About Me
I am a Ph.D. student in the Neural Systems and Behavior program at the University of Washington, where I am funded by the Ahmed Lab. My research is focused on the intersection of Neuroscience and Machine Learning.
Research
Primary Research Interests
My research in the lab investigates the robustness of large-scale neural circuits, with a focus on translating biological insights into the design of advanced deep learning algorithms. My aim is to develop algorithms that are not only more sample-efficient and power-efficient but also inherently interpretable.
The end goal of my research is cyclical: using advancements in ML to enhance our understanding and analysis of biological neural systems, which in turn, inform and refine ML algorithm development.
My research has led me to reservoir computing, neural simulation models, graph-neural-networks, and more.
Auxilliary Research Interests
Deep Reinforcement Learning, where I am interested in using ideas from psychology and neuroscience, such as meta-cognition or episodic learning to train deep RL agents that are more sample efficient and robust. Check out this interesting paper: Reinforcement Learning, Fast and Slow
Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning, with a focus on homomorphic encryption and machine learning. I am an active contributor and the head of technical outreach for OpenFHE
Outreach
I advise junior ML Engineers and Data Scientists in my free time, and whatever time is left, I spend bouldering or aspiring to become a professional chef: Instagram: i_swear_i_can_cook.
I am also an advisor and consultant for startups - I enjoy thinking about a variety of problems and identifying potential solutions
More About Me
I grew up in Malaysia before moving to the US in 2013, to pursue my undergrad in Cognitive Science at Carnegie Mellon. After graduating, I decided to work for a few years in the tech industry before returning to school. During my time in the tech, I worked across a range of roles including: Senior ML Engineer, Applied Scientist, Research Engineer, Advisor, and CTO.
In 2022, ahead of my 10-year mark of higher education, I chose to return to academia. I applied to, and accepted an offer from the Ahmed Lab, joining the lab in 2023.