News

We are so happy to welcome a new visiting Student, Teru Nagamori, joining MCL this fall. Here is a quick interview with Teru:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and your research interests?

I’m Teru Nagamori from Japan. I’m a master’s student at Tokyo Metropolitan University in Tokyo, Japan, and I’m visiting MCL for a month as a short-term exchange student. My research interest is to protect machine learning (ML) models from exploitation and to preserve personal visual information (e.g. human’s face, car license plate) on images used for training and testing ML models. These fields are called access control and privacy-preserving.
Also, I’ve worked at a company as a software engineer intern for a year and a few months, so I like to develop web services with Python, Vue, React, and so on.

2. What is your impression about MCL and USC?

First of all, I felt USC’s campus is so huge and beautiful. I wanted to spend the rest of my master’s program on this campus. I also felt MCL is a good environment too. Members are so kind, and each research is so interesting. While I’m staying here, I would like to take a bunch of knowledge and use it for my research when I return to Japan.

3. What is your future expectation and plan in MCL?

I have just a month to stay here, so what I can do is limited. So, I’ll research face recognition with encrypted images to expand my research. In addition, I would like to know many things from other members about not only things related to research but also culture and so on through having lunch or hanging out with them.

We are so happy to welcome a new graduate member, Catherine Aurelia Christie Alexander, joining MCL this summer. Here is a quick interview with  Catherine:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and your research interests?

My name is Catherine Aurelia Christie Alexander. I am a graduate student at USC, pursuing my Master’s in Electrical Engineering, specializing in Signal and Image Processing. My research interests include Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Signal Processing and Biomedical Imaging. 

2. What is your impression about MCL and USC?

 USC’s diversity and huge network is very impressive. There are many resources on and off campus that are very helpful and help one grow into an individual ready to face the world. MCL is one such place that has seen the growth of many students. The lab is full of enthusiastic, focused, and goal-driven students guided by Professor Kuo, who is very dedicated and inspiring. There is so much to learn from each person. Seminar sharing sessions give an overview of research in the lab and are very informative and encouraging. 

3.What is your future expectation and plan in MCL?

As a continuation of my summer research, I will be working with biomedical images, specifically on nuclei segmentation, and hope to develop skills and knowledge in this field. I would also like to contribute green AI solutions to the field of healthcare as a part of MCL. I look forward to connecting with all the members and having a great learning experience!

We are so happy to welcome a new graduate member,  Zijing Chen, joining MCL this summer. Here is a quick interview with Zijing:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and your research interests?

My name is Zijing Chen, and I am a second year graduate student here at USC pursuing an Electrical Engineering MS degree, with a focus on Machine Learning and Data Science. In the past, I have created and participated in several projects involving machine learning, such as traffic anomaly analysis and data fraud detection projects. Apart from academics, I enjoy playing music and painting during my free time.

2. What is your impression about MCL and USC?

MCL is an impressive lab consisting of many intelligent and approachable people, fostering a friendly and supportive environment. The amount of help I have received from the lab members and the guidance from Professor Kuo allows for a good research and learning experience. I look forward to knowing more about MCL members and working with them in the future.

3. What is your future expectation and plan in MCL?

So far, and for the rest of this summer, I will be researching demosaicing using green learning and the development of the LNT3 model. I look forward to making connections with other MCL members and facing more challenges in the future.

We are so happy to welcome a new graduate member, Gagan Ellath, joining MCL this summer. Here is a quick interview with Gagan:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and your research interests?

My name is Gagan. I am a 2nd-year Graduate student pursuing my Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering. My research interests include Image Processing, Machine Learning, Computer Networks, and Operating Systems.

I am also interested in learning the underlying implementation of complex machine learning algorithms such as GANs and Transformer models and why they work well.

2. What is your impression about MCL and USC?

Doing my Master’s Degree at USC is a great experience. There are people from different regions and cultures who you interact with and help you see different perspectives.

As for MCL, Professor Kuo and all the students currently working in MCL are very smart, the weekly seminars showcase how much work goes into each research topic, and it also helps me

think about different solutions for my research problem.

3. What is your future expectation and plan in MCL?

I want to publish a research paper on adversarial attacks in the green learning pipeline, and in the process, I would like to understand the robustness of the green learning model.

I would also like to interact and get to know everyone from the Lab and learn as much as possible from them.

We are so happy to welcome the summer intern of MCL, Tiankai Yang. Here is an interview with Tiankai:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and your research interests?

I am Tiankai Yang, a second-year graduate student at USC. My research journey began five years ago. During undergraduate study, I focused on AI operation (AIOps). After one and a half years of hard work, I became a main member of the project in my fourth year. Despite the challenges, I found machine learning and deep learning fascinating then as well as now. However, I soon realized that my basic knowledge was insufficient, which led me to choose Machine Learning and Data Science as my major for graduate study. Currently, I am interested in exploring both practical and theoretical topics related to machine learning.

2. What is your impression about MCL and USC?

At USC, I met great professors and learned from the well-designed graduate courses . It helps me build a strong foundation in machine learning. The MCL group is outstanding and motivated. Professor Kuo and senior students set excellent role models for me with their passion for achieving research goals. Also, the MCL community feels like a big family where people share interesting experiences and learn from each other. It is my pleasure to be part of this group.

3. What is your future expectation and plan in MCL?

I expect to achieve good results on my edge detection project this summer. If possible, I would like to learn about generative AI in green learning, and explore interpretable and reliable machine learning solutions for real scenarios. I also look forward to building lasting relationships with the talented individuals in the lab.