Mentorship

Working on projects was the major way to grow my skills during my undergrad.

I am looking for motivated undergrads to work with on several compilers and libraries projects. If you are interested, please contact me. The potential topics involve CUDA code generation and optimization, CUDA kernel development and tuning especially for graph neural network models.

Here is a writing sample (UIUC netid required) to take a look at what to expect from this program and the nature of study in our domain.

Here is another project proposal (UIUC netid required) I wrote for the ECE 508 course I TAed this semester.

Why seeking mentorship / undergrad research experience?

Before my elaboration here, I recommend you reading the prospective student page on our group site. It gives great discussion on critical points such as why pursing graduate studies and what a student could expect to develop for their career.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of benefits I can imagine that you may gain.

  • Develop engineering skillsets by solving real problems, which is the most effective way
  • Check whether a research career or an engineering career better fits you
  • Check whether this direction is what you desire most to pursue in your career
    • Remember that your work is non-binding. It is reasonable and not uncommon for an undergrad to try several directions to determine which to pursue in his career.
  • Exchange ideas and learn from your mentor and other collaborators
  • Get advice from your senior peers applying to grad school, coursework, or anything
  • Gain advice and recognition from active professors and/or full-time researchers in the projects
  • Learn about the eminent concerns and vision companies in our collaborations, e.g., HPE, Amazon, etc., have

From my side, when seeking to become a mentor, I expect the following benefits.

  • Exchange ideas; improve thinking and thoughts on my projects through discussing and advocating
    • Even learning by teaching is more effective than learning by oneself.
  • Get some manpower while my advisor is not admitting new graduate students
  • Joyfulness when tutoring my younger peers
  • Through managing projects, prepare myself for a senior position in my career in the long run