My real name is "Tran Hoa Binh Nga". Tran is my family name and Hoa Binh Nga is my first name. However, nobody calls me by that long first name. They use Nga instead. If you are not Vietnamese, it is difficult for you to say, and even remember, the word Nga. To make it simple, call me "Na".

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I was born and grew up in Saigon, Vietnam. 
I got my bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering at 
<a target=_ href="http://www.dit.hcmut.edu.vn"> the University of 
Ho Chi Minh City</a> in Saigon, Vietnam in 1996. 
I earned my master's degree in Information Science at 
<a target=_ href="http://cse.unsw.edu.au"> 
the University of New South Wales</a> in Sydney, Australia in 2002. 
I am now a PhD student in Computer Science, Database major, at <a target=_ href="http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/cs/"> Brandeis University </a> in Boston, U.S.A.


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From July 1996 to August 2000, I worked for <a target=_ href="http://www.elca.ch/"> ELCA Informatique SA </a> as a software engineer. I spent half of that time to work in the company's head quarter in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the remaining time in the company's representative office in Vietnam. I have worked in <a target=_ href="http://db.lcs.mit.edu/projects/cstore"> CStore Project </a> on query optimization since I started my PhD study at Brandeis. This research project has been commercialized to <a target=_ href="http://www.vertica.com"> Vertica System</a>. Currently, I keep doing my query optimization research on Vertica while working partime for them as a software consultant.