I spent most of my childhood, adolescence, and undergraduate years in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, a quaint college-town community that I still call home. I also adamently claim that Champaign-Urbana boasts better food options than the greater Boston area, though I acknowledge that a slight bias could possibly be remotely conceivable (maybe, perhaps). My parents like to tell the story of how I learned my multiplication tables when I was two and only bothered to learn how to read when I was in Kindergarden so that I could tackle word problems to show up my classmates. My love for math and disdain for reading proved to be an ongoing theme throughout my childhood as I qualified for selective math competitions like the USA Junior Math Olypiad but was repeatedly trounced by the reading comprehension section of every standardized test I took. During high school, I picked up a new hobby, robotics, which eventually ended up being hugely transformative. I learned mechanical principles, machining, and Computer Aided Design. I learned to design, build, break, and iterate. After several years on the robotics team, rather than major in math as my childhood self would have imagined, I was eager to study engineering and design.
I decided to attent UIUC, where I embraced my new identity by avoiding undergraduate math classes like the plague, getting through all of undergrad without taking a single one. Yes, I will begrudgingly admit to a chaotically cramming a semester-long LinAlg curriculum in a weekend before miraculously passing the proficiency exam to skip the class. No Regrets. I eventually double majored in mechanical and electrical engineering and minored in computer science, broadly structuring my curriculum to revolve around robotics. Nonetheless, I eventually realized that I was spending my time more as a designer rather than a roboticist -- I designed countless components for robotic systems, be it in class, during internships, or for undergraduate research projects. Perhaps unsurprisingly, my automation-focused curriculum evantually got me thinking about design automation. When I went to MIT for my graduate studies, I was excited to switch gears and think more about design theory and automation rather than getting into the weeds of another specific design project. Since then, I have been eagerly focused on leveraging AI to accelerate and enhance engineering design practice.
These days, I split my time between Boston for school and New York City, where my fiance lives. Yes, I rack up a lot of Amtrack reward points, thanks for asking. I also love to travel, most often either to enjoy unique food or to enjoy some mountains, where I will climb, hike, ski, or just lounge about. When I am not traveling, you can most likely find me doing one of the following activities: cooking, climbing at the gym, playing video games, lifting weights, or occasionally playing soccer or tennis. I am still invested in my studies so I promise I also do some work on rare occasions. I will be interning at Apple during summer 2025 and I plan to apply to faculty positions for Fall 2026!