01 About
Charles Benello
I am a master's student in Financial Mathematics at the University of Chicago, where I completed my undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science with a specialization in computer systems and a minor in Korean.
My academic and research background spans large-scale data processing, database internals, and high-performance systems, with a growing focus on applying these skills to quantitative finance. This summer, I am conducting research at EPFL under Professor Anastasia Ailamaki on GPU-accelerated compression techniques for analytical database systems.
Previously, I was a researcher at the ChiData Lab at the University of Chicago, working with Professor Aaron Elmore.
Education
University of Chicago
Master's degree / Financial Mathematics
Jun 2025 - Dec 2026
University of Chicago
BS / Mathematics and Computer Science (Systems specialization); Minor in Korean
Sep 2021 - Jun 2025
Dean's List
St Paul's School
2015 - 2021
Mathematics: A*; Further Mathematics: A*; Computer Science: D1
Current Research
- GPU-accelerated compression techniques for analytical database systems
- Parallel compression algorithms optimized for modern hardware
- Applying systems research to quantitative finance
02 Experience
Experience
Research Assistant
UChicago CS·Aug 2023 — Present
Researching query optimization and parallelizing external merge sort in the ChiData Lab under Professor Aaron Elmore.
- Implemented Small String Optimization to reduce memory usage by 50% and improve query speed
- Removed a 500MB CSV import limit in a Rust crate, increasing import speed by 50%
Skills
03 Research + Publications
Research + Publications
Research in database systems and GPU compression, with publications in top-tier venues.
Research Focus
- Large-scale data processing
- Database internals
- High-performance systems
- GPU-accelerated compression
Research Highlights
- Parallel compression algorithms optimized for modern hardware
- Analytical and simulation-based performance models for GPU decompression
- Resource contention modeling across I/O, decompression, and compute
Advisors + Labs
- Professor Aaron Elmore (ChiData Lab, University of Chicago)
- Professor Anastasia Ailamaki (DIAS Lab, EPFL)
Publications
CrocSort: Resource-Efficient, Skew-Resilient Parallel External Merge Sort
Riki Otaki*, Charles Benello*, Fuheng Zhao, Aaron J. Elmore, Goetz Graefe
PVLDB 19(1), 2026
* Equal contribution
Paper Title TBD (2)
Charles Benello, et al.
Venue TBD
Paper Title TBD (3)
Charles Benello, et al.
Venue TBD
Paper Title TBD (4)
Charles Benello, et al.
Venue TBD
04 Projects
Projects
294
contributions