INTRODUCTION

Name:  Zichang He
Advisor: Zheng Zhang
Hometown: China

Previous degrees: B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University
Degree sought from UCSB: PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Degree progress: Third-year PhD student

Honors and Awards: Best student paper award at IEEE EPEPS conference, Outstanding TA award in ECE department
Hobbies, activities and interests: I am a Go Player (yes, the game beat by AlphaGo)

Website: https://zichanghe.github.io/

 

RESEARCH

Research Program:
PhD program in ECE

Main area of research:
Design automation, machine learning

Research interests:
Uncertainty quantification, tensor learning

Title of your most important publication to date 
High-dimensional uncertainty quantification via active and rank-adaptive tensor regression

Please describe your research in more detail:
I aim to certify the robustness of an engineering design. To do so, I aim to develop fast simulations technique and uncertainty-aware design methodologies.

What made you interested in your area of research and how did you get in to it?   
The uncertainty has been a challenge for lots of engineering and decision-making problems.

What motivates you in your research?
The truth that uncertainty is unavoidable.

How has your research and UCSB changed you?
Be brave to explore the empty research field.

UCSB prides itself on its collaborative atmosphere. How do you collaborate with e.g., your advisor and other faculty, groups, research areas, departments, students (in and outside your group)?
The collaboration environment is very friendly. Most of time, I just send emails to other researchers (both faculty and students) and then I can get some positive feedback.

 

LIFE AS A GRAD STUDENT

What is your experience living in Santa Barbara? 
It is nice to live close to the beach.  

What are your personal Career Goals?
Where do you want to be in 10 years? To be reputable in one field.  

Are you or have you been a TA or GSR?
I have been both a TA and GSR.

If so, what classes/labs do/did you teach?
 ECE 15A (Foundations of Logic Design) and ECE 139 (Probability & Statistics)

What made you select UCSB and the Electrical Engineering program?
Its reputable research speaks for itself.

What are your experiences with the program so far?
The department is always supportive to its students.

What are some of the department and the program's strengths?
The program has many excellent faculty members.

How would you explain campus life as an engineering student?
We have lots of freedom as an engineering student. We can audience or register most courses/seminars on campus.

What challenges have you faced as a student or researcher?
It is common that you spend lots of time on a problem without good outcomes. I need to keep positive and move on when I get “stuck”.  

What would you say to others who are considering becoming a student or researcher at UCSB?
Students at UCSB have great freedom to explore their interests. You will have lots of chances to work with experts in different domains.

 

 

PERSONAL

What is your living situation like?
Apartment

5 words your family and friends would use to describe you?
Considerate, supportive, hard-working, innovative, reliable

What are your biggest strengths?
Maybe I am good at self-reflection, summarizing and learning from the previous experience.

Favorite classe(s) you have ever taken? Why did you like it/them so much? 
Foundations of optimization. It offers me a different view of many problems.

What are your plans for the near future? (travel, research, internship etc)
Connect more with researchers from different fields.

What is on your bucket list this year?
Make the ongoing works published and brainstorm some new ideas.

What did you want to become when you were younger?
Work on education.

What is something you can't go a day without doing?
Feed my cats.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Keep making some progress compared to myself.

What are some people you have looked up to in your life? How have they inspired or impacted you?
Family, advisors, friends, and more. They set good examples for me to be positive and hard-working.

Please share a moment in your life that has really affected who you are today.

Met my first research advisor when I was an undergraduate.