About Me

I will join the Computer Science Department at UIUC as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2024. I am also joining Systems Research@Google as a Visiting Faculty researcher. Prior to UIUC, I obtained a PhD from the University of Michigan in 2023. During my PhD, I worked as a visiting researcher@Meta AI.

Research Interests: Machine Learning Systems, Cloud Computing, and Networked Systems

My research brings together machine learning, systems, and computer networking to develop practical systems for efficient pervasive ML and data analytics in the cloud and up to the planetary scale. My systems are adopted by big companies such as Meta, LinkedIn, and Cisco.

Prospective student: I am looking for highly self-motivated students and (remote) interns who are excited about ML and Systems research. Join us to work on exciting projects together!

News

  • [10/2023] Wins David J. Kuck CSE Dissertation Prize!
  • [09/2023] Auxo (clustered federated learning) accepted to SoCC'2023
  • [05/2023] Selected as ML and Systems Rising Stars!
  • [03/2023] AdaEmbed (efficient large model pruning) accepted to OSDI'2023!
  • [03/2023] Fed-ensemble (personalized federated learning) accepted to IEEE ASE'2023
  • [03/2023] Win the Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement!
  • [01/2023] CCS (efficient ML training) accepted to ICLR'2023
  • [01/2023] Egeria (efficient ML training) accepted to EuroSys'2023

Recent Publications

(Full List)

Students

In the past, I have been very fortunate to do research with many wonderful students at SymbioticLab.

  • Xiangfeng Zhu (UM BSc → UW PhD student)
  • Yinwei Dai (UM MSc → Princeton PhD student)
  • Yile Gu (UM MSc → UW PhD student)
  • Yuxuan Zhu (UM BSc → UIUC PhD student)
  • Chengsong Zhang (UM BSc → UIUC MSCS student)
  • Xuye He (UM BSc → CMU Master's)

Selected Honors & Awards

  • David J. Kuck CSE Dissertation Prize (2023)
  • ML and Systems Rising Stars (MLCommons 2023)
  • Richard and Eleanor Towner Prize (UM College of Engineering 2023)
  • Finalist, Meta PhD Research Fellowship (AI & AISys Track 2022)
  • Best Paper Award (ResilientFL'21)
  • Distinguished Artifact Award Winner (OSDI'21)

Professional Service

  • Technical Program Committee
    • 2025: EuroSys
    • 2024: ATC
    • 2023: DistributedML, FL workshop@ICML
  • Reviewer for NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR