About Me
Always making something
My name is Debbie and I am a Research Fellow with the MIT Media Lab and Radius Technology focused on Edge AI and Infrastructure Agents with MCP/A2A. I am also a graduate student in Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC), specializing in Hardware for ML. Most recently, I received a grant from A16Z to lead hardware-software hackathons including vibe coding with Lovable, AI Agents with Vercel, and building physical AI with the NVIDIA Jetson and Raspberry Pi AI Kit.
I also seasonally teach as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at USC Games where as faculty, received the Fulbright Specialist scholarship through the Fulbright Program. This opportunity was a faculty research award focused on Engineering Education with Fulbright Tunisia, specifically to contribute to an immersive pavillion in creating interactive films and games.
I hold a technical background from UC Berkeley where in creating my own major combined Product Design and Computer Science, graduated with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Human-Computer Interaction where I broadly focused on Computer Vision, Immersive Reality, and 3D Graphics. Continuing my work from undergraduate and graduate theses, I create accessible AR applications through image and object recognition together with individuals with developmental disabilities.
Contact
Reach me at my personal email (deborahyuen[at]berkeley[dot]edu) and my
work email: (yuend[at]usc[dot]edu).
Current Research
Infrastructure for Internet of Agents
Agent-to-Agent communication between cloud and edge agents for Project NANDA
Point Cloud and Vision Detection
Classification models and datasets for 3D objects and spatial drawing strokes for the Squiggly App
Augmented and Alternative Communication
Designing AR communication experiences with individuals with developmental disabilities
K-12 Educational Games
Educational games with Unity and Unreal for children
Publications & Presentations
2025The Labubu Twins: Embodied Digital Twins and 3D Simulations for Interactive Media - SIGGRAPH Asia2025Spatial Design and CoreML for the Apple Vision Pro - SIGGRAPH2024Experimenting with AI: Programming Pathfinding Algorithms in C++ with UE5 - SIGGRAPH2022When you buy too many bananas, this system reminds you to use them before they go bad - Fast Company2019Made at Berkeley Arts and Design, Issue 04 Book - Berkeley Arts and Design2016Publicizing and Marketing Early Childhood Education - City of Irvine2016Early Childhood Education Presentation, City Council Meeting - City of Irvine2015Irvine Preschool and Early Childhood Education Study - City of Irvine
Exhibits
2021Wandering Dust AR Exhibit - UCB CED2019Bubblo Picasso Exhibit - Maker Faire Bay Area2017Scribbles the Drawing Machine Exhibit - East Bay Mini Maker Faire
Awards
2025a16z Grant - Grant2024Fulbright Specialist Program - Scholarship2022Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards - Award2022Arcus Diversity Platform Winner - Grant2022San Francisco Design Week - Award2021San Francisco Design Week - Award2021CITRIS Foundry Fellow - Award2021Distinguished Scholar Award - Scholarship2019Best Visual Design Mobile Application - Award20182nd Prize in Autodesk Instructables “Oil” Category - Award