cv

Table of contents

General Information

Full Name Yikun Bai
Languages English, Mandarin
Email laobai312@gmail.com
Address West Lafayette, IN, USA
Phone +1 (302) 244-8486

Work Experience

  • 2026 - present
    Physical AI Postdoc Fellow
    Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
    • Discrete/Continuous flow matching and diffusion models
    • Reinforcement learning methods for agentic AI systems
  • 2022 - 2025
    Postdoctoral Research Assistant
    Department of Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
    • Research on computational optimal transport and its applications
    • Unbalanced optimal transport theory and algorithms
    • Machine learning applications in computer vision and data science
    • Collaboration with interdisciplinary research teams

Education

  • 2017 - 2022
    Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering
    University of Delaware, Newark, DE
    • GPA 4.0/4.0
    • Dissertation: Optimal Transport in Information Theory and Machine Learning
    • Relevant Coursework
      • Information Theory and Coding
      • Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition
      • Statistical Learning Theory
      • Convex Optimization
  • 2017 - 2019
    M.S. in Applied Mathematics
    University of Delaware, Newark, DE
    • GPA 4.0/4.0
    • Transferred to Ph.D. program in ECE
    • Relevant Coursework
      • Numerical Analysis
      • Partial Differential Equations
      • Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes
      • Functional Analysis
  • 2007 - 2011
    B.S. in Medical Imaging
    Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, China

Honors and Awards

  • 2025
    • Advanced Research in Physical AI Fellowship (Purdue University)
    • Google Cloud Research Award
    • Lambda AI Research Grant
  • 2023
    • SEAM Travel Grant (Clemson University)
    • Outstanding Postdoc Award (Vanderbilt University)
  • 2022
    • Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award (University of Delaware)
    • Graduate Research Excellence Award
  • 2021
    • ECE Seminar Best Presentation Award (University of Delaware)
    • Graduate Student Travel Grant
  • 2020
    • Dean's List for Academic Excellence
  • 2017-2022
    • Graduate Research Assistantship (University of Delaware)

Technical Skills

  • Programming Languages
    • Python (NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, Pandas)
    • MATLAB
    • R
    • C/C++
  • Machine Learning Frameworks
    • PyTorch
    • TensorFlow
    • Scikit-learn
    • Keras
  • Mathematical Software
    • Mathematica
    • Maple
    • LaTeX
    • Git/GitHub

Research Interests

  • Flow Matching
    • Continuous-time generative modeling
    • Probability path design and transport dynamics
    • Scalable training and sampling algorithms
  • Diffusion Models
    • Discrete and continuous diffusion processes
    • Score-based modeling and inverse problems
    • Theory and applications in scientific machine learning
  • Reinforcement Learning
    • Policy optimization and value-based methods
    • Model-based reinforcement learning
    • Decision-making under uncertainty

Professional Activities

  • 2022-present
    • Member of SIAM (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)
    • Member of IEEE Signal Processing Society

Other Interests

  • Hobbies: Anime, Hiking, Reading
  • Sports: Basketball, Swimming
  • Languages: Native Mandarin, Fluent English