the University of Toronto Yo-Yo Club
2009 - 2015

PhD in Astronomy at University of Toronto

Thesis title: Dynamical Signatures of Dark Matter Subhalos on Tidal Streams (with Prof. Raymond Carlberg)
2003 - 2009

Bachelor of Science at University of British Columbia

Honors Physics and Astronomy; Minor Computer Science
Co-operative Education Program

Click on each heading below for details

  • Dispersal of Tidal Debris in a Milky-Way-sized Dark Matter Halo
    W. Ngan, R. G. Carlberg, B. Bozek, R. F. G. Wyse, A. S. Szalay, P. Madau, 2016, The Astrophysical Journal, 818, 194
    [ADS|arXiv]
  • Simulating Tidal Streams in a High Resolution Dark Matter Halo
    W. Ngan, B. Bozek, R. G. Carlberg, R. F. G. Wyse, A. S. Szalay, P. Madau, 2015, The Astrophysical Journal, 803, 75
    [ADS|arXiv]
  • Using gaps in N-body Tidal Streams to Probe Missing Satellites
    W. Ngan & R. G. Carlberg, 2014, The Astrophysical Journal, 788, 181
    [ADS|arXiv]
  • Preliminary DIMM and MASS Nighttime Seeing Measurements at PEARL, in the Canadian High Arctic
    E. Steinbring, M. Millar-Blanchaer, W. Ngan, R. Murowinski, B. Leckie, R. Carlberg, 2013, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 125, 866.
    [ADS|arXiv]
  • Exoplanet from the Arctic: The First Wide-field Survey at 80 Degrees North
    N. Law, R. Carlberg, P. Salbi, W. Ngan, A. Ahmadi, et al, 2013, The Astronomical Journal, 145, 58
    [ADS|arXiv]
  • Non-Gaussian Errors of Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations
    W. Ngan, J. Harois-Deraps, U.-L. Pen, P. McDonald, I. MacDonald, 2012, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 419, 2949
    [ADS|arXiv]
  • Sersiclets - A Matched Filter Extension of Shapelets for Weak Lensing Studies
    W. Ngan, L. Van Waerbeke, A. Mahdavi, C. Heymans, H. Hoekstra, 2009, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 396, 1211
    [ADS|arXiv]

Responsibilities include leading tutorials, marking, and course development

Technical courses:

  • AST 221 - Stars and Planets
  • AST 222 - Galaxies and Cosmology
  • AST 320 - Introduction to Astrophysics

Elective courses:

  • AST 101 - The Sun and Its Neighbours
  • AST 201 - Stars and Galaxies
  • AST 210 - Great Moments in Astronomy
2013 - 2014
Ontario Graduate Scholarship
2010 - 2013
NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS D)
2009 - 2010
NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS M)
2009
Helen Sawyer Hogg Graduate Admission Award
2008
NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award
2008
Paul Sykes Scholarship in Astronomy
2007
NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award
2006
Volkoff Scholarship in Science
2004 - 2006
Undergraduate Scholar Program
  • English (preferred)
  • Cantonese Chinese (native)
  • Mandarin Chinese (basic)
  • Japanese (basic)