Headshot photo of me

[Photo credit: Hui Shi]

Xiaofan Yu (于晓凡)

Incoming Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
University of California, Merced

E-mail: x1yu@ucsd.edu

I am an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at University of California, Merced. I received my Ph.D. degree from University of California, San Diego in 2025, advised by Prof. Tajana Šimunić Rosing. Prior to joining UCSD, I received my B.S. degree from Peking University, China in 2018. I am honored to have been selected as an ML&Systems Rising Star in 2024, a CPS Rising Star in 2023, and an EECS Rising Star in 2022. Much of my work is driven by collaborations with various academia and industry researchers (full collaboration list).

For more details, see my CV.

Research Interests

My research interests are in embedded systems and edge computing. My work mainly focuses on (1) designing on-device AI for edge computing in real-world deployments, (2) building embedded systems for new applications and needs, and (3) advancing next-generation edge intelligence with neuromorphic computing. I am excited about all aspects in building intelligent and autonomous embedded systems.

I am actively recruiting highly motivated Ph.D. students and Research Assistants starting Fall 2025, Spring 2026 or Fall 2026! For more information, click here. For Fall 2026 Ph.D. opportunities, please apply to the UC Merced EECS graduate program and indicate your interest in working with me in your application.

Publications

Topics:

Teaching Experiences

  • Guest Lecturer, UCSD CSE, 237A: Introduction to Embedding Computing, Winter'23, Winter'25
  • Teaching Assistant, UCSD CSE, 237A: Introduction to Embedding Computing, Winter'22, Winter'23
    (Recommendation rate: 100%)
  • Teaching Assistant, PKU EE, Emerging Techniques for Modern Wireless Communications, Spring'18

Mentorship Experiences

I have mentored approximately 40 students across HS, BS, MS, and PhD levels since 2020, including the following notable individuals:
I also served as a Mentor in the following programs:

Miscellaneous

Since 2021, I have been organizing paper reading groups to help students in:
  • reading papers accurately and efficiently,
  • designing and conducting research schedules,
  • discussing research effectively with other people.
Throughout this process, I have found that using a template I created is very helpful. You can explore a repository of all the papers we have reviewed here.

COPYRIGHT @ Xiaofan Yu 2018-2025