bio

Hello!

My name is Yuan Cui (崔元), and I also go by Charles. I work with technology and data to make an impact. Here’s my story.

  • 2020 - present: Northwestern University
    Following my passion for computer science, I joined the CS Ph.D. program at Northwestern. I started grad school stuyding the intersection of economics and computation. I spent my first couple years taking theoretical computer science and economics courses. Loving the abstract beauty of math and theory but yearning for solving more applied and social-impact centered problems, I pivoted to more appplied research in human-computer interaction, data visualization, and data science. I also sought opportunities to develop expertise in tech-for-social-impact work and deepen my knowledge of the research-to-practice pipeline.

    • Summer 2024: Social Data Science Researcher @ Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR)
      To learn more about social sciences, I joined MPIDR as a visiting researcher in the Population and Social Data Science Incubator program under the supervision of Ugofilippo Basellini, Monica Alexander, and Irena Chen. My team worked on improving age-specific national mortality estimation in a data scarce context. We did so by introducing new data into existing models to improve prediction, developing Bayesian models to better represent uncertainty, and exploring the application of these models to sub-national levels. Outside of my project, I interviewed many researchers at the institute who use digital trace data and computational methods to understand population movement and human behavior. I acquired a solid working knowledge of conducting demographic research and learned how to talk about statistics and data science with demographers and social scientists. This experience also gave me insights on how research practice in demography can help HCI researchers and how demographers can benefit from computer science.

    • Summer 2023: Graduate Student Fellow @ Stanford RegLab
      To gain more experience working on social-impact centered research projects in an interdisciplinary environment, I joined RegLab at Stanford in 2023. I worked on a project to estimate racial disparity in health outcomes when race data is scarce. We partnered with the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences, and I conducted simulations and analyzed a large healthcare dataset with 7 million Americans’ healthcare records. I developed a statistical sampling method to optimally use additional, but scarce, race data to estimate disparity in the population where most race data is missing. I learned from a community of interdisciplinary experts on how to conduct research in the space of technology and public policy where stakeholders and real data are involved. RegLab’s legal and public policy expertise provided me with new perspectives on the role data science in evaluating and building government programs.

    • Summer 2022: Data Science Fellow @ Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) / Carnegie Mellon University
      To acquire experience building practical applications of computer science for real-world social problems, I worked at the DSSG fellowship program at CMU under the supervision of Rayid Ghani and Kit Rodolfa. My team partnered with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and built a machine learning pipeline based on historical call data to help the lifeline make routing decisions that would allow them to answer more calls. In addition to receiving extensive technical training on practical machine learning projects, I learned valuable lessons from interacting with our partner organization and with weekly speakers from government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The real world doesn’t work like a textbook—organizations face so many constraints, and we have to communicate to understand their pain points. I learned the importance of explaining data-driven solutions to decision makers at the top who may not share the same technical expertise as we do.

    • 2020 - present: EAAMO Bridges (formerly MD4SG)
      At the start of grad school, I began participating in EAAMO Bridges, a multi-institutional research initiative of interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners aiming to improve access and create opportunities for historically underserved communities. After participating in the Environment and Data Economies working groups for a year, my collaborators and I hosted a tutorial on data externalities at the ACM FAccT conference. I later led the Data Economies group and eventually became a co-director for the entire EAAMO Bridges initiative to manage its operations and design new programs. EAAMO Bridges gave me the opportunity to do theoretical work with a social impact flavor, taught me how to have effective discussions and conduct research with people from interdisciplinary backgrounds, and introduced me to a community of scholars who are striving to study the societal implications of sociotechnical systems.

    At the same time, I developed leadership, management, and communication skills outside of my academic work.

    • Consulting: Advanced Degree Consulting Aliance (ADCA), Impact Consulting Chicago
      I gained consulting and project management skills while serving as the Vice President of University and Alumni relatons at ADCA, as well as co-founding Impact Consulting Chicago and serving as the Head of Business Development. Under these roles, I managed several pro bono consulting projects for social-impact starups in the space of elderly care, financial literacy education, and sustainable clothing.

    • Entrepreneurship: HomeRiser, Inc., The Garage at Northwestern
      During my first two years of my Ph.D., I explored the startup world both on and off campus. I took several MBA courses at Kellogg and spoke with many student founders and established entrepreneurs and venture capitalists through the Garage. I also co-founded a real estate technology startup, HomeRiser Inc., which aimed to provide more flexible and affordable ways to finance people’s home ownership. Through these out-of-my-comfort-zone experiences, I learned invaluable lessons on the relationship between technology and business and made quality connections with many passionate and driven people who continue to expand my world.

    • Leadership Development: Center for Leadership
      After serving in leadership positions at different organzations, I wanted to more delibrately develop my leadership skills. I participated in the leadership coaching program, the fellowship program, and later served as a team lead in the fellowship program at the Center for Leadership at Northwestern. I deepened my understanding of my own leadership style, identified and acted on areas of improvement, and developed a “leadership as service” mindset.

  • 2016 - 2020: Oberlin College
    I majored in mathematics and computer science. Mathematics showed me a powerful way of seeing and understanding the world, and I felt in love with it instantly. I took as many math and theoretical computer science classes as I could, and studied abroad at Budapest Semesters in Mathematics. I did research with multiple professors on topics including economics and computation, primality testing, and machine learning. My undergraduate thesis examined how simple modifications of the deferred acceptance matching algorithm affects perceived fairness and strategic behavior of school applicants. I graduatd with high honor and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. I’m grateful for the tight-knit Oberlin community woven together with love and compassion, and I was fortunate to be mentored by Jack Calcut, Ben Linowitz, and Sam Taggart. I learned the technical and reasoning skills to analyze problems with quantitative rigor. I also learned the importance of community building and mentorship.