Kuan Fang is an assistant professor of computer science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. Prior to joining the college he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and a researcher at the Boston Dynamics AI Institute. He completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University and has also spent time at Google Brain, Google X Robotics, and Microsoft Research Asia.
What is your academic focus?
Robotics, machine learning, and computer vision.
Could you briefly summarize your research?
My research aims to enable robots to perform diverse and complex tasks in unstructured environments using machine learning. I develop scalable algorithms and systems for robot perception and control, with three key focuses: endowing robots with visuomotor skills that are robust, adaptable, and extensible; continuously enhancing the capabilities of robots through autonomous data collection and generation; and facilitating generalization to novel tasks, environments, and embodiments by integrating knowledge from various sources.
What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?
Mostly a series of sci-fi novels, movies, and animations, such as those by Isaac Asimov and Masamune Shirow, that I encountered during my childhood.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I play guitar and a bit of bass. I also enjoy hiking, running, and cooking.
Which courses are you most looking forward to teaching?
My new graduate course, CS 6758: Deep Learning for Robotics. This is my first time designing a course from scratch.