CV / Resume - Fred Choi

CV/Resume

Download as a pdf here.

Research Objective

In my research, I am reimagining the space of online interaction with safety and inclusivity as my top priorities. Drawing on techniques from visualization, user-interface design, and social computing, I plan to develop tools for moderators, investigate effective moderation strategies, and explore the design space of online social interactions. I hope to impact the design of future platforms and make online safety tools that can be deployed directly to the user. My current project is ConvEx: a visualization based approach to putting state-of-the-art text analysis algorithms in the hands of moderators.

Topics: Social Computing, Human-Computer Interaction, Visualization, Machine Learning

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Masters and Ph. D. in Computer Science

Aug 2020 - ongoing

GPA:

4.0 (to date)

Coursework:

User Interface Design, Natural Language Processing, Social Computing, Antisocial Computing, Social Visualization Listening to Online Social Universes, HCI for ML, Social Spaces

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics

Aug 2017 - May 2020

GPA:

4.0

Coursework:

Interactive Visualization, Virtual Reality, Machine Learning from Data, Computational Vision, Programming Languages, Advanced Computer Graphics, etc.

Awards/Achievements

Roy J. Carver Fellowship

Academic Year 2020-2021

  • Recipient of Roy J. Carver Fellowship from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • 1 year full-tuition + stipend

First Place at the 9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

Apr 2018

  • Awarded by the Office of Undergraduate Education at RPI, for my project titled “CSDT, Music, and Math” (see Research Experience)

Publications

2021

3D Hand Pose Estimation on Conventional Capacitive Touchscreens

MobileHCI ‘21

Frederick Choi, Chris Harrison, Sven Meyer

Research Experience

ConvEx: A Visual Conversation Exploration tool for Discord Moderators

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Social Computing Laboratory (SCUBA)

Jan 2021 - ongoing

  • Advised by Dr. Eshwar Chandrasekharan
  • Applying visualization techniques to incorporate state-of-the-art text analysis algorithms (e.g. Perspective API for toxicity) into a tool for moderators on Discord
  • Currently evaluating the efficacy of visualizing toxicity with ConvEx in helping moderators to identify patterns of behavior and and take proactive measures

3D Hand Pose Estimation on Conventional Capacitive Touchscreens

Carnegie-Mellon University

Future Interfaces Group (FIGLAB)

Jun - Sep 2020

  • Advised by Dr. Chris Harrison
  • Developed software that can take capacitive touch data from a multi-touch screen (such as an iPad) and construct a 3D hand model of the user’s hand pose, enabling rich interaction possibilities using pre-existing hardware
  • Published in MobileHCI ‘21 (see Publications)

CSDT, Music, and Math

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDT)

Sep 2017 - May 2018

  • Group led by Dr. Ron Eglash
  • Supervised by James Davis
  • Created culturally-aware interactive software with the goal of better engaging primary and secondary students of underrepresented demographics and fostering in them a deeper interest in STEM
  • Recreated (as a web application) Rhythm Wheels, a CSDT application which embedded concepts involving GCD, LCM, and modular arithmetic into a fun and musical experience.
  • Presented at the 9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at RPI and won an award (see Awards/Achievements)

InteractiveJS

Independent Research

Jun 2016

  • Extracurricular high school research project
  • Advised by Dr. Thomas Banchoff, professor emeritus at Brown University
  • Created interactive illustrations of mathematics that can easily be embedded in a web article or journal
  • Intended for teachers and authors to help students and readers visualize concepts in order to build a good geometric intuition that is foundational to learning mathematics
  • Written in TypeScript with three.js

Professional Experience

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Department of Computer Science

Jan 2021 - ongoing

Visiting Scholar

Carnegie-Mellon University

School of Computer Science

Jun - Sep 2020

Software Engineering Intern

Wayfair

Jun - Aug 2019

  • Supervised by Charles McKenzie
  • Built new features and contributed to the web interface for Wayfair credit card and financing options
  • Worked with full stack technologies (PHP, JavaScript, CSS, Git, etc.)

Lead Research Assistant

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Department of Science and Technology Studies

Sep 2017 - May 2018

Teaching Experience

Interactive Computer Graphics (CS 418)

Teaching Assistant

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Aug - Dec 2021

  • Holding office hours
  • Answering student questions, clarifying the lecture material and helping students understand abstract concepts (e.g., right-hand rule for surface normals) in a concrete way (e.g., drawing a picture)

Data Structures (CSCI 1200)

Undergraduate Mentor

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Jan - Dec 2019

  • Assisted in conducting labs
  • Explain the tasks and help students understand the concepts it implements, including pointers, arrays, data structures, etc.

Computer Science I (CSCI 1100)

Undergraduate Mentor

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Aug - Dec 2018

  • Assisted in office hours
  • Helped students learn the fundamentals of computer science, such as variables, functions, classes, etc.

Invited Talks/Presentations

3D Hand Pose Estimation on Conventional Capacitive Touchscreens

Paper presentation at MobileHCI ‘21

Sep 2021

Skills

Technology

  • Front-end technologies

TypeScript, JavaScript, React, d3, three.js, HTML, CSS, jQuery, Material UI, Android Studio

  • Web-server technologies

Node.js, express

  • Software development

git, GitHub, Java, C++, C#

  • Academic computing

Haskell, Python, Jupyter Notebook, Google Colab

  • Machine learning

OpenCV, Tensorflow, PyTorch

Interpersonal Skills

  • Dividing work between multiple people
  • Identifying strengths of team members and assigning tasks
  • Articulating a clear plan and motivating others to follow
  • Being understanding of team members and being flexible with plans
  • Explaining concepts through different approaches to people with different backgrounds

Miscellaneous

  • Graphic design
  • Playing the piano
  • Getting off topic
  • Making jokes

View source on GitHub
Last updated 5/8/2022
© 2022 Frederick Choi