NRT PhD Trainees—2021-2022

Cohort starting in 2021-2022

Meiying (Melissa) Chen

Meiying (Melissa) was enrolled in 2021 as a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering, working under Professor Zhiyao Duan in the Audio Information Research (AIR) lab. She has a BMgt and an MPAcc from Shanghai University, and an MSc in data science from the University of Rochester.

Research interests:  Her current research interests are in text-to-speech synthesis and music synthesis, and any topics about audio generation.

LinkedIn Site: Meiying (Melissa) Chen

Jin Dou

Jin has been studying in the Department of Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Edmund Lalor. His current research interest is in exploring language processing in the human brain using quantitative modelling approaches. Jin comes from the University of Southern California with a master’s in Computer Science. In 2018, he acquired experience collaborating with the Microsoft MR Academic and other students to build a multi-user visualization of molecular dynamics in a Mixed Reality environment using Unity 3D. In Fall 2019 Jin collaborated with another student to build a web-based AR mobile application using the 8thWall platform. Since coming to the University of Rochester, he built a virtual research environment for human multisensory cognition research.

Research interests: As a first-year PhD student, Jin’s current research is focused on developing computational approaches to explore mappings between natural language and brain signals. He is excited to dive into his research efforts here at the University of Rochester.

LinkedIn Site: Jin Dou

Erin Driscoll

Erin is a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Rochester, working with Dr. Mark Bocko. She received a MSc degree in ECE from the University of Rochester, and BS/BA degrees in applied math and piano performance from the University of New Hampshire.

Research interests: Erin’s research is in acoustics and audio signal processing, applying partial wavefield coherence theory to problems in acoustics and spatial audio. Her work aims to advance research that has extensive application in AR/VR spatial audio.

LinkedIn Site: Erin Driscoll

Yiwen Fan

Yiwen finished her BS in applied optics in Beijing, China in 2018. She completed her MS and became a PhD student in the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester in 2020. She is now working with Professor Jannick Rolland in freeform optics.

Research interests: Yiwen's research interests include the optical design of AR/VR systems, computing optimization. She has been involved in some projects related to high-accurate numerical calculation with optimized algorithms.

LinkedIn Website: Yiwen Fan

Ali Vosoughi

Ali is a Ph.D. student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Rochester having joined in 2019.  Research Interests: His research is focused on the use of multimodal information. For further details, please visit his website.

Website: Ali Vosoughi - PhD Candidate

LinkedIn Website: Ali Vosoughi

Qinqin Xiao

"Qinqin is an EdD candidate in the Warner School of Education's Program of Teaching and Curriculum supervised by Dr. Raffaella Borasi. She has 15 years of experience teaching grades K-12. She is also pursuing a master's degree in Data Science. She received the NSF Student Support Award after co-authoring a few research publications on AR applications in 2021. Research Interests: Qinqin's research interests revolve around AR/VR curriculum design, STEM K-12 education, and professional development."

LinkedIn: Qinqin Xiao 肖琴琴  - Research Assistant

Pei Xiong

Pei completed her BS in optical and electronic engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. She is now a PhD student in optics at the University of Rochester.

Research interests: Pei’s research is focused on the combiner optics for AR systems, especially on the pupil expansion methods for the waveguide-based combiners.

University of Rochester Website: Pei Xiong

Erqian Xu

Erqian is a PhD student in the Program of Teaching, Curriculum and Change under the supervision of Dr. Raffaella Borasi, along with the advanced certificate program in data science at the University of Rochester. Prior to joining the University, she received a master’s degree from Harvard University and held a teaching position there for six years.

Research interests: Erqian is passionate about leveraging augmented and virtual reality to enhance children’s literacy and social development, and train novice teachers for better instructional quality, especially among regions with imbalanced resources.

Website: Erqian Xu

Xiaofei Zhou

Xiaofei started joined the Department of Computer Science at the University of Rochester in 2019, under the supervision of Dr. Zhen Bai. She completed her BS in industrial engineer at Tsinghua University and MS in educational technology and learning sciences at Carnegie Mellon University.

Research interests: Transcending learning for people through design and technology, especially creating innovative, interactive systems to help people develop complex knowledge, and ultimately realize their own life values. Currently, Xiaofei is working on how ML can empower scientific discovery in K-12 STEM education for novice learners.

LinkedIn Site: Xiaofei Zhou

Personal Website: http://zhouxf.com/