Yaxuan (Kaylee) Li receives Qualcomm PhD Fellowship

Yaxuan (Kaylee) Li, a PhD student in computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan, has been selected to receive the 2024 Qualcomm PhD Fellowship. The award recognizes Kaylee’s exceptional academic achievements and will support her ongoing research and PhD studies in CSE.

Awarded to just one CSE doctoral candidate, the fellowship is funded by Qualcomm, a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, wireless technology, and software development, and seeks to support PhD students who demonstrate outstanding academic performance and research potential in areas related to Qualcomm’s work. 

Kaylee, under the guidance of her advisor Prof. Alanson Sample, performs research on the development of advanced AI-driven sensing technologies designed to seamlessly integrate into daily life. Her work aims to create adaptive, context-aware systems that enhance human experiences through unobtrusive and intelligent interaction with the physical world.

Her notable projects include HandSAW, a wrist-mounted device capable of detecting hand gestures and interactions by leveraging an innovative microphone to capture Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs), and NeckFace, a neck-mounted wearable which uses an infrared camera and machine learning to continuously track full facial expressions.

Kaylee’s innovative research has been widely recognized, with multiple publications in prestigious journals and conferences, including the Proceedings of ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), the IEEE Conference on Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), and others. Her research not only advances the field of human-computer interaction but also has potential applications in healthcare, augmented reality, and beyond.

The Qualcomm PhD Fellowship will enable Kaylee to deepen her research, collaborate with industry experts at Qualcomm, and leverage cutting-edge tools to bring her projects to fruition. With the support of this fellowship, she is poised to continue making advances in AI-driven sensing technologies, contributing valuable innovations that will enhance human-technology interactions and elevate everyday life.