Ziming (Bruce) Liu is a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He received his MS degree in Statistics from George Washington University and his B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University. His research interest focuses on VR/AR, data analysis, and Human Factors. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, traveling, and playing the guitar.

Email: ziming_liu@mines.edu.

Jiuyi (Joey) Xu is a Ph.D. student in Robotics at the Colorado School of Mines. He received his Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (USC) and his Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from the Dalian University of Technology in China. His research interests include, but are not limited to, robotic perception, decision-making, and visualization. In his free time, he prefers to play basketball and work out.

Email: jiuyi_xu@mines.edu.

Qi Yin is a Ph.D. student in Robotics at the Colorado School of Mines. She received her Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Zhengzhou University, China. Her research interests include robotic control, machine learning, and VR/AR technologies. In her free time, she enjoys skiing and swimming, and she has an adorable cat named Bailee.

Email: qi_yin@mines.edu.

Thomas Pipkin is a sophomore studying mechanical engineering with an automotive track focus. He worked as a technician for a Lexus dealership for over four years and has a previous Associate of Applied Sciences in the Toyota Technical Education Network from San Juan College. He left the dealership as an ASE Master Technician (A1-A8) and Advanced Level Specialist (L1, L3, L4) to pursue an engineering degree. He hopes his prior hands-on experience with electrified vehicles will provide a useful perspective. He is currently participating in the NSF-funded research project that upskills automotive technicians for future electrical vehicle maintenance and repair through immersive learning techniques.

Email: thomas_pipkin@mines.edu.

Ryan Gerlitz is a senior undergraduate student in the Mechanical Engineering program with an aerospace focus at Colorado School of Mines. He is currently participating in the research project that develops adaptive stilts for construction works. Ryan is also passionate about robotics and space exploration. Outside of education, Ryan loves all things outdoors.

Email: ryan_gerlitz@mines.edu.

Daniel Diaz Reyes is a sophomore undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Robotics and Intelligent Systems at Colorado School of Mines. He is currently participating in the research project funded by the SURF program that develops snow removal robotics for age-friendly communities. Outside of school, he likes to play soccer and read books. He is also very involved in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and he is part of the Bliss Scholarship community, a scholarship for first-generation students at Mines. Overall, he believes that robotics has the capability of making people’s lives better and easier, and he is always looking for ways to help people through them.

Email: ddiazreyes@mines.edu.

Yunyi (Harry) Huang is an undergraduate student in Computer Science at Colorado School of Mines. His research interests include machine learning, AR/VR technologies, and AI-agent deployment. He is currently working on deploying AI agents into Unity-based VR environments. Harry plans to pursue graduate studies in the near future, with the long-term goal of developing AI-driven NPCs that enhance gameplay experiences. Outside of research, he enjoys playing basketball and board games.

Fu-Yao Yen is an undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines. She participated in the NSF-funded research project that upskills automotive technicians for future electrical vehicle maintenance and repair through immersive learning techniques. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis and watching anime.

Cole Miller was an undergraduate and master’s student in Civil and Construction Engineering at the University of Alabama. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in Fall 2022 and his Master’s degree in Civil Engineering in the spring of 2023. He was a part of a fraternity – Sigma Nu on UA campus , where he was the scholarship chair. He is currently a project engineer at Clayco.

Tolulope Sanni received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Alabama. Tolu has a Bachelor’s degree in Quantity Surveying from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and a Master’s degree in Construction Project Management from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. Her primary areas of research focus on investigating immersive disaster risk communication methods. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, meeting new people, and going on adventures. She is currently a Tenure-track Assistant Professor at California State University, Fresno.

Babatunde Owolabi was a master’s student in Civil Engineering at the University of Alabama. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from The Polytechnic Ibadan, Nigeria. His research interest focuses on the development of VR/AR and visual data analysis. In his free time, Tunde enjoys listening to music and traveling. He is currently a project scheduler at McFarland Construction.

Harry Yang was a post-graduate research assistant for the research lab. He received his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Computer Science at Texas A&M University. He is currently a software engineer at Fujitsu.