Beyond engineering
The rest of it
I'm a pianist who builds robots. Neither one is a break from the other.
What I like about engineering is the same thing I like about music and writing: you work at something small and specific for a long time, and eventually it becomes something a person can actually use or feel. Practicing a passage until it's right, revising a poem until the line lands, and re-running a test until the failure makes sense are the same activity to me.
I was born in Chengdu and speak Mandarin and English fluently, with conversational American Sign Language. I'm happiest working on problems that sit between people and systems — how technology reaches the communities that need it, and how to make technical spaces ones where more people feel they belong.
01 What I spend time on
Outside the lab
Piano & music
I study through New England Conservatory Prep. Music is where I learned that repetition isn't boring — it's the mechanism. I'll replay one passage until it's exactly right, which my family has learned to tune out.
Writing & poetry
I write about identity, climate, and community, and perform spoken word. The stage taught me to hold an audience; the page taught me to keep cutting. Read a poem.
Mentoring
Teaching younger students is one of my favorite things — partly for the moment something clicks, partly because explaining an idea is how I find out whether I understand it. G.L.O.W. came out of that.
Reading
Fiction and poetry that feel true. A few favorites: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and Mary Oliver. I'll never turn down a recommendation.
Staying active
Volleyball, running, anything that gets me moving. I think better when my body is in motion, and I'm a firm believer in post-practice snacks.
Cooking & travel
Chengdu snacks, dumplings, and whatever my family is making. I also love losing an afternoon in a museum — art, history, science, all of it.
02 People
Family & friends
03 On repeat
Currently listening
Take a Bite
Beabadoobee
A Dream With a Baseball Player
Faye Webster
Transform
Daniel Caesar
04 Small things
Quirks
- I color-code everything — notes, calendars, slide decks. If it can be a rainbow, it will be.
- I carry a small notebook for ideas and lines for poems. You never know.
- I collect quotes that hit. They end up on sticky notes and in slides.
- I'm genuinely obsessed with making good presentations. Clear design plus a clear story.
- I have a soft spot for pink design details, which you may have noticed.
- I will never say no to dumplings.
What I care about
Community — showing up for people and building spaces where everyone can contribute. Curiosity — I'm never done learning. Resilience — the actual skill in engineering is trying again after it breaks. Mentorship — passing on what I was given. And equity in STEM: making sure girls and underrepresented students see themselves in these fields and have the support to stay.