Hi! I’m Chih-Yu (Andrew) Lai.
I’m a Ph.D. student living in Cambridge, MA, USA, and I am currently looking for a summer internship in 2024 that focuses on AI/ML research. I have a strong interest in developing innovative software and hardware related to AI and machine learning. I am very excited to create this website to share my projects and experiences with you.
I had been profoundly inspired by programming when I was young. In junior high school, I self-learned Visual Basic and wrote several programs, with one of them winning the first prize in a science fair competition. In senior high school, I learned C/C++ along with algorithms and data structures and entered the 2nd stage (5~10th place) in Taiwan Olympiad in Informatics (TOI). This series of events firmly established my programming skills.
As a person with a programming background, the devices I constructed possess vivid and complex functionality. In college, I majored in bio-mechatronics and attained relevant skills for completing a variety of projects. I teamed up with schoolmates for developing an aroma alarm clock that can awake people using a specific fragrance and earned 40,000NTD in a fundraising event. During this period, I acquired PCB layout skills and the ability for practical use of microcontrollers, IC chips along with different electronic components. I have lots of practical experience in machine learning and data mining using neural networks (Python+Tensorflow) and won first prize in a big data analysis competition held by TSMC. I also have experience in designing digital logic circuits using Verilog learned during college.
My research topic during my master’s degree focused on interdigitated array electrode chips applied to electrochemical impedimetric biosensing. I learned the complete microfabrication process for microelectrodes and microfluidic chips, utilized Raspberry Pi for developing a wireless and miniaturized website-controlled impedance detection device, and applied those to my own research. Accordingly, I wrote two full research articles as the first author and published them in a Q1 international journal (Electrochimica Acta). After graduation, I worked as a research assistant in our lab and led a research team for developing miniaturized bio-sensing platforms.
I have also worked as a layout designer in TSMC, which is the world’s largest dedicated independent (pure-play) semiconductor foundry and the 13th largest company in the world by market value as of 2022. I constructed an end-to-end automated system that can generate optimized standard cells by integrating a transistor placer, DRC error-Less Cell Automated Router (DLCAR), and a machine learning-based PPA estimator. DLCAR is a functional block-based standard cell routing system that can generate functional and commercially manufacturable standard cell libraries for the N3 process node within a few minutes. These projects led me to win a total of 5 awards in TSMC (see Honors and Awards below). I had also been pioneering in standard cell structure definition for the initial development stage of world-class technology nodes, with 13 US patent applications for 3D IC and advanced structures in progress.
Now, I study as a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering and computer science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The research topics that I am working on include machine learning and quantitative modeling on time series, computer vision, and semiconductor manufacturing.
You can find me on  |
Honors and Awards
| Name | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MIT – EECS Ph.D. Program | 2022 | Awarded Huang Philips Fellowship |
| TSMC – RD Idea Forum | 2021 | Won Golden Star Award |
| TSMC – DTP Conference | 2021 | Won Best Presentation Award |
| TSMC – Golden Trade Secret | 2021 | Won Golden Trade Secret Award |
| TSMC – DTP Conference | 2020 | Won Best Presentation Award |
| TSMC – RD Idea Forum | 2020 | Awarded Honorable Mention |
| Annual Meeting – Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers | 2019 | Awarded Fine Piece of Writing |
| Annual Meeting – Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers | 2017 | Awarded Outstanding Poster Paper |
| TSMC – Big Data Analytics for Semiconductor Manufacturing | 2016 | Won First Prize |
| National College Student Computer Programming Competition | 2015 | Entered Finals in Programming |
| National Taiwan University Presidential Award | 2015 | Awarded within 103-1 Semester |
| Taiwan Olympiad in Informatics – Contestant Training Camp | 2013 | Entered 2nd Stage (5th ~ 10th Place) |
| Harvard Prize Book | 2012 | Awarded Harvard Prize Book |