Sophie Guo

Hello, I'm Sophie Guo, a current Masters of Engineering in EECS (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science) student at MIT. I recently graduated with my undergraduate degree at MIT as well, with a double major in Biological Engineering and EECS. In terms of my academic and research interests, I'm particularly interested in how we can harness the power of machine learning techniques to help scientists better understand the complexity and intricacy of biology, whether it be towards understanding genomic data to predict and develop better drugs or understanding cellular mechanisms. With the rapid advancement of DNA/RNA sequencing technology, biological data is being generated at a rate that is far surpassing our ability to process it, resulting in a great demand for computational techniques to process and help scientists develop data-driven insights in biological exploration. Outside of the realm of computational biology, I enjoy hobbies such as figure skating, improving my dancing skills, traveling, photography, and learning to cook new foods! Super excited to meet you all and learn more about your beautiful culture and country!

Melissa Du

Hello! I’m Melissa, a junior studying Computer Science and Neuroscience. I’m interested in the intersection of Neuroscience and AI, specifically in exploring how accurately modern neural networks model the way humans theorize/learn about the world and what alternative architectures are suggested by our brain circuitry. I’ve also worked in the healthtech and ML startup space–building out a pipeline for the application of computer vision in human tracking and health diagnosis, as well as applying diffusion models towards molecular dynamics and drug development. When I’m not staring at my computer, I love reading and writing, working out, playing piano, and dreaming about infeasible life aspirations. I’m looking forward to teaching and getting to know everyone! :)

Dylan Dong

Hi! I’m Dylan Dong, a current senior studying for a Bachelors in Engineering in Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science (6-14). I am passionate about topics at the intersection of economics and computer science. In the past, I have done econometric research on the impact of various legislation and conducted analysis to help supply credit streams to underserved communities. I have recently started to dive into topics such as market design and game theory. Some topics that I have found particularly interesting are school choice, e-commerce, and cybersecurity. After graduating this spring, I am planning on starting a Masters of Engineering in Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science and I intend on diving deeper into such topics. Aside from academics and research, I love to play chess, tennis, soccer and rock climb. I enjoy traveling and experiencing new cultures and I’m looking forward to my first trip to Jordan!

Neil Malur

Hi, I’m Neil Malur! I’m currently a junior at MIT studying Computer Science and Engineering. My current interests are in machine learning and computer systems security, and I’m particularly motivated to figure out how we can better understand and model the flow of information throughout modern text and graph-based neural networks. My recent research has been in modeling polymer crystallization using reinforcement learning by incorporating physics-based constraints to help better predict molecule movement. With this work, my team hoped to accelerate the development of biodegradable polymer materials. Also using machine learning, I’ve completed recent projects in incorporating vocal elements to natural language processing models and in macroeconomic analysis, and in my free time, I like to dance, bike, and ski. I also love to just go explore or chat about the world with my friends, so feel free to talk to me about anything! Excited to meet you all!

Lara Shonkwiler

Hi! I’m Lara Shonkwiler, and I’m a current Masters of Engineering student who specializes in signal processing and communications systems. I also got my undergrad degree in Electrical Engineering at MIT. My current research focuses on spatial separation of radio frequency (RF) signals, which is also known as beamforming, and some of my past work includes implementing error-correcting codes for the Deep Space Network (which is used to communicate with spacecraft such as Voyager), and signal processing for speech (audio) signals. Outside of school and research, I enjoy running, hiking, baking, and reading. I’m looking forward to meeting you!

Nithin Parsan

Hello! My name is Nithin and I’m a current Masters of Engineering in EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) student at MIT. I recently completed my undergrad at MIT, where I majored in Computer Science and Molecular Biology. I conduct research at the MIT-IBM Watson AI lab, where I work to develop machine learning models that can predict patient outcomes and identify relevant biomarkers using imaging data. Broadly, I’m interested in how machine learning can be applied in clinical settings and computational approaches to drug discovery. Outside of academics, I love eating great food from around the world (please recommend restaurants / dishes!!), traveling, and hiking. Looking forward to meeting you all!

Natalie Muradyan

Hello:) My name is Natalie, and I am a Master of Engineering (MEng) student at MIT. I also got my BSc in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT in June 2023. I currently work in the MATCHA (Microarchitecture ATtacks and CHAllenges) Group at CSAIL, led by Assistant Professor Mengjia Yan. As part of the group, my work focuses on developing a framework that will help detect hardware vulnerabilities by enhancing CPU fuzzing. I am passionate about computer systems in general, including security, networks, etc. Additionally, I love algorithms and have been a Teaching Assistant for the course Introduction to Algorithms at MIT for the past year. Outside of school, I enjoy reading (recently have been enjoying historical fiction), design and photography, and traveling. I like to learn about new cultures through books, documentaries, and most of all, by talking to the locals, so I am very excited to visit Jordan and get to meet you all!

Prince Debrah

Hello! I’m Prince and I’m a sophomore in MIT studying computer science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. My last research project was in the Jensen Laboratory, a computational chemical engineering lab, and it used a good number of the concepts that we will be teaching in Natural Language Processing and Data Visualization. I enjoy reading comic books, playing video games, eating good food, and playing sports.

Pamela Abede

Hello everyone, my name is Pamela and I’m a senior at MIT majoring in Finance and minoring in Computer Science. I love exploring intersections between business and technology, especially when it comes to mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and trading systems. I also love to teach elementary physics - I have been a TA/grader with MIT’s physics department for the past three years! Outside of school, I love reading fiction, spending time with friends, and exploring new places & activities. I’m super excited for what Jordan has in store - nice meeting you all!

Kimberly Wang

Hi! I’m Kimberly, a current sophomore at MIT studying computer science and mathematics. Through college, I have developed an interest in algorithms and theoretical computer science, the intersection between my two majors, with a particular curiosity for graph algorithms. Recently, I worked on a research project involving empathetic language modeling in the realm of natural language processing. Outside of academics, I enjoy visual arts, taking walks, and learning languages (currently learning Arabic!). I also love talking with people, so feel free to come up to me and just chat! I’m super excited to meet everyone!

Shrika Eddula

Hi, I’m Shrika, a current Sophomore at MIT studying Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. My background is in building embedded ML drone systems for remote consciousness assessment using computer vision and natural language processing. My recent research involves combining Eurlian Video Magnification and sensor fusion techniques for the early detection of forest fires. Outside of the technology realm, I really enjoy powerlifting, reading, photography, backpacking, learning languages (I speak 5 currently), and hiking! It’s a pleasure to travel to Jordan for the first time and I am so excited to meet everyone!

Kinan Martin

I’m Kinan Martin, a current Master of Engineering student of Computer and Cognitive Sciences at MIT (Course 6-9 MEng). My motivation is to use natural language processing systems to build meaningful connections. I have experience researching, designing, and implementing a variety of text-based, speech-based, and vision-based multi-modal NLP models. I’ve applied these models to a wide range of use cases, including psycholinguistic, clinical, driving, and commercial applications. I’m currently working in the Computational Psycholinguistics Lab under Roger Levy on my thesis about probing text and speech based large language models for natural language understanding. I love learning languages. Currently I speak 10 languages at different levels of fluency, and I’m always learning more!

Gustavo Ramirez

Hey everyone! I'm Gustavo, currently in my fourth year studying Computer Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Course 6-9). My interests lie at the fascinating intersection of the human brain and artificial intelligence. I'm interested in exploring how our understanding of the brain can inform the development of AI systems, and vice versa—how AI can offer new perspectives on brain function. I'm also curious about the future of brain-computer interfaces and how we can develop them to benefit humanity. As such, my research at the moment is centered on novel neuroprosthetics for spinal cord injury rehabilitation.