Principal Investigator
Jonathan is an Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UCLA, where he directs the Neural Engineering and Computation Lab. He received his BS, MS, and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. More info & CV here.
Fun: cooking, reading; playing the piano, guitar, cello; swimming, biking, ultimate frisbee, climbing, hiking; watching football and other sports.
Google Scholar | Twitter | GitHub | Profile | kao[at]seas[period]ucla[period]edu
PhD Students
MS in ECE, UCLA, 2020.
BS in ECE, UCLA, 2019.
Research interests: developing assistive non-invasive brain-computer interfaces by leveraging recent advancements in machine learning.
Fun: playing violin, (re)watching shows, and admiring wildlife.
johanneslee[at]ucla[period]edu
BS in ECE, UCLA, 2021.
Research interests: studying dynamical mechanisms used by various brain areas to complete cognitive tasks through RNN modeling, neuroscience inspired algorithms, and reinforcement learning.
Fun: rock climbing, working at the UCLA Rock Wall, or flying on the traveling rings at Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica.
derekxiao93[at]gmail[dot]com
BS in Cognitive Science, UCLA, 2020.
Research interests: creating computational models that match human neural activity and behavior, specifically in the domain of language.
Fun: practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and reading.
Profile
efeghhi[at]gmail[period]com
BS in Mathematics, UC Irvine, 2021.
BS in Neurobiology, UC Irvine, 2021, studied how individual hippocampal subfields contribute to episodic memory and developed conductance-based models of hypothalamic neurons.
Research interests: using machine learning to model and analyze neural activity in order to better understand the neural dynamics underlying various behavioral states and improve brain-computer interfaces.
Fun: hiking, camping, and spending time with his dogs
LinkedIn
nhadidi[at]g[period]ucla[period]edu
BS in Computer Science, Columbia University, 2022. Research focus on statistical machine learning tools for spike sorting and video analysis.
Research interests: offline reinforcement learning, robotics
Fun: playing tennis, skiing, and pretentious cooking.
Google Scholar | GitHub | Profile johnzhou[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering, UCLA, 2025.
MS in Computational Linguistics, University of Washington, 2022.
BA in English, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2019.
Research interests: robotics, VLMs
Fun: basketball, cycling, skating, and cooking
LinkedIn | Google Scholar
yanxu2015[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
CS, 2026 -
BS in Comp Sci & Engr, UCLA, 2024
Research interests: information extraction and data generation with NLP techniques, multi-agent interaction and collaboration, LLM agent, and model robustness
Fun: playing electric guitar (mainly rock and metal music), motor-racing on racetracks and simulators
dyx723[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu | LinkedIn
CS, 2026-
BS in Data Theory, UCLA, 2024
Research interests: machine learning and data engineering, particularly deep neural networks, diffusion models for shared autonomy, robotic arm manipulation
Fun: he loves to cook, make coffee, and he plays badminton competitively for the UCLA varsity team.
MS and post-bachelors
MS, BioE, 2025-
BS in Neuroscience, USC, 2024
Research interests:
Fun:
patrickkcarbone[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
MS, ECE, 2024-
BS in EE, National Tsing Hua University, 2024
Research interests: Robotic Systems, Vision Language Models, Vision-Language-Action Models
Fun: Traveling, Watching Anime, Making Short Videos
ywchang[at]ucla[dot]edu
Post BS, 2025-
BA in Linguistics & CS, BS in Cognitive Science, UCLA, 2025
Research interests: Knowledge Representation in brains and machines, Multilingual LLM, Speech Neural Decoding and Brain-Computer Interface
Fun: Shooting analog pics, classic films, oldie soul and jazz music
lionelhu926[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
MEng, AI, 2025-
BA in Applied Math, BA in Statistics, UC Berkeley, 2022
Research interests:
Fun:
brentonlaw[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
MS, CS, 2025-
BS in CS, UCLA, 2025
Research interests:
Fun:
mr2004[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Post BS, 2025-
BS in CS, UCLA, 2025
Research interests:
Fun:
mycal[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
MS, ECE, 2024-
BE in Information Engineering, Zhejiang University, 2024
Research interests: Multimodal Sensing, Robotics, Human-Computer Interaction
Fun: Movies, reading, music, collecting fun facts of animals
zelozou[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Undergraduate Students
Jason Chan
CS, 2022-
Research interests: machine learning, bioinformatics, and computational neuroscience
Fun: exercising, playing piano, and trying new foods
jasontchan[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Sarah Darzacq
CS, 2023-
Research interests: robotics, machine learning, and signal processing
Fun: working on a car with Bruin Racing Baja, practicing with club jiu jitsu, running, swimming, making pasta, and watching DWTS with my roommates
sarahdarzacq[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Travis Ha
CS, 2023-
Research interests:
Fun:
travisha110[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Matthew Li
ECE, 2024-
Research interests:
Fun:
matthewli[at]ucla[dot]edu
Howard Shu
ECE, 2023-
Research interests: signal processing, circuit design, and machine learning in robotics and wireless communications
Fun: basketball, golf, working out, chess, and hiking
LinkedIn
howardyshu[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Isabella (Yixin) Wu
Neuroscience, CS&B, 2022-
Research interests: Computational neuroscience, bioinformatics, and brain-machine interfaces
Fun: Making handcrafts, playing piano, and recently starting with golf
wuyixin0909[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Kevin Xiao
ECE, 2024-
Research interests:
Fun:
kevinxiao[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Michael Zhou
CS, 2023-
Research interests: machine learning and shared autonomy
Fun: singing, photography, dance, and rock climbing.
zhoumichael[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Alumni