Xuan Hu is a graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree at Wuhan University in 2017 and earned his Master’s Degree at the University of California, Berkeley in 2021. Currently, he is a PhD student working under the guidance of Professor Shaofan Li. Xuan’s primary research interests lie in the fields of computational mechanics, fracture mechanics, and numerical modeling of advanced engineering materials.
In his ongoing research, Xuan is dedicated to establishing a unified numerical framework capable of addressing both brittle and ductile fracture behavior in crystalline materials. Through his studies, he aims to contribute valuable insights into the behavior of these materials and advance the field of engineering mechanics.
My research interest is aerosols, or particulate matter (PM). Up until now, I have been working to understand what has historically driven high PM events in urban spaces with the goal of working towards achieving meaningful reductions in pollution going forward. Specifically, I have been studying the effect of temperature on PM levels, and how the relationship between the two has been evolving over time.
My research aims to identify and/or promote natural infrastructures, particularly mangrove forests, as a barrier that can be used by small island nations (particularly in Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean) to mitigate the onset and impacts of sea-level rise.
I am a fifth year PhD candidate in IEOR at UC Berkeley. I received a BS in applied and computational mathematics from Caltech, and a MS in industrial engineering and operations research from Berkeley. Previously, I was a research scientist intern in Amazon – Digital Privacy Team. My research interests include data-driven decision making, with particular emphasis on addressing inefficiencies and inequalities in health systems.
Born and raised in Toulouse, France, I studied materials and mechanical engineering for my undergrad at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech in Paris. In 2020, I became a PhD student at UC Berkeley in the Mechanical Engineering department. Through my different research projects, I’ve specialized in materials computational theory. Part of Chrzan’s research group, I’m currently studying plastic deformation mechanisms in titanium at the atomistic level through computational simulations.
Alex started off in the neuropathology core at UCSF’s Memory and Aging Center in 2013 under the mentorship of Prof. Lea T. Grinberg. There, he developed interests in the factors that influence selective vulnerability underlying early Alzheimer’s disease stages and associated neuropsychiatric manifestations. Now a Ph.D. Candidate at UC Berkeley, he is co-advised by Prof. Grinberg and Prof. Daniela Kaufer and continues his focus on neurodegenerative disease vulnerability. He also has research interests in natural history and comparative neurology where he examines the evolutionary framework surrounding neurodegeneration and neurologic aging.
Ando designs and evaluates information systems and finance mechanisms that monitor and reward climate and biodiversity positive interventions. He is currently a PhD student at UC Berkeley and an Innovation Fellow at Open Earth Foundation. In past lives, he has worked as a systems engineer, mixed-media artist, virtual reality pioneer, entrepreneur and filmmaker. Trained as a chip designer, he spent his formative years working in silicon valley designing hardware for video streaming and off-grid renewable energy systems for communities in east Africa. He created one of the first 360 video capture cameras, created and directed multiple VR experiences that were selected at Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and others. He co-created the world’s first underwater camera trap and software identification system that was used to automatically identify individual manta rays. Ando was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Ballast Technologies and created the field of aquatic virtual reality to study the effects of ‘virtual nature’ on the human brain, and build empathy for the ocean. He holds multiple patents in these fields and has been featured in the New Yorker, CNET, The BBC, Forbes, Discovery, Digital Trends, MIT Technology Review, WIRED, and Freethink amongst others.
Ph.D. student working on Data-Driven Mechanical Design using computer simulation and artificial intelligence. I am really interested in inventing mechanical systems that could be used in real life. My project ranges from developing stealthy material for defense systems, to optimization of the semiconductor fabrication process. Recently, I started looking at ways to license the technology that I developed throughout my graduate studies to implement knowledge not only through the paper, but also to add value to the world.
Daniel Lim Research Talk
Stephanie graduated Valedictorian from North Carolina State University in the Spring of 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. During her undergraduate career, she worked on an array of research projects including: helping design a low-cost air quality measurement device for developing countries under Dr. Andrew Grieshop, augmenting the creation of an exoskeleton to improve hand dexterity of stroke survivors under Dr. Katherine Saul, and assisting in the development of an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy system under Dr. Darrell Schlom.
Stephanie is now a PhD student and Berkeley Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. She plans on earning her doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Biomechanics and a minor in Neuroscience. Currently, she is part of Sohn Lab which conducts research in the areas of cancer and stem cell biology. Under the guidance of Dr. Lydia Sohn, Stephanie hopes to use brain organoids to enhance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
I want to empower older adults and those with manual conditions, like arthritis, to understand how their hand function changes as a result of aging, and/or the progress of their conditions.
Hand grip strength, pinch strength, joint range of motion, and skin tactility, are the most common ways to characterize hand ability, with the additional benefit of being great markers for general well-being. However, these are not frequently measured, and the tools required can be inaccessible to individuals.
My project aims to facilitate access to these hand parameters by merging custom smartphone applications with cutting edge tactile sensors. As a result, I hope that everyday activities of digital living, like sending text messages, accessing the internet, and making phone calls, will be transformed into clinical metrics that can track progress of hand functionality over time, giving individuals ownership and an understanding of their own health.
