Rui Ouyang

I am a PhD student at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. My PhD advisor is Prof. Roberto Rigobon, where my research will focus on machine learning applied to counter human trafficking.

I have previously worked with Prof. Robert Howe at Harvard University, Prof. Robert Platt at Northeastern University, and Prof. Edward Adelson at MIT. Prior to graduate school, I worked with Dr. Albert Wang in the MIT Biomimetics Lab (headed by Prof. Sangbae Kim). I also worked at the bioinformatics startup Curoverse and the Personal Genome Project, both under Dr. Alexander Zaranek.

In a prior life, my friend Cappie Pomeroy and I founded a startup, NarwhalEdu, focused on combining online education and hands-on hardware kits. I escaped with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. I grew up in Georgia, USA.

Email (remove the "spam")  /  GitHub  /  LinkedIn

Research

My background in both mechanical engineering and computer science is reflected in my work below.

Awards

I received the Google Women Techmakers Scholarship in 2017.

Other Projects

Classwork and unpublished work below. Please see my engineering portfolio for more details / more projects. I also keep an informal blog at orangenarwhals.

Throwdini: Throwing with Orientation by Reinforcement Learning of Physics Model Errors

(Unpublished work) I implemented robotic arm system capable of throwing with orientation (see realtime video for example). A simple ballistics model is used to calculate initial throw parameter. The residual term is calculated with a learned model on real-life data, and accounts different grasp locations along the axis of the object.

6.832: Inertia Wheel Inverted Pendulum

Using a flywheel to invert a pendulum. In simulation, we derive the equations of motion and apply LQR and region of attraction analyses for our system. We also build a hardware system from scratch and implement swingup and stabilization using PD and bang-bang control. I did the analysis and controls and co-built the hardware system.

CS279r: PaperSignals Parameterized

PaperSignals are build-it-yourself printable robots that a user can control with their voice. This study presents an open-source browser-based user interface (written in Python) aimed at allowing users to easily customize existing Papersignal templates. I cowrote the Flask webapp and built the physical prototypes.

CS223: Efficient Algorithms for Detecting & Classifying Credit Communities

How can creditworthiness of individuals be established in the absence of reliable data? We investigated the propagation of trust scores when individuals are asked to recommend other borrowers, and the resulting error and discovery rates. I wrote the simulation code for our results using NetworkX.

Activism

I am also an activist and a feminist.

Opinion: Wearing masks must become mandatory

Wrote op-ed about mandating masks in my home state, Georgia. Written in mid-May, the article was published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in July when rising cases caused dozens of states to mandate masks. Two weeks later, our State Governor Kemp sued Atlanta City Mayor Bottoms to end her city-wide mask mandate.

Opinion: Shut Ga. down now to save lives, economy

Co-wrote op-ed supporting a shutdown of my home state, Georgia. I compared our state’s situation to other countries such as Italy, and we explained how the economic and healthcare interests were aligned in the long run. The article was published online in the Atlanta Journal Constitution shortly before the state shutdown on April 1st.

#ShutdownGA Campaign

I created a petition to shut down my home state (Georgia) and got 80k+ signatures in 2 weeks. I sent it to my governor and federal representatives. I also did GA-specific hospital capacity analysis and emailed it to over >200 state legislators and city mayors. I made a website to coordinate volunteers.