Sep 2026–present
Postdoctoral Associate
UT San Antonio · College of AI, Cyber and Computing
Academic background
Experience
Academic appointments, education, research support, and selected recognition.
Appointments
Aug 2024–Aug 2026
Postdoctoral Associate
University at Buffalo · Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science
AI team lead for the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education and the Center for Early Literacy and Responsible AI; mentor: Jinjun Xiong.
2019–2024
Graduate Research Assistant
Penn State · Natural Language Processing Lab
Department of Computer Science and Engineering; advisor: Rebecca J. Passonneau.
Feb–Aug 2019
Research Intern
Baidu Research · Big Data Lab
Mentor: Jun Huan.
Education
2019–2024
Ph.D., Computer Science
Pennsylvania State University
Advisor: Rebecca J. Passonneau. Dissertation: Automated and Semi-Automated Assessment of STEM Reasoning Questions.
2012–2016
B.S., Computer Science and Engineering
Nankai University
Research support
Projects I have contributed to, with my role stated for each. The dates below describe the funded projects.
AI-supported parent coaching
Organization for Autism Research · $50,000
Parent-implemented communication interventions for children with autism.
National AI Institute for Exceptional Education
National Science Foundation · Award 2229873
AI development with Jinjun Xiong’s team at the University at Buffalo.
Center for Early Literacy and Responsible AI
Institute of Education Sciences · Award R305C240046
AI tools for early literacy, developed with literacy researchers and educators.
Project CLASSIFIES
National Science Foundation · IUSE Award 2236150
NLP algorithm development and technical proposal contributions with Rebecca J. Passonneau.
Interactive e-books for children
Nittany AI Challenge · Penn State · $5,000
Selected recognition
2024
Best Doctoral Dissertation in an AI-Related Discipline Award
2018
Best Paper Nominee
China Conference on Information Retrieval
2016
Best Demo Paper Nominee
ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management
2014–2015
Nankai University Fellowship
Nankai University