Li Yang Ku

About

I am currently a research engineer at Google DeepMind. I was a robotics researcher at Vicarious until it was acquired by Alphabet in 2022. I received my PhD in Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where I was a member of both the Laboratory of Perceptual Robotics led by Prof. Rod Grupen and the Computer Vision Lab headed by Prof. Erik Learned-Miller. Before that I was a researcher at HRL Laboratories in Malibu for two and a half years and was involved in several robotic projects including a NASA GM joint project on Robonaut 2. Prior to that I was advised by Prof. Alan Yuille during my M.S degree at UCLA and did my B.S degree at NCTU in Taiwan.

My field of focus during my PhD was in integrating robotic perception and action and I was also interested in understanding how human brains function. I became a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow in 2014 and have worked with the Robonaut team at Johnson Space Center 10 weeks per year during my PhD. I was also awarded the outstanding synthesis project award in 2016 and am the author of the Serious Computer Vision Blog.