Meet KAUST prospective student: Kai Yi

About

- By Taruna Rapaka

Kai Yi is a graduate from Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China, who will join KAUST in the fall of 2020. Kai will join KAUST as a M.S./Ph.D. candidate and member of the KAUST Computer Vision, Content AI research group under the supervision of Professor Mohamed Elhoseiny. KAUST's high reputation and Kai's interest in computer vision and machine learning prompted him to choose the University to further his academic career.

What was your main subject during your undergraduate degree? Why did you choose it?

Software engineering. I chose it because I'm interested in computer vision and machine learning; thus, I want to enhance my coding ability to be better prepared to pursue what I want.

When did your interest in computer science arise? What are your research interests?

My interest in computer science arose when I went to university and started my studies. My current research interests are computer vision (object detection, zero-shot recognition) and machine learning (generative models, probabilistic graphical models).

What do you do in your spare time? What are you passionate about?

I like long-distance running, playing chess, basketball and reading classical German philosophy.

What is your future outlook?

I want to dive into computer vision and machine learning in an in-depth fashion at KAUST. After graduating, I want to become a research scientist in a company that shares the same interests as me.

Can you give a piece of advice to students who plan to pursue a M.S./Ph.D. at KAUST?

My advice to the prospective students is to keep humble and self-disciplined.