About me

I graduated with a M.S. in Computer Science from Lehigh University, worked in the DASH Lab with Prof. Yu Yang.

My research there focused on human-computer interaction, and human-AI interaction. We developed the GIDEA framework, a 3D simulation platform built with Unity for Mac, and Vision Pro, designed to replicate and evaluate human-assistant interactions in a controlled yet realistic virtual environment.

I am also working with Prof. Zilong Pan starting from Nov 2024 on StemPal Web Pack, aiming to leverage AI on helping students learning and instructors teaching.

I am a curious and fast learner passionate about building human-centered and adaptive AI systems that enhance everyday experiences. My research interests include human-AI interaction, behavior- and context-powered personalization, and intelligent assistant frameworks that understand users' goals, preferences, and routines to offer timely, natural, and context-aware support—whether at home, at work, or on the move. I aim to design AI technologies that integrate seamlessly into daily life, improving how people interact with devices, environments, and each other.

News

Nov 2025

Paper Under Review at MobiSys '26

Nov 2025

PeerSpace Selected for Phase II of the Tool Competition

Oct 2025

Paper Accepted at NeurIPS Workshop '25 Oral Presentation

Oct 2025

Paper Accepted at IMWUT '25

Oct 2025

Paper Presented at AECT '25

May 2025

Graduated with Master of Science in Computer Science from Lehigh University

Apr 2025

Paper presented at I-DISC Faculty Forum & Student Poster Session 25'

Mar 2025

Paper Accepted at ACM SenSys '25

May 2023

Graduated with Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Lehigh University

CV

Education

  1. Lehigh University

    Aug 2023 — May 2025
    • Master of Science majoring in Computer Science
  2. Lehigh University

    Aug 2019 — May 2023

    Bachelor of Science majoring in Computer Science and Engineering

Publication

  1. After Talking with 1,000 Personas: Learning Smarter Assistants From Large-Scale Persona Interactions

    Ziyi Xuan, Yiwen Wu, Zhaoyang Yan, Vinod Namboodiri, Yu Yang

    MobiSys '26 Under Review
  2. Design and Evaluation of Generative Agent-based Platform for Human-Assistant Interaction Research: A Tale of 10 User Studies

    Ziyi Xuan, Yiwen Wu, Xuhai Xu, Vinod Namboodiri, Mooi Choo Chuah, Yu Yang

    IMWUT '25
  3. Shaping Smart Personal Assistants through Generative Interactive Environments for Scalable Design and Evaluation

    Ziyi Xuan, Yiwen Wu, Vinod Namboodiri, Yu Yang

    NeurIPS Workshop '25 Oral Presentation
  4. Demo Abstract: GIDEA: Generative AI-Powered Interactive Design and Evaluation Platform for Assistant Agent Research

    Ziyi Xuan, Yiwen Wu, Yu Yang

    SenSys '25
  5. Exploring human-centered design and usability testing of MathPal, a generative AI agent for math learning

    Zilong Pan, Yiwen Wu, Adam Wax, Benjamin Rainey, Faatiha Kalam, Jolie Goldstein, Zilu Jiang, Chenglu Li

    Presented at AECT '25

Experience

  1. Research Assistant in DASH Lab

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Feb 2024 - Present
    • Developing an LLM framework that fine-tunes models based on user behaviors and conversation logs, incorporating a memory-based technique to retain personalization with a compact model size and on-device efficiency.
    • Developed the GIDEA system, a cross-platform (Mac and Vision Pro) 3D simulation environment that integrates LLM-generated human behaviors with sensor-driven contexts to replicate and evaluate assistant-user interactions.
    • Developed a ReactJS web application to visualize and compare scooter dispatching algorithms for over 1,000 e-scooters, incorporating real-time backend dispatching data to simulate dynamically.
  2. Research Assistant on Math Pal Web Pack

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Oct 2024 - Present
    • Developed a ReactJS website and a Chrome extension offering topic-specific videos and instructor-curated practice questions, leveraging the OpenAI API with configurated prompts to deliver hints instead of answers.
    • Enabled the extension to dynamically provide context-aware assistance by adapting to the student's current learning level, including the specific question type, subject area, and challenge level presented on the website.
    • Implemented shared authentication to provide seamless access between the website and the Chrome extension.
    • Migrated from Firebase to a self-hosted Supabase with PostgreSQL database, enabling secure storage and retrieval of user conversation histories for improved data ownership and oversight.
  3. CS Consultant on PeerSpace Web App

    UC Irvine, Remote Jun 2025 - Present
    • Designed and implemented an integrated classroom platform, consolidating communication, group management, and course materials into a single web app to reduce app switching and learning overhead.
    • Developed real-time communication and collaboration features-including in-app chat, Zoom scheduling, email notifications, and calendar services—supported by a PostgreSQL backend for scalability and user experience.
  4. Full Stack Developer Intern

    Themis AI, Remote May 2025 - Sep 2025
    • Contributed to a local AI legal assistant platform, offering legal support and case analysis.
    • Built CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions to automate deployment for both frontend and backend services.
    • Supported DevOps operations, websites managements, chatbot web application, and the company website.
  5. Research Assistant on Web Crawling Project

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Nov 2024 - May 2025
    • Built automated data crawling pipelines using Selenium and BeautifulSoup for scraping over 1,000 records.
    • Implemented an auto-resume feature to recover interrupted scripts and minimize data loss.
    • Configured email notifications to alert errors or completion status, ensuring transparency and tracking.
    • Integrated data cleaning into the pipeline for seamless preprocessing, automated uploads to Dropbox for centralized storage and easy access, and set up periodic execution to ensure consistent operation.
  6. Objects Detection Android Application

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Sep 2024 - Dec 2024
    • Developed an Object Detection app on Mobile Device.
    • Implemented both mobile inference and cloud inference with YoloV5 model.
  7. AI Maze Game Project

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Sep 2024 - Dec 2024
    • Developed a turn-based maze game as the platform.
    • Implemented Minimax with Alpha-Beta Pruning to optimize decision-making in adversarial situations.
    • Used Monte Carlo Tree Search for simulating long-term strategies and evaluating potential moves.
    • Applied Deep Q-Network for self-learning through AI self-play, improving strategy over time.
  8. Travel Time Estimator

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Jan 2024 - May 2024
    • Built and trained a neural network model to estimate travel times based on historical data in San Francisco.
    • Implemented data preprocessing techniques and utilized MSE loss function and Adam optimizer.
  9. Self Navigated 3D printed Drone

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Jan 2024 - May 2024
    • Designed and 3D printed a single-axis dual-rotor drone using Autodesk and Arduino.
    • The drone was able to automatically detect targets, navigate routes, and control its height, direction, and speed.
  10. Traffic Accident Pattern Analysis Project

    Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Aug 2023 - Dec 2023
    • Conducted a comprehensive analysis of traffic accident severity with data in the United States (2016-2023).
    • Processed, standardized and cleaned the dataset and engineered features with PySpark.
    • Built and trained a Random Forest Model to evaluate complex patterns and relationships.
  11. Full Stack Developer Intern

    Vistacom Inc., Allentown, PA Jan 2022 - Dec 2022
    • Developed a cloud-based web application for video chatting between patients and nurses in a hospital setting.
    • Utilized ReactJS for the frontend, SQLite and Gradle for the backend.
  12. Lehigh University Study Aboard Program

    Shanghai, China/Suzhou, China Feb 2020 - Jun 2021
    • Fudan University(Shanghai, China).
    • Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University(Suzhou, China).

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