Sadie Askari
Ph.D. Student, Intelligent Systems Engineering
With a background in Computer Engineering from Tehran Polytechnic and Sharif University of Technology in Iran, Sadie is currently pursuing a PhD, focusing on intelligent systems. She explores intersections of AI and its societal impacts, emphasizing responsible and equitable applications.
Zhenhua Chen
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Zhenhua received his B.E. in Computer Engineering from Northeastern University (China) in 2012, and started to pursue his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2015. Before he joined IU, he also worked as a software engineer in HappyElements (Beijing) for two years and as an assistant researcher in NLPR (National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Beijing) for one year. His current research focuses on object detection.
Paul Coen
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Paul received his B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2018 and 2019. Following this, he entered industry for 4 years to work on radio frequency machine learning applications. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Indiana University Bloomington. His research interests are around how we can utilize and apply machine learning for event cameras and RF sensors.
Tony Ha
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Tony received B.S. and M.S. degree in Computer Science at Indiana University. He continues his Ph.D. degree at Indiana University, studying computer vision. His research interests include 3D vision, multi-modal learning, and medical image analysis.
Nilambar Halder
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Nilambar completed his B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from United International University (Bangladesh) and joined the Vision Lab in 2023. His research explores how machines perceive human attention and interpret three-dimensional visual environments. He also has a strong interest in robotics and its intersection with visual perception.
Ali Magzari
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Ali received his M.Eng. from the University of British Columbia and B.Sc. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His general research interests lie at the intersection of computer vision and NLP.
Frangil M. Ramirez
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Frangil received his B.Sc. in Mathematics and Information Technology from Cumberland University in 2023, and he started to pursue his Ph.D. in Computer Science at IU in the same year. His main research interest lies in egocentric video understanding, while also interested in generative models and applications to Cognitive Science.
Hiroki Sato
M.S. Student, Computer Science
Hiroki is currently pursuing a Master’s in Computer Science at IU. He completed his bachelor’s degree in music and computer science from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. His research interests are in computer vision and audio signal processing. He is passionate about both computer science and music.
Vibhas Vats
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Vibhas received the M.S. in Data Science from IU in 2021 and the B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Patna, India in 2015. His research involves developing and applying deep learning-based techniques focusing on creating computer vision algorithms to generate and synthesize 3D models of visual scenes from 2D images.
Xizi Wang
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Xizi Wang received her B.E. and M.S. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and started to pursue Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2019. As a master student, she has worked on image classification and object detection. Now her research focus is mainly on egocentric vision analysis and action recognition. During leisure time, she likes to play video games.
Yu Wang
Ph.D. Student, Intelligent Systems Engineering
Yu received his M.E. in Computer Engineering from Jilin University in 2022 and began pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at IU the same year. His research primarily focuses on computer vision, with a current emphasis on audio-visual learning and interpretable artificial intelligence for vision applications.
Ph.D. Student, Intelligent Systems Engineering
Yuchen received his M.S. in Computer Science from Indiana University in 2017 and his B.E. in Software Engineering from Tongji University in 2011. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering with a Statistics minor. He is interested in computer vision research, especially on action recognition and video understanding.
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Ziwei Zhao received his B.S. in Astrophysics from University of Science and Technology of China in 2015, and his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 2017. Currently he is interested in computational photography and video understanding.
Yue Chen
Ph.D. Candidate, Computational Linguistics
Yue is a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University. She majors in Computational Linguistics and minors in Computer Science. Her research interests are interpretability of NLP models, hybrid (neural and symbolic) methods, and artificial emotional intelligence. Before coming back to graduate school for her Ph.D. degree, she worked as a software engineer for Oracle and SUSE Linux. She also took an internship with Interactions LLC and worked on dialogue systems.
Ph.D. Student, Health Informatics
Alexander L. Hayes is a Health Informatics Ph.D. Student working on the Precision Health Initiative. His research interests are in statistical relational artificial intelligence (STARAI), graphical models, open source software; and applying each toward solving real-world health informatics problems. When not doing research he hangs out with his dog, hacks on open source projects, and gets bots to play games for him.
Ph.D. Student, Computer Sci and Cognitive Sci
Sahaj holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from VIT-Vellore (2018) and a Master's in Data Science from Indiana University (2020). He is currently pursuing a dual Ph.D. in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, investigating the intersection of deep learning, cognition, and computational neuroscience. Outside work, he enjoys biking, playing his guitar, and wrangling LLMs.
Zachary Wilkerson
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Zachary is a Ph. D. student at Indiana University majoring in Computer Science. He received his B.A. in Computer Science and Physics from DePauw University in 2020. His research focuses on exploring hybrid AI systems that use deep learning methods for image-based feature generation for retrieval in case-based reasoning models, and he has additional industrial experience as a technology intern with Eli Lilly & Company.
Yudai Hirata
M.S. Student, Computer Science
Yudai received his Bachelor’s in Engineering from the Department of Information and Computer Technology – Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan in 2024. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Computer Science at IU. His research interests are in computer vision, robot learning, and software engineering.
Zachery McCurtain
M.S. Student, Computer Science
Zachery McCurtain is a Undergraduate Computer Science Major with a dual specialization in Artificial Intelligence and Game Development. In 2021 he began his independent study with David Crandall at the IU Computer Vision Lab. He is interested in Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence, especially involving applications in Game Theory.
Aika Noguchi
B.S. Student
Aika is a junior undergraduate studying Biochemistry and East Asian Languages and Cultures. She began research in Dr. Crandall’s lab in early 2025, focusing on human-robot interaction and the role of AI in supporting human well-being. She hopes to integrate her foundation in biochemistry and foreign language learning into approaches to communications in health care using AI
Anna Soorim Kim
B.S. Student, Computer Science
Anna finished up her BS in Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence and is starting on her master’s through IU’s Accelerated Master’s program. She began research with Dr. Crandall in spring 2023, focusing on using computer vision and other technologies to improve social robots. She is interested in using technology for social good.
Danishjeet Singh
B.S. Student
Danishjeet Singh is a Computer Science undergraduate with a dual specialization in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. In 2022 he began to work as a Research Assistant under David Crandall at the IU Computer Vision Lab. He is interested in Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence.
Lucas Snyder
B.S. Student, Computer Science
Lucas Snyder is a junior undergraduate studying Intelligent Systems Engineering with a concentration in Bioengineering. He began working with Dr. Crandall at the start of 2022, performing research focused on animal tracking and data collection. He is interested in similar intersections between computer vision and biology.
Research Intern, Summer 2025
William Valentine is a junior at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology majoring in Computer Science. His research interests lie within the intersection of Social Robotics, Cognitive Science, and Computer Vision. William is a research intern for this lab and IU's R-House for the summer of 2025, working on social robots.