Alex Yesilyurt

Welcome to my page!

I'm a junior at the University of Michigan studying Computer Science and Economics with a minor in Mathematics. I'm passionate about markets, trading, and AI. In my free time, I like playing Tetris, going on hikes, and traveling.

Experience

Recent work across AI, research, and trading systems.

01

AI Engineering Intern

Octave · May 2026 - Aug 2026

Built ML systems for engineering simulations and production workflows.

02

AI Research Assistant

University of Michigan Department of Statistics · May 2025 - Present

Researching personalized LLM alignment methods for modeling user preferences at scale.

03

Trading Support Intern

Cantor Fitzgerald · Jun 2025 - Aug 2025

Worked on monitoring and anomaly detection tools for live trading infrastructure.

04

Quantitative Research Analyst Intern

Wren Asset Management · Jan 2025 - Apr 2025

Built research infrastructure and tested systematic strategies for an actively managed portfolio.

05

Software Engineer Intern

Infio · Sep 2023 - May 2024

Worked on software tooling for financial data in amortization tables.

06

IT Support Engineer Intern

Najmee · Jun 2023 - Aug 2023

Supported clients, built company documentation, and wrote automation scripts for IT processes.

Competitions

Trading competitions and selected results.

01

IMC Prosperity 4

Placed 26th in the U.S. and 83rd globally out of 18,803 teams in IMC's algorithmic trading competition.

Top 0.5%
02

MIG Quant Trading Competition

Placed 1st of 34 teams in a week-long competition spanning live trading, market making, and execution games.

1st Place
03

Optiver FutureFocus Trading Bot

Built an algorithmic trading program as part of Optiver's FutureFocus program.

Trading Bot
04

Prediction Markets

Coming soon. Stay tuned.

Soon

Projects

Open-source builds and technical work.

01

HFT Order Book

Built a high-performance order book implementation for market data and matching engine experimentation.

C++
02

Black-Scholes Model

Implemented options pricing tooling for Michigan Finance and Mathematics Society education.

Python
03

Personal Site

Designed and built this minimalist personal website as a public home for work, projects, and links.

Web

Programs

Selected participant in technical and finance programs.

01

Optiver FutureFocus

Participated in Optiver's quantitative trading program focused on markets, strategy, and trading simulations.

Mar 2026
02

Jane Street Capital FOCUS

Selected for Jane Street's program for students exploring quantitative finance and technical problem-solving.

May 2025
03

Goldman Sachs Virtual Insight Series

Selected for Goldman's virtual insight program covering finance, markets, and professional development.

Jun 2025
04

D. E. Shaw Connect

Selected for D. E. Shaw's program introducing students to finance, technology, and investing.

Sep 2025
05

Walleye Sophomore Summer Summit

Selected for Walleye's sophomore program focused on trading, markets, and firm exposure.

Jul 2025
06

Susquehanna International Group Discovery Day

Selected for SIG's discovery program introducing students to trading, strategy, and market-making.

Feb 2025
07

Citi Freshman Discovery Program

Selected for Citi's early-career program exploring finance, markets, and professional pathways.

Jun 2025
08

SEO Tech Developer Program

Selected for SEO's technical program supporting software engineering development and industry preparation.

Selected
09

ColorStack

Member of ColorStack's community for computer science students and technologists.

Member

Leadership

Campus leadership at the intersection of finance and math.

01

President

Michigan Finance and Mathematics Society

Lead a student organization focused on quantitative finance, markets education, and technical finance projects.

MFAMS

Outside work

A few things that keep me curious.

Tetris

Competitive puzzle brain

I used to play Tetris competitively and reached the top 5% in the U.S.

Outdoors

New Jersey trails

I like hiking around New Jersey and am always looking for new places to explore.

Travel

Places and food

I love traveling, trying new food, and will almost always say yes to Mediterranean.

Training

Weightlifting

Lifting is one of my favorite ways to reset after long stretches of work.

Home

Gigi

I have a cat named Gigi, who probably deserves her own section eventually.