Teaching
I've spent considerable efforts teaching before and during my Ph.D. training. I received special permission to be the instruct of record for our university's only brain-computer interface course: COGS 189.
Brain-computer interfaces are an interdisciplinary research topic. I teach students fundamentals of cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology, digital signal processing, linear machine learning, and deep learning through a combination of lectures, hands-on programming assignments, and lab work with EEG equipment. The course concludes with a final project where students can apply what they've learned throughout the course. The course was initially developed by my advisor, professor Virginia de Sa. I began modifying the course with Dr. de Sa in 2019, and taught the course as the instructor in 2023 and 2025. You can find my 2023 lectures on YouTube:
As part of COGS 189, I received funding from my department to purchase 10 OpenBCI Cyton amplifiers as well as caps. I would spend 5 hours a day in a classroom and supervise students collecting EEG data for their final projects. As a direct result of this pilot testing, my advisors and I received a course development grant from the university to fully develop an EEG lab course. I converted the classroom into a series of EEG labs, and we ran the first iteration of the lab for COGS 179. The EEG lab is still operational, and over 300 students have been trained in basic EEG data collection as a result.
Mentoring is an equally important aspect of my teaching career, and I have personally advised over 15 students. My philosophy is to teach my mentors like apprentices. I give them full control over their research projects, and help guide them towards achieving their goals. I also train them directly in data collection, data analysis, and presentation skills. I also indirectly advise UCSD's largest neurotechnology club, Triton Neurotech. The founding president was one of my research assistants (Geeling Chau), and I have directly mentored many of their subsequent presidents (Simon Fei, Cassia Rizq, Joelle Faybishenko, and Joshua Caneday). I have supported the organization in various ways, including supervising research projects, applying for funding, securing lab space, and general guidance. I am generally very proud of all of my mentees -- they make a lot of the hard work worth it!