About Me
I grew up in Taiwan and bootstrapped my way to US at 20. By "bootstrapping," I mean there was never a predefined roadmap or checklist to follow. I see my journey as a jump diffusion, driven by curiosity, a pursuit of impact, and a fear of mediocrity.
Inside science-fiction films and games, I developed a fascination with "simulation" long before formal study, which eventually led me to study physics in a selective national high school science program. Beyond this path, however, I also founded (perhaps "faked" in the Silicon Valley sense) a national representative team for the European Physics Olympiad, where I won medals and earned early, test-free admission to National Taiwan University.
The year I entered college, ChatGPT emerged and prompted me to shift from physics to AI/ML research. I was fortunate to work with Northwestern University (MAGICS Lab), Gamma Paradigm Capital, and Caltech (AI4Science Lab). Through research, I attended top conferences and met some of the most brilliant minds on Earth. It became apparent that what truly mattered to me was finding a path to the US. So I left NTU, applied for transfer, and made it to the University of Washington.
My ultimate vision is to create an "experience machine" that empowers every individual with the right to choose an ego-centric, reversible, and eternal second life. My contrarian view is that, though often seen as degenerate or dystopian, it may be the most humanized act compared to eras of slavery and labor, in terms of freedom and creativity. Macroscopically, it is also the most efficient means, at least within silicon-based technology, to mine human desire into realized utility.
Projects & Publications
Experience
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)
Pasadena, CA, USA · Mar 2025 - Present
[Show details]- Researched diffusion-based generative models for inverse PDEs with sparse observations. Built Decoupled Diffusion Inverse Solver (DDIS) to address over-smoothing and failure under sparse observation in existing state-of-the-art solvers.
- DDIS achieves new SOTA performance on inverse Helmholtz and Poisson problems with 25% and 33% improvements, and shows superior data-efficiency and resolution-invariance in both the training and inference stages.
Machine Learning Intern
Remote · Apr 2023 - Apr 2025
[Show details]- Researched computational hardness by fine-grained complexity analysis of modern Hopfield models; developed efficient approximation algorithms within controllable error, reducing the time complexity from subquadratic to almost linear. Presented at ICML 2024.
- Researched latent Bayesian network for portfolio optimization; developed a data-driven Black-Litterman model by learning investor views as latent variables from market data. Presented at ICML 2025.
Quantitative Analyst Intern
Taipei, Taiwan · Jun 2023 - Jul 2024
[Show details]- Implemented and backtested portfolio strategies based on Distributionally Robust Optimization, achieving superior Sharpe ratios and lower drawdowns compared to SPY and EQW benchmarks.
- Developed a data-driven Black-Litterman model, achieving significant improvements in Sharpe ratios and turnover rates over benchmark models and market indices.
Education
Ventures & Community
YC AI Startup School
An exclusive social event with speeches from well-known AI figures and networking with top CS students.
ICML '24 & '25
Presenting papers at top-tier ML conferences in Vienna and Vancouver. Connecting with some brilliant minds on Earth.
Harvard x NTU (HUAP)
A club at National Taiwan University for short-term exchange with Harvard students.
[Learn more]As a PR Member, I fundraised a record-high $4,500 USD cash sponsorship and hosted Harvard students for the Spring Conference.
NTU ABC Lab & Prof. Liao
Biggest blockchain lab in Taiwan with the legendary Prof. Shih-wei Liao.
[Learn more]I served for two years as a TA for multiple 150-student courses and as a social assistant hosting his visitors.
NTU Phi-Epsilon-Delta
An unofficial fraternity founded in my house next to NTU campus.
[Learn more]We hosted networking events for NTU, exchange, and overseas Taiwanese students.
2022 European Physics Olympiad
Team Taiwan at the 2022 European Physics Olympiad at Slovenia.
[Learn more]I founded the team, fundraised the trip, won a bronze medal, and secured my college admission.