Human Action Understanding using Lifestyle Vlogs

Why Santa Clara?

Great location, close to big cities -- 20 min driving from San Jose and 1h from from San Francisco, California.
Plenty of various outdoors activities: hiking, surfing, beach, redwood forest, close to Santa Cruz.
Ideal weather, plenty of sun, mean yearly temperature ~60F.
Safe, especially compared to other areas in California. Campus is also very safe. This was a big factor for me when deciding where to live.
San José Mineta International Airport (SJC) in the city.

Great CS internship opportunities in the heart of Silicon Valley (Meta, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Adobe, Nvidia, etc). I encourage all my students to do summer internships, as they helped me expand my perspectives.
Great job prospects after graduation.
Great cross-discplinary programs, and a focus on Ethics and Social Good AI applications. See Markkula Center and Frugal Innovation Hub.
Another important criteria for me, the University supports DEI programs for students as well as for faculty.
Many facilities, new buildings, classrooms, and labs.
High quality teaching and small classes (~20-30 students per class).
A captivating campus, ideal for walks in nature while you ponder over solving that tricky bug.. 😊

I will support your growth both as a person and as a researcher.
My lab is intentionally small, allowing me more time to dedicate to our research meetings.
I have many research ideas, and I am also happy to discuss any research ideas you are passionate about.
I aim to cultivate a collaborative and supportive culture within our lab. Our diverse perspectives are our strength, and there's so much we can learn from each other.
My goal is to have meaningful contributions in AI research, help others, and share my knowledge with the wider community (museums, libraries, highschools, etc).
I am also deeply passionate about mentorship, public speaking, and self-growth.

Check the Improv program I started at University of Michigan, which I plan to implement at SCU.
Explore ACL Mentorship for monthly panel sessions with research experts in academia and industry who will answer live your questions.
Check the Friday Night AI community program at the local public library in Ann Arbor, MI, to teach anyone about AI.