People

Graduate Students

Headshot of Kai Malcolm, a man in suit and tie standing in front of Rice University building

Kai Malcolm is a PhD Student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Rice University. His research is focused on developing federated learning models for personalized and privacy-preserving human-computer interfaces. Kai’s research interests broadly include data privacy, (distributed) machine learning, multi-task learning, neural interfaces, and neural control.

A white woman with very short brown hair smiles outside a Rice University building

Lauren Peterson is a PhD student in the Electrical & Computer Engineering program at Rice University. Her research interests include analyzing dynamical systems and developing data-driven models to improve healthcare accessibility. Past projects include interpreting how humans use dynamical systems with different interfaces, and using convex optimization methods to improve real-time decoding of brain activity.

A headshot of Mikayla Deehring, a white woman with long brown hair standing in front of a light blue background.

Mikayla Deehring is a graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Rice University. Her research is focused on wearable devices for monitoring and rehabilitating chronic conditions. Her research interests broadly include equity and accessibility in healthcare, machine learning, and multimodal health informatics.

Undergraduate Students

Tony Martinez is an undergraduate student at Rice University majoring in Computer Science, focusing on systems and computer engineering. His interests include playing the saxophone, creating puzzles, and late-night driving.

Philo Katzman is a senior at Rice University studying Cognitive Science and Neuroscience. He is broadly interested in systems integrating biological activity with electronics and aims to pursue a career in this field. During his free time, he enjoys backpacking, climbing, basketball, and solving puzzles.

Asian female with brown eyes and brown hair.

Chloe Park is an undergraduate student at Rice University majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Data Science. She is deeply passionate about how technology can be leveraged to help others and create a positive impact.

A South Asian female with straight black hair smiles against a white background wearing a black formal top with ruffled sleeves that cut off at the shoulder and a gold necklace.

Kaylah Patel is a senior at Rice University graduating in December 2024. She is majoring in Cognitive Computational Science and minoring in Data Science and Biochemistry/ Cell Biology. After graduation, she plans on working full-time in data science and machine learning while completing a Master’s in Computer Science. Her interests include dance, walking, and learning new languages (currently Spanish, Hindi, and Gujarati)!

Anya Sathyajit is a junior at Rice University working toward a double major in computer science and neuroscience. After graduation, she plans to work at the intersection of technology and healthcare, leveraging her dual background in computer science and neuroscience to contribute to innovative solutions in medical technology and patient care. Beyond her professional pursuits, she enjoys staying active through basketball and hiking.

Alumni

An Asian man with dark brown hair looks straight ahead at the camera. His expression is neutral.

Steven Chen is an undergraduate student in the Department of Biomechatronics Engineering at National Taiwan University. His current research project is developing a demo for simple gesture recognizing. His research interests are human-computer interfaces , bio-sensors, and signal processing.