Principal Investigator
Jonathan is an Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering 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: building control algorithms for closed-loop neuromuscular and brain-computer interfaces.
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: increasing the performance and the generalization ability of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and integrating BCIs into daily life to make life better.
Fun: basketball, cycling, skating, and cooking
LinkedIn | Google Scholar
yanxu2015[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
MS and post-bachelors
MS CS, 2024-
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
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
MS, CS, 2023-
BS in CS, UCLA, 2023
Research interests: embodied AI and robotics, VLM, human-in-the-loop ML, applied NLP
Fun: basketball, paddle boarding, reading, adventurous foodie
bonnieliu2002[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Post BS, MS EE, 2025-
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.
Post BS, 2025-
BS in CS, UCLA, 2025
Research interests:
Fun:
mycal[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
MS ECE, 2022-
BE in Ocean Engineering & Technology, 2024
Research interests:
Fun:
yuanyuyang[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:
Fun:
sarahdarzacq[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Shreyas Kaasyap
ECE, 2022-
Research interests: machine learning, particularly with applications to biology and neuroscience. His past work involved applying machine learning to CT scans from pre-modern and modern data to identify structural differences between them.
Fun: playing basketball, chess, as well as playing the guitar and piano, and is an active officer of the UCLA ACM ICPC team.
skaasyap[at]g[dot]ucla[dot]edu
Matthew Li
ECE, 2024-
Research interests:
Fun:
matthewli[at]ucla[dot]edu
Iris Shen
ECE, 2022-
Research interests: neuroscience, signal processing
Fun: reading, music, paleontology, classics
ishen[at]ucla[dot]edu
Ali Shreif
ECE, 2024-
Research interests:
Fun:
alimshreif[at]g[dot]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
Shannon Wang
CS, 2022-
Research interests: algorithms, brain-computer interfaces, and machine learning, especially in applications relating to robotics and prosthetics.
Fun: singing, dancing, playing the guitar, and exploring new places.
LinkedIn
shannonwang[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
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