About Me

Political

I support the Palestinian fight for liberation against the Israeli occupation and genocide in Gaza.

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I advocate for labor rights, especially in relation to protecting workers from exploitation, discrimination, and manipulation. I currently organize for Cornell's Graduate Student Union at Cornell Tech, Cornell's NYC graduate tech campus in partnership with the Israel Technion Institute of Technology.

Identities

I feel pretty gender-fluid nowadays. In my explorations of gender identity and expression, I have found that I can take things slowly, at my own pace, without feeling much gender dysphoria. I acknowledge that this privileges me relative to many trans / nonbinary folks. since I can often mask as a cisgender man in unsafe environments to avoid microaggressions, abuse, etc.

I believe in and practice ethical non-monogamy, more specifically polyamory

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I self-identify as neurodivergent.

I self-identify with cyclothymia, a type of mood disorder (received a psychiatric diagnosis in 2021). My cyclothymia manifests itself in regular episodes of depression and occasional hypomania, usually beyond my control.

I also self-identify with traits characteristic of AuDHD - autism spectrum disorder (ASD) co-occurring with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I am actively working with my health practitioners to seek an official evaluation. I am hoping to better understand what such an evaluation process looks like from a health professional / specialist. I would also like to think critically about comparing medical and self diagnosis in relation to external validity / refutability as well as barriers such as high costs, cultural stigmas, and generational differences in mental health awareness / access.

I acknowledge that I self-identify with AuDHD traits as a speaking individual without co-occurring intellectual disabilities. I am able to mask many of my AuDHD-related communication behaviors situationally, privileging me relative to many other folks with AuDHD, autism, or ADHD. This has made it especially difficult for me to figure out whether identifying with AuDHD felt right for me. I feared delegitimizing or drawing inaccurate comparisons to the experiences and accommodations of other AuDHD folks who do not share my privileges. Only recently have I been able to overcome this stigma on what autism and ADHD must publicly present as, able to internalize that these conditions exist on spectrums. I am able to feel more secure in this inclusive model of self-identification nowadays, without feeling the pressure to justify or explain my experiences unless requested.

My ability to mask my gender and disability identities is the only way I have found to take care of myself in many social settings, especially for surviving traditional work/academic environments that do not accommodate sensitively for these identities. However, masking also comes at a cost for me. Beyond finding it hard to be my true self around most people, I also know that masking often leads to extreme exhaustion and intensifies flare-ups of co-morbid symptoms of depression, anxiety, and chronic pain that, at their worst, can incapacitate me. I thank my physical therapist, psychiatrist, and psychotherapist for enabling me to exist through the stresses and challenges of this PhD program.

Academic

I am a leftist, anti-capitalist, and ideologically communist.

I am a 3rd year PhD student in Computer Science at Cornell Tech.

I am advised by Prof. Shiri Azenkot in the Enhancing Ability Lab. I am also a member of the XR Collaboratory.

My current research in human-computer interaction focuses on the intersection of extended /virtual / augmented reality (XR / VR / AR) and mental health + accessibility. My past projects have spanned various application areas such as healthcare, music, and architecture.

Reflections

I feel grateful to be working in this space alongside like-minded collaborators towards what we hope can be meaningful social change. Yet I have learned to feel even more gratitude for people who see things differently, those who cannot help but express surprise, doubt, fear, worry, or criticism in the face of this research field. After all, XR has become largely synonymous with the metaverse and other dystopian visions of late-stage capitalism. I resonate with the opinion that big tech companies and leadership in recent years have done little to inspire hope in collective good, social safety nets, or prioritization of people over profits. I deeply admire those who refuse to just idolize modern day technology. We cannot let "innovation" whitewash or excacerbate the troubling flaws in our current exploitative systems that continue to fail vulnerable populations.

At the same time, I try to remind myself how XR and technology can offer us a change in status quo: good, bad, miniscule, pleasant, horrible, incredible. dystopian, utopian! god shut up dude you don't have to be in such denial that a lot this tech can end up being pretty terrible actually, especially when owned, governed, and allure us with the hope of a better future. For example, I love how XR can blend the physical and virtual worlds of its users, enabling immersive social interaction and expressive collaboration. I appreciate that XR interfaces exist in the same 3D world as us, making digital technology more intuitive and natural for us to use. I enjoy the interdisciplinary nature of XR; it can extend to nearly any social context, including the healthcare and accessibility settings I work in today. I hope to continue working on XR projects with the aim of helping those in need or directly building up the skills to do so.

Previously, I graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science as a member of the Berkeley EECS Honors Program. I worked under the supervision of Prof. Bjoern Hartmann in the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, Prof. Luisa Caldas in the XR Lab, and Dr. Allen Yang in the FHL Vive Center for Enhanced Reality

After finishing my undergraduate in 2021, I deferred my PhD admission to take a gap year. Post COVID burnout, I wanted to catch my breath and work on recuperating my mental health. I later interned as a technical exhibit designer at the National Museum of Mathematics. I was also fortunate enough to have the means to travel to various parts of the world.