Teaching & Outreach

Teaching:

Instructor, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Spring 2026 | DATA 481: Data Science Practicum; DATA 766: Leading Research Teams [Post]

Teaching Assistant, Columbia University, New York, NY

Spring 2023 | ELEN 6908: Embedded AI

Spring 2021 | ELEN 6767: Internet Economics, Engineering, and Society

Fall 2019 | IoT — Intelligent and Connected Systems

Spring 2018 | ELEN 6767: Internet Economics, Engineering, and Society

Selected Outreach:

April 11th, 2026 | UNC Science EXPO

Students from the NIcE X Lab at UNC Chapel Hill recently demonstrated their latest research at the UNC Science Expo, presenting two exciting ongoing projects at the intersection of embedded AI, wearable sensing, and digital health:

– A wrist-worn physiological sensing platform for cardiac state estimation and gesture recognition.
– A privacy-preserving, on-device conversational AI therapist, designed to support mental wellness while ensuring user data remains secure through local, on-device processing.

From 11 AM to 4 PM, our students enthusiastically engaged with a diverse audience—including kids, teenagers, and adults from all backgrounds—translating complex research into accessible, interactive experiences. Their passion, clarity, and commitment to outreach truly embodied the spirit of community-centered science. It was especially inspiring to hear so many young visitors share their excitement about becoming future computer scientists, engineers, and digital health innovators.

Aligned with the mission of the UNC School of Data Science and Society to drive positive societal impact through data science, our work highlights how cutting-edge AI and sensing technologies can be translated into real-world solutions that improve health, well-being, and accessibility.

At NIcE X Lab, we aim to continuously advance pervasive, proactive, and personalized AIoT systems and wearable technologies for everyone, and events like this inspire us to further connect our research with the communities we serve.

I am incredibly proud of my students for their dedication, energy, and impact. Sabrina G., Siying Chen, Arth Vijaywargia, Xiyun Hu, and Jingxia Jiang.

And special thanks to Kristen Young for helping set up our tent and making binary bracelets with the kids!