Nathan Cao

Nathan entered his junior year following his REU summer at BU, He studies electrical and computer engineering with a focus on medical imaging and optical technologies at Rice University. Nathan is passionate about math and science outreach. While in high school, he co-founded a free tutoring organization for middle school students. As an undergraduate, Nathan is a TA and peer educator, helping fellow students with math coursework. Nathan’s research interests made him a great fit for the summer 2025 REU program at Boston University.

How to use machine learning to automate aligning optical components in experiments: Nathan worked with Tianyu Wang in the AI Photonics Lab, utilizing machine learning to align optical components in the laboratory’s experiments. He was mentored by Weiru Fan.

“I love Boston, and I would totally return to BU too! Honestly I like a lot of things in the city. I just appreciate the convenience of having a reliable public transportation system that can get me to my favorite places.”