Who am I?

I’m Bobby Yan, a programmer, designer, and a computer science PhD student at Stanford advised by Prof. Fred Kjolstad. I like to think about how humans, data, machine learning models and systems interact. My current research focuses on making machine learning systems fast when dealing with sparse data and sparse models. Before that, I got my BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Berkeley.

When I’m not in front of a computer, you’ll most likely find me hanging out with friends or family, playing sports, jamming out to some tunes, or just chilling and having a good time. I like to stay active and being outdoors, whether it’s hitting the gym, doing calisthenics, playing badminton, going for a run, or just soaking up some sun at the beach. I love to travel and exploring new places. Though I have a pretty long list of destinations on my bucket list, I’m always looking to add more to the list.

My taste in music is somewhat eclectic. Here are my Spotify playlists and my NetEase playlists if you wanna check them out. Btw, you know what would be great? A way to sync my listening history across multiple platforms so I can get better recommendations. Something like Last.fm but done right. If you know anything that does this, please let me know!

I’m a big believer in the power of hard work and dedication, and I’m always looking for ways to grow and always up for an adventure. I’m excited to see where life takes me next.

Portrait of Bobby Yan