Staff

Prof. Phill Conrad he/him/his

Phill Conrad is a Teaching Professor in the Computer Science department at UCSB. He also teaches in the College of Creative Studies Computing Program. His research focus is developing ways to help students become better prepared to make the transition from school to jobs in the software industry.

Outside of computing, his interests include playing piano and guitar, and composing music.

Roman Aguilera he/him/his, they/them/their

Hi everyone! My name is Roman Aguilera. I am a 6th year PhD student. My research is at the intersection of machine learning and robotic control. Currently my research studies how reinforcement learning algorithms perform as the dimensionality of a robotic system increases. Besides work, I enjoy weight lifting, competitive video games, and basketball. I look forward to helping you learn more about Computer Science this quarter! Feel free to reach out about any questions you may have :)

Shichang Liu she/her

Hi everyone! My name is Shichang. I am a 2nd year Master student. Before coming to UCSB, I got my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Fudan University, China. And I interned at Meta in the last summer. Currently, my area of research interest is statastical machine learning with a focus on differential privacy. I also enjoy dancing and I am learning kendo! Feel free to come to me if you would like to discuss research, internships, graduate school application, or anything else! I am looking forward to meeting you all!

Varshika Srinivasavaradhan she/her/hers

Hello people, welcome to CSW8! My name is Varshika Srinivasavaradhan, and you can call me Varshika/Varsh. I am a 1st year PhD student in the CS Department and my research focus is currently broadly in the Networks field and specifically in Internet Measurement and ICTD areas. Prior to joining UCSB in 2022, I worked for Amazon Web Services for a year and a half and before that, I graduated with a Masters in CS from Purdue University. I was one of the Teaching Assistants for this course last quarter, so please feel free to ask me any questions.

During my leisure time, I lift weights and practice Muay Thai. I also enjoy taking long walks along the beach.

Yanchen Lu she/her/hers

Hello! My name is Yanchen and I’m a 2nd year Master student in Computer Science. I’ve dabbled in Computational Linguistics research before when I was at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I earn a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Linguistics. My current research interests lean more into the field of Human-Computer Interaction, so things like AR/VR, and creating expressive computational technologies for artists, designers, and engineers.

Outside of academic work, I enjoy making crafts, generative art, reading about UX design, etc. Not very musically talented but I love it regardless. Ooh and I have a cat! Her name’s Obi. (She might try to make an appearance on Zoom.)

Zechen Ma him/his

Hi folks, welcome to CS8! My name is Zechen Ma, and I go by Z/Zee if you find my fist name hard to pronounce. I am a 1st year Master student and technically 5th year in the CS BS/MS program. My research focus is currently in the area of Augumented Reality. I was recently developing an AR sports coaching application running on the IOS platform. I did computer architecture, database, and machine learning projects before so feel free to ask me any questions if you are interested in any of them! Out of the academic side, I love lifiting weights and playing the piano. Anyway, enjoy the quarter in CS8!

Bobby Briggs him/his

Greetings and welcome to CS 8! I’m Bobby Briggs, a 3rd-year computer science major who’s excited to be your Undergraduate Learning Assistant this quarter. Throughout my studies, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects including a real-time weather app, a simple social media platform, a CNN based image classifier and even a Python replica of Minecraft. I’ve also gained valuable experience in the software industry through roles at Qualcomm, Seaside Consultants Group, and Meijun Technologies. Outside of academics and work, I enjoy staying active and participating in activities like pickleball, poker, lacrosse, swimming, surfing, and golf. If you have any questions or just want to chat about all things software, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I look forward to working with all of you and helping you succeed in this class.

Marianne Arriola she/her/hers

Marianne Arriola is a 4th year Computing undergraduate in the Computer Science department at UCSB. She is striving to pursue a PhD and her research focuses on designing machine learning tools that learn valuable information from geometric data, such as networks. She has a passion for mentoring underrepresented students in computer science and research engagement. Outside of computing, she likes to solo-travel to new cities.