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Hi, I am Kevin

Tse-kai Chan

Undergraduate at University of California, San Diego

Hi, I am Tse-kai (Kevin) Chan. I’m a second-year CS major and Regents Scholar at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). I’m a motivated student interested in emerging and innovative technologies. Currently, I research RL/Robotics in Prof. Hao Su’s Lab and work on AI/VR software at Qualcomm Institute. I have solid programming experience in Java and Python, and moderate experience in C++, JavaScript, and Kotlin. In my projects and internships, I have used Git, PyTorch, Docker, Unreal Engine, React.js, LaTeX, Simulink, etc., and have experience in research, deep learning, reinforcement learning, computer vision, and android/VR/web developments. Besides being a student, I’m a competitive programmer, researcher, developer, and innovator.

UC San Diego

Experiences

1
Research and Development Intern
Qualcomm Institute, UC San Diego

April 2023 - Present, San Diego, California

Team: Historic Metahuman

Responsibilities:
  • Co-developed interactive 3D avatars of historical figures in Unreal Engine 5, driven by large language models and end-to-end text-to-speech/face pipeline. Implemented speaker-tracking module for webcam and multi-player VR. The cyber-archeology project serves to preserve and educate cultural heritage.
  • Developed a dynamic real-time processing audio-to-face pipeline that receives input from text-to-speech, uses Audio2Face with Rest API to simulate facial movements from audio, and renders on a 3D avatar. Developed a multi-speaker tracking model to drive a Metahuman’s attention and face/body motion using Google MediaPipe.
  • Researching lightweight, attention-based residual neural network models that process real-time text/audio/visual data to simulate personalized facial blendshapes and body/hand gestures for conversational Metahumans.
  • Skills: Unreal Engine 5, NVIDIA Omniverse Audio2Face, Python, PyTorch, LMDB, Google Mediapipe, Docker, Kubernetes
Undergraduate Researcher
SU Lab, UC San Diego

June 2023 - Present, San Diego, California

Advisor: Professor Hao Su

Responsibilities:
  • Researching embodied AI and demo-guided deep reinforcement learning methods.
  • Used Python and various deep learning/RL libraries to benchmark various state-of-the-art demonstration-guided deep RL methods, including RLPD, IQL, DDPG+HER, etc, on ManiSkill2, D4RL and Meta-world tasks. Performed experiments on Kubernetes cluster using Docker.
  • Skills: Research, Python, Gymnasium, PyTorch, Tensorflow, Google JAX, Deep RL Algorithms, Docker, Kubernetes
2
3
Software Engineer Intern
Nearal

July 2022 - Feb 2022, San Jose, California

Team: Nearal Android Software

Responsibilities:
  • Developed various features for Nearal’s Android application, including a dynamic onboarding screen, a floating login interface, and an improved sign-up process, using Kotlin and Android Studio.
  • Refined multiple app fragments, ensuring optimal functionality for both logged-in and logged-out users, and resolved critical issues such as photo display inconsistencies and profile identification.
  • Skills: Kotlin, Android Studio, XML, Git
Software Engineer Intern (Job Shadow)
Cisco

July 2020 - August 2020, San Jose, California

In a high school job shadow, I worked under David Soper, a Technical Marketing Engineer working on Cisco Intersight, Cisco’s product for managing multiple servers.

Responsibilities:
  • Learned industry-specific topics from Cisco employees and executives.
  • Implemented automation for Boot Order Policy in server policy deployment on Cisco Intersight.
  • Skills: Python, Ansible, Git
4

Education

University of California, San Diego
2022 - 2025
B.Sc. in Computer Science, Regents Scholar, Senior Standing
GPA: 3.99 out of 4
Taken Courses
  • CSE 105: Theory of Computability (Enrolled)
  • CSE 110: Software Engineering (Enrolled)
  • CSE 132A: Database System Principles (Enrolled)
  • CSE 275: Graduate Deep Learning for 3-D Data (Enrolled)
  • CSE 152B: Introduction to Computer Vision II
  • CSE 152A: Introduction to Computer Vision I (A+)
  • CSE 190: ML for Music/Audio (A+)
  • CSE 151B: Deep Learning
  • CSE 151A: Introduction to Machine Learning
  • CSE 101: Design and Analysis of Algorithms (A+)
  • CSE 100R: Advanced Data Structures (A+)
  • CSE 30: Computer Organization and Systems Programming (A+)
  • CSE 21: Mathematics for Algorithms and System (A+)
  • CSE 12: Basic Data Structures and Object-Oriented Design (A+)
  • MATH 183: Statistical Methods
Extracurricular Activities
  • Event Lead at ACM AI, ICPC Team Member, Scholar Society
  • Research RL/Robotics at Prof. Hao Su's Lab
  • Work on AI/VR software at Qualcomm Institute
Henry M. Gunn High School
2018-2022
Higher Secondary School Certificate
GPA: 3.98 out of 4
Publications
Taken Courses
  • (Relevant Coursework) Analysis Honors, AP Calculus BC, AP Computer Science A, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C: Mechanics & E/M, AP English Literature, AP US History, AP Spanish.
  • (Dual-enrolled Coursework) Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, Vector Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Discrete Mathematics, Java Programming.
Extracurricular Activities
  • Presidents of Competitive Programming Club (GunnCPC) and Ethics Bowl Club.
  • Chief Organizer of the Bay Area Programming Contest (BAPC) in 2021 and 2022.
  • Published research on Quantum Computing under Dr. Wenchao Xu, now Professor at ETH Zurich.
  • Researched on optimizing agriculture irrigation under Dr. Zaiyi Liao, Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. (Honorable Mention, Synopsys Championship Science Fair)

Publications

Arbitrary Quantum State Coins — Implementation and Performance on Quantum-Walk-Based Algorithms
2022 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Power, Electronics and Computer Applications (ICPECA) 21-23 Jan 2022
Tse-kai Chan Wenchao Xu

Quantum coin is an essential element of the discrete-time quantum walk, the quantum analog of random walk. Most existing papers relating to quantum coin discussed the implementation and performance of the coin on power-of-two states and degrees of graphs. This paper proposed and analyzed three alternative coins–binary state coin, W state coin, and Walsh-Hadamard coin–that possessed the property to perform on arbitrary states and degrees of graphs. It then discussed the implementation and the performance of the three coins in the application of Quantum Walk and Quantum Walk Search. It compared and discussed the advantages, disadvantages, and errors of the three coins on a quantum simulator and a NISQ computer (i.e. IBM Q). Lastly, it presented further applications for the three coins in quantum-walk-based algorithms and other potential topics in quantum computing.

Quantum Computing
Details

Achievements

Regents Scholar
UC San Diego Sept 2022 - Present

The Regents Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship awarded to undergraduate students at the University of California. Regents Scholarships are merit scholarships, selected on the basis of academic excellence.

USACO Platinum Division
USA Computing Olympiad Jun 2020 - Present

Highest division in the most prestigious national pre-college algorithmic programming competition.

Projects

Crop Optimal Planning: An Irrigation Management Model using Historical/Sensor Data
Researcher & Developer 2021

Developed an AI weather prediction model, mathematical soil & crop models, and the supporting database to predict short-term water usage. Experiments with historical and sensor data have demonstrated accurate predictions.

Optimization MATLAB Simulink
Star
Audio2Blendshape
Researcher & Developer Sept 2023 - Present

Researching lightweight, attention-based residual neural network models that process real-time text, audio, visual data to simulate personalized facial blendshapes and body gestures for conversational Metahumans.

Deep Learning PyTorch RNN ResNet Docker Nautilus
Star