Social
ucd-gunrock-team-650px.jpg
Location: Davis, CA, USA
Faculty advisor: Zhou Yu

Gunrock (2018)

Named for our university's mascot, Gunrock, our team is a group of students who all share a passion for improving everyday human experiences through artificial intelligence.

By University of California, Davis
5 min read
Share

Our team consists of 14 graduate and undergraduate computer science and electrical and computer engineering students with diverse, international perspectives. Our fearless leader is Zhou Yu, an assistant professor of computer science who was recently recognized in Forbes' 2018 30 Under 30 in Science list for her research in developing algorithms that enable software to adapt to users. Using our combined knowledge and expertise in developing large-scale distributed computing platforms, sub-systems, machine learning and application software, our team can't wait to use Amazon's platform and user pool to tackle the real-world needs of the general public.

Chun-Yen C. - Team leader

Chun-Yen was a senior software engineer with 5 years hands-on experience specializing on developing a large-scale distributed platform and scalable machine learning systems, in telecommunication company HTC. He received his master's degree in Communication Engineering from National Taiwan University in 2012.

Chun-Yen is currently a first-year master student and a Graduate Student Researcher in computer science department at the University of California, Davis. His main focus is to build a data management framework for the general usage of visualization systems and architect a robust framework for the chatbot system.

Ashwin B.

I am a Masters in Computer Science student studying at the University of California, Davis. I am a passionate programmer having a strong Data Structures and Algorithms knowledge base. In this information age, my research interest lies in Data Science/ Data Analytics. Previously, I have worked with Dell-EMC where I applied the concept of Software Defined Networking to WAN to implement an SD-WAN solution which reduced the network reconfiguration speed by 60%. My hobbies include but are not limited to sketching, writing, reading, hiking, adventure sports and exploring the unknown. I love trying out new things and having new experiences.

Austin C.

I earned my Neuroscience B.S. at University of California, Los Angeles, with a focus on psychology and cognitive science. During my undergraduate, I started learning programming and mobile app development and switched my pursuit to computer science. I have also taken coursework in machine learning and neural networks on top of my major. I am pursuing my masters in computer science at UC Davis focusing on NLP, HCI and dialogue systems and researching under Prof. Zhou Yu. My current project is a dialogue-based movie recommendation system that generates recommendation using matrix factorization and collaborative filtering.

Weiming W.

N/A

Dian Y.

I am a first year PhD student working with Prof. Kenji Sagae on dialogue systems and machine translation at University of California, Davis. We are currently working on dialogue state tracking and parsing. Besides NLP, I am also interested in computer vision. Before this, I earned a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Finance at New York University. I was advised by Prof. Keith Ross working on reinforcement learning with a focus on natural language processing, as well as researching on computer networking.

Giritheja S.

I am a first year graduate student majoring in Computer Science. I graduated from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India in 2017 with a major in Electrical and Electronics engineering. I have previously worked as a Summer Intern in the Cloud team of Fidelity Investments. I contribute to Open Source organizations involving Software Development. My recent course project involved exploring Deep Learning techniques to recover variable names from minified javascript files, I was intrigued by applications of Deep Learning and AI. I look forward to exploring it.

Kevin J.

I earned my Computer Science B.S and Computer Engineering B.S at the University of California, Santa Cruz. At the University of California, Davis I am currently working with Professor Yu Zhou for a Ph.D. in NLP and dialogue systems. My work in dialogue systems has led me to create a movie recommendation dialogue bot using collaborative filtering and matrix factorization.

Mingyang Z.

Previously, I worked with Professor Jason Corso on video activity segmentation and video classification research problem where I have experience of using sparse coding, CNN and RNN. I also did a humor classification project with Professor Rada Mihalcea to classify whether an image can pair with a humorous punchline to make good memes. Currently, I am working with Professor Yu Zhou at UC Davis for Ph.D, where I worked on the research problem of multimodality machine translation research. I implemented a sequence to sequence model and a visual semantic meaning embedding algorithm as the starting baseline model for this research.

Shreenath I.

I'm a first year Master's student at UC Davis with my areas of research being Software Engineering, Distributed Operating Systems and Machine Learning. I received my Bachelor's in Computer Science in 2015 from the University of Pune and I've worked with Fidelity National Information Services for two years as a Product Development Engineer. I have primarily worked on Python, Django, and Buildbots in a Continuous Integration environment to facilitate the build and release process. I have worked with recommendation systems and language processing before and I look forward to using my experience and building on it through this project.

Yi Mang (Terry) Y.

I am an undergraduate Computer Science major interested in artificial intelligence. Conversational artificial intelligence is enabling a natural and engaging way for people to interact with machines. It is an exciting time but creating a smart socialbot presents many challenges. For our team, I bring my experience in building full-stack software systems that integrate machine learning models. I also have research experience in applying deep learning to computer vision problems.

Antara B.

I'm a first year Master's student at UC Davis in computer science and my research interests lie in machine learning and natural language processing. I completed my undergraduate degree in computer science in 2017 from SRM University and I've worked on computer vision and NLP problems as part of my internship at Medyug Technologies.

Zhou Yu - Faculty advisor

Education: Ph.D in Language Technology Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 2017

B.S. in Computer Science Department & B.A. in the Foreign Language Department with a linguistics focus in Zhejiang University, 2011

Professional Experience: Assistant Professor, University of California, Davis, 2017-present

About the Author
University of California, Davis

Latest news

The latest updates, stories, and more about Alexa Prize.
Load more

Work with us

See more jobs See more jobs
2026 Applied Scientist Intern, Amazon University Talent Acquisition
IT, Turin
Are you a MS or PhD student interested in a 2026 internship in the field of machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, large language models, speech technology, robotics, computer vision, optimization, operations research, quantum computing, automated reasoning, or formal methods? If so, we want to hear from you! We are looking for students interested in using a variety of domain expertise to invent, design and implement state-of-the-art solutions for never-before-solved problems. You can find more information about the Amazon Science community as well as our interview process via the links below; https://www.amazon.science/ https://amazon.jobs/content/en/career-programs/university/science https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/university-roles/applied-science Key job responsibilities As an Applied Science Intern, you will own the design and development of end-to-end systems. You’ll have the opportunity to write technical white papers, create roadmaps and drive production level projects that will support Amazon Science. You will work closely with Amazon scientists and other science interns to develop solutions and deploy them into production. You will have the opportunity to design new algorithms, models, or other technical solutions whilst experiencing Amazon’s customer focused culture. The ideal intern must have the ability to work with diverse groups of people and cross-functional teams to solve complex business problems. A day in the life At Amazon, you will grow into the high impact person you know you’re ready to be. Every day will be filled with developing new skills and achieving personal growth. How often can you say that your work changes the world? At Amazon, you’ll say it often. Join us and define tomorrow. Some more benefits of an Amazon Science internship include; • All of our internships offer a competitive stipend/salary • Interns are paired with an experienced manager and mentor(s) • Interns receive invitations to different events such as intern program initiatives or site events • Interns can build their professional and personal network with other Amazon Scientists • Interns can potentially publish work at top tier conferences each year About the team Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis and are assigned to teams aligned with their research interests and experience prior to interviews. Start dates are available throughout the year and durations can vary in length from 3-6 months for full time internships. This role may available across multiple locations in the EMEA region (Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, South Africa, UAE, and UK). Please note these are not remote internships.
Research Scientist Intern, Center for Quantum Computing
US, CA, Pasadena
The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Center for Quantum Computing (CQC) is a multi-disciplinary team of theoretical and experimental physicists, materials scientists, and hardware and software engineers on a mission to develop a fault-tolerant quantum computer. Throughout your internship journey, you'll have access to unparalleled resources, including state-of-the-art computing infrastructure, cutting-edge research papers, and mentorship from industry luminaries. This immersive experience will not only sharpen your technical skills but also cultivate your ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and thrive in a fast-paced, innovative environment where bold ideas are celebrated. Join us at the forefront of applied science, where your contributions will shape the future of Quantum Computing and propel humanity forward. Seize this extraordinary opportunity to learn, grow, and leave an indelible mark on the world of technology. Amazon has positions available for Quantum Research Science and Applied Science Internships in Santa Clara, CA and Pasadena, CA. We are particularly interested in candidates with expertise in any of the following areas: superconducting qubits, cavity/circuit QED, quantum optics, open quantum systems, superconductivity, electromagnetic simulations of superconducting circuits, microwave engineering, benchmarking, quantum error correction, etc. In this role, you will work alongside global experts to develop and implement novel, scalable solutions that advance the state-of-the-art in the areas of quantum computing. You will tackle challenging, groundbreaking research problems, work with leading edge technology, focus on highly targeted customer use-cases, and launch products that solve problems for Amazon customers. The ideal candidate should possess the ability to work collaboratively with diverse groups and cross-functional teams to solve complex business problems. A successful candidate will be a self-starter, comfortable with ambiguity, with strong attention to detail and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment. About the team Diverse Experiences AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying. Why AWS? Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses. Inclusive Team Culture Here at AWS, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon (gender diversity) conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness. Mentorship & Career Growth We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional. Work/Life Balance We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud. Hybrid Work We value innovation and recognize this sometimes requires uninterrupted time to focus on a build. We also value in-person collaboration and time spent face-to-face. Our team affords employees options to work in the office every day or in a flexible, hybrid work model near one of our U.S. Amazon offices.
Applied Scientist, Amazon Industrial Robotics
US, MA, N.reading
Amazon Industrial Robotics is seeking exceptional talent to help develop the next generation of advanced robotics systems that will transform automation at Amazon's scale. We're building revolutionary robotic systems that combine cutting-edge AI, sophisticated control systems, and advanced mechanical design to create adaptable automation solutions capable of working safely alongside humans in dynamic environments. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of robotics and automation at an unprecedented scale, working with world-class teams pushing the boundaries of what's possible in robotic dexterous manipulation, locomotion, and human-robot interaction. This role presents an opportunity to shape the future of robotics through innovative applications of deep learning and large language models. At Amazon Industrial Robotics we leverage advanced robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to solve complex operational challenges at an unprecedented scale. Our fleet of robots operates across hundreds of facilities worldwide, working in sophisticated coordination to fulfill our mission of customer excellence. - We are pioneering the development of robotics dexterous hands that: - Enable unprecedented generalization across diverse tasks - Are compliant but at the same time impact resistant - Can enable power grasps with the same reliability as fine dexterity and nonprehensile manipulation - Can naturally cope with the uncertainty of the environment - Leverage mechanical intelligence, multi-modal sensor feedback and advanced control techniques. The ideal candidate will contribute to research that bridges the gap between theoretical advancement and practical implementation in robotics. You will be part of a team that's revolutionizing how robots learn, adapt, and interact with their environment. Join us in building the next generation of intelligent robotics systems that will transform the future of automation and human-robot collaboration. Key job responsibilities - Design and implement novel highly dexterous and reliable robotic dexterous hand morphologies - Develop parallel paths for rapid finger design and prototyping combining different actuation and sensing technologies as well as different finger morphologies - Develop new testing and validation strategies to support fast continuous integration and modularity - Build and test full hand prototypes to validate the performance of the solution - Create hybrid approaches combining different actuation technologies, under-actuation, active and passive compliance - Hand integration into rest of the embodiment - Partner with cross-functional teams to rapidly create new concepts and prototypes - Work with Amazon's robotics engineering and operations teams to grasp their requirements and develop tailored solutions - Document the designs, performance, and validation of the final system
Member of Technical Staff, Artificial General Intelligence
US, CA, San Francisco
The Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team is looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Member of Technical Staff with a strong deep learning background, to build industry-leading Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology with Large Language Models (LLMs) and multimodal systems. Key job responsibilities As a Member of Technical Staff with the AGI team, you will lead the development of algorithms and modeling techniques, to advance the state of the art with LLMs. You will lead the foundational model development in an applied research role, including model training, dataset design, and pre- and post-training optimization. Your work will directly impact our customers in the form of products and services that make use of GenAI technology. You will leverage Amazon’s heterogeneous data sources and large-scale computing resources to accelerate advances in LLMs. About the team The AGI team has a mission to push the envelope in GenAI with LLMs and multimodal systems, in order to provide the best-possible experience for our customers.
Applied Scientist, SCOT
US, WA, Bellevue
Are you excited about customer-facing research and reinventing the way people think about long-held assumptions? At Amazon, we are constantly inventing and re-inventing to be the most customer-centric company in the world. To get there, we need exceptionally talented, bright, and driven people. Amazon is one of the most recognizable brand names in the world and we distribute millions of products each year to our loyal customers. A day in the life The ideal candidate will be responsible for quantitative data analysis, building models and prototypes for supply chain systems, and developing state-of-the-art optimization algorithms to scale. This team plays a significant role in various stages of the innovation pipeline from identifying business needs, developing new algorithms, prototyping/simulation, to implementation by working closely with colleagues in engineering, product management, operations, retail and finance. As a senior member of the research team, you will play an integral part on our Supply Chain team with the following technical and leadership responsibilities: * Interact with engineering, operations, science and business teams to develop an understanding and domain knowledge of processes, system structures, and business requirements * Apply domain knowledge and business judgment to identify opportunities and quantify the impact aligning research direction to business requirements and make the right judgment on research project prioritization * Develop scalable mathematical models to derive optimal or near-optimal solutions to existing and new supply chain challenges * Create prototypes and simulations to test devised solutions * Advocate technical solutions to business stakeholders, engineering teams, as well as executive-level decision makers * Work closely with engineers to integrate prototypes into production system * Create policy evaluation methods to track the actual performance of devised solutions in production systems, identify areas with potential for improvement and work with internal teams to improve the solution with new features * Mentor team members for their career development and growth * Present business cases and document models, analyses, and their results in order to influence important decisions About the team Our organization leads the innovation of Amazon’s ultra-fast grocery product initiatives. Our key vision is to transform the online grocery experience and provide a wide grocery selection in order to be the primary destination to fulfill customer’s food shopping needs. We are a team of passionate tech builders who work endlessly to make life better for our customers through amazing, thoughtful, and creative new grocery shopping experiences. To succeed, we need senior technical leaders to forge a path into the future by building innovative, maintainable, and scalable systems.
2026 Data Scientist Internship , Amazon University Talent Acquisition
LU, Luxembourg
Are you a MS student interested in a 2026 internship in the field of machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, large language models and speech technology, robotics, computer vision, optimization, operations research, quantum computing, automated reasoning, or formal methods? If so, we want to hear from you! We are looking for a customer obsessed Data Scientist Intern who can innovate in a business environment, building and deploying machine learning models to drive step-change innovation and scale it to the EU/worldwide. If this describes you, come and join our Data Science teams at Amazon for an exciting internship opportunity. If you are insatiably curious and always want to learn more, then you’ve come to the right place. You can find more information about the Amazon Science community as well as our interview process via the links below; https://www.amazon.science/ https://amazon.jobs/content/en/career-programs/university/science Key job responsibilities As a Data Science Intern, you will have following key job responsibilities: • Work closely with scientists and engineers to architect and develop new algorithms to implement scientific solutions for Amazon problems. • Work on an interdisciplinary team on customer-obsessed research • Experience Amazon's customer-focused culture • Create and Deliver Machine Learning projects that can be quickly applied starting locally and scaled to EU/worldwide • Build and deploy Machine Learning models using large data-sets and cloud technology. • Create and share with audiences of varying levels technical papers and presentations • Define metrics and design algorithms to estimate customer satisfaction and engagement A day in the life At Amazon, you will grow into the high impact person you know you’re ready to be. Every day will be filled with developing new skills and achieving personal growth. How often can you say that your work changes the world? At Amazon, you’ll say it often. Join us and define tomorrow. Some more benefits of an Amazon Science internship include; • All of our internships offer a competitive stipend/salary • Interns are paired with an experienced manager and mentor(s) • Interns receive invitations to different events such as intern program initiatives or site events • Interns can build their professional and personal network with other Amazon Scientists • Interns can potentially publish work at top tier conferences each year About the team Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis and are assigned to teams aligned with their research interests and experience prior to interviews. Start dates are available throughout the year and durations can vary in length from 3-6 months for full time internships. This role may available across multiple locations in the EMEA region (Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and the UK). Please note these are not remote internships.
Flight Dynamics Research Manager, Amazon Leo Flight Dynamics
US, WA, Redmond
Amazon Leo is Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite broadband network. Its mission is to deliver fast, reliable internet to customers and communities around the world, and we’ve designed the system with the capacity, flexibility, and performance to serve a wide range of customers, from individual households to schools, hospitals, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in locations without reliable connectivity. Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. We are searching for a senior manager with expertise in the spaceflight aerospace engineering domain of Flight Dynamics, including Mission Design of LEO Constellations, Trajectory, Maneuver Planning, and Navigation. This role will be responsible for the research and development of core spaceflight algorithms that enable the Amazon Leo mission. This role will manage the team responsible for designing and developing flight dynamics innovations for evolving constellation mission needs. Key job responsibilities This position requires expertise in simulation and analysis of astrodynamics models and spaceflight trajectories. This position requires demonstrated achievement in managing technology research portfolios. A strong candidate will have demonstrated achievement in managing spaceflight engineering Guidance, Navigation, and Control teams for full mission lifecycle including design, prototype development and deployment, and operations. Working with the Leo Flight Dynamics Research Science team, you will manage, guide, and direct staff to: • Implement high fidelity modeling techniques for analysis and simulation of large constellation concepts. • Develop algorithms for station-keeping and constellation maintenance. • Perform analysis in support of multi-disciplinary trades within the Amazon Leo team. • Formulate solutions to address collision avoidance and conjunction assessment challenges. • Develop the Leo ground system’s evolving Flight Dynamics System functional requirements. • Work closely with GNC engineers to manage on-orbit performance and develop flight dynamics operations processes About the team The Flight Dynamics Research Science team is staffed with subject matter experts of various areas within the Flight Dynamics domain. It also includes a growing Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) team.
Member of Technical Staff, Artificial General Intelligence
US, CA, San Francisco
The Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team is looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Member of Technical Staff with a strong deep learning background, to build industry-leading Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology with Large Language Models (LLMs) and multimodal systems. Key job responsibilities As a Member of Technical Staff with the AGI team, you will lead the development of algorithms and modeling techniques, to advance the state of the art with LLMs. You will lead the foundational model development in an applied research role, including model training, dataset design, and pre- and post-training optimization. Your work will directly impact our customers in the form of products and services that make use of GenAI technology. You will leverage Amazon’s heterogeneous data sources and large-scale computing resources to accelerate advances in LLMs. About the team The AGI team has a mission to push the envelope in GenAI with LLMs and multimodal systems, in order to provide the best-possible experience for our customers.
Member of Technical Staff, Artificial General Intelligence
US, CA, San Francisco
The Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team is looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Member of Technical Staff with a strong deep learning background, to build industry-leading Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology with Large Language Models (LLMs) and multimodal systems. Key job responsibilities As a Member of Technical Staff with the AGI team, you will lead the development of algorithms and modeling techniques, to advance the state of the art with LLMs. You will lead the foundational model development in an applied research role, including model training, dataset design, and pre- and post-training optimization. Your work will directly impact our customers in the form of products and services that make use of GenAI technology. You will leverage Amazon’s heterogeneous data sources and large-scale computing resources to accelerate advances in LLMs. About the team The AGI team has a mission to push the envelope in GenAI with LLMs and multimodal systems, in order to provide the best-possible experience for our customers.
Member of Technical Staff, Artificial General Intelligence
US, CA, San Francisco
The Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team is looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Member of Technical Staff with a strong deep learning background, to build industry-leading Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology with Large Language Models (LLMs) and multimodal systems. Key job responsibilities As a Member of Technical Staff with the AGI team, you will lead the development of algorithms and modeling techniques, to advance the state of the art with LLMs. You will lead the foundational model development in an applied research role, including model training, dataset design, and pre- and post-training optimization. Your work will directly impact our customers in the form of products and services that make use of GenAI technology. You will leverage Amazon’s heterogeneous data sources and large-scale computing resources to accelerate advances in LLMs. About the team The AGI team has a mission to push the envelope in GenAI with LLMs and multimodal systems, in order to provide the best-possible experience for our customers.
See more jobs
View from space of a connected network around planet Earth representing the Internet of Things.
Get more from Amazon Science
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Amazon.com | Conditions of Use | Privacy | © 1996-2025 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

Social