Team
Ray Simar
Professor in the Practice, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Duncan Hall 2099 | (713) 348-2257 | ray.simar@rice.edu
Rice Profile
Bio: Ray Simar is a Professor in the Practice in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests include modern advancements in microprocessors, machine learning for microcontrollers, and a number of growing topics supporting his VIP (Vertically Integrated Projects) team of undergraduate and graduate students. He is a member of the Embench team, developing a new suite of industry benchmarks for embedded processing.
Ray is active in the Rice community, serving as a member of the Rice Faculty Senate and a Divisional Advisor for Martel College. He has also served as the co-director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership and was a member of the OwlSpark board of directors.
Before coming to Rice, Ray led the development of a number of breakthroughs in specialized microprocessors designed for DSP, including the first commercially successful VLIW DSP family. Ray is the inventor and co-inventor on more than twenty-five patents in the areas of microprocessors and neural networks. Ray’s industry knowledge has led him to be featured in a variety of academic and consumer publications including the Houston Chronicle.
Joseph Young
Assistant Teaching Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Duncan Hall 2098 | jy46@rice.edu
Bio: Joseph Young received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from NC State (2015) and his M.S. (2018) and Ph.D. (2020) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rice University. During his undergraduate studies, he performed signal processing research in the area of parameter estimation. Young interned at RTI (Research Triangle Institute) International during the summer of 2015 before the start of his Ph.D., performing tear-down analysis of consumer LED lamps and developing a deep understanding of power driver hardware. During his M.S., he interned at Sandia National Laboratories where he designed a high-performance server architecture. Both his M.S. and Ph.D. research focused on developing and applying information theoretic methods to neural data. One of his main interests is the intersection of embedded systems and signal processing.
Joseph Young joined Rice University faculty in January 2021 as an assistant teaching professor with the primary role of overseeing the capstone projects for Rice’s Professional Master of Electrical and Computer Engineering program. He will also be serving as the lead advisor for MECE students as they complete the program.
Jennifer Hellar
MS/Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Personal Website | jenniferhellar@gmail.com
Bio: Jennifer Hellar is a second year MS/Ph.D. student working in Dr. Behnaam Aazhang’s lab at Rice University, where she applies signal processing tools to cardiac applications in collaboration with the Texas Heart Institute. Her recent paper, “Graph-Based Interpolation of Cardiac Local Activation TIme on the Cardiac Surface,” was awarded 2nd place in the Student Paper Contest at the 2021 Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems, and Computers.
Jennifer graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rice University (2019), where she was also awarded a place on the President’s Honor Roll six of her eight semesters in attendance. Her undergraduate work focused on computer engineering with an emphasis on architecture and embedded hardware. As project lead for her senior design team of five engineers, Jennifer helped develop CHARIoT, a modular self-powered wireless sensing node architecture for IoT devices. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies.
In her free time, Jennifer works as a teaching assistant for the Rice ECE department and mentors undergraduate engineering students on planning degree coursework, finding internships, applying to graduate schools, and networking in academia and industry.
Karan Venaik
MS Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Bio: Karan Venaik is a dedicated MS Electrical and Computer Engineering student at Rice University. With a focus on Domain-Specific Hardware Accelerators, High-Performance RISC-V Architectures, and VLSI/ASIC/Digital Design and methodologies, Karan is committed to staying at the forefront of innovation in these areas.
Karan has gained valuable hands-on experience with the ASIC design flow/toolchain, from Verilog RTL design to place-and-route and generation. As a leader in RISC-V analysis efforts at the RISC-V@RICE lab, he is passionate about helping to drive better designs while continuing to learn more about cutting-edge products. Karan is currently seeking opportunities to apply his skills and knowledge to real-world projects.
Karan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Tyler with a B.S.E.E. He earned a coveted spot on the President’s Honor Roll and the Dean’s List, and served as President of his local IEEE chapter in Corona.
In his free time, Karan works as a teaching assistant for the Rice ECE department and is an active member of Rice’s IEEE chapter. He is committed to contributing to the academic community and helping to inspire the next generation of electrical engineers.
Simon Haotian Dang
BS Student, Computer Science
Bio:
Haotian (Simon) Dang is a BS Computer Science student at Rice University. His interests include Random Algorithms, Machine Learning, AI, and Hardware Acceleration. He is now exploring connections among these fields and trying to integrate them together for the technological future.
Haotian has gained valuable experience in the application of Markov Chains to accelerate AI learning and Hash applications. With an understanding of software procedures, Haotian is studying TinyML and Matrix Accelerator in the RISC-V@RICE lab. He envisions a future of controllable and widespread ALI data processes that will make human work easier.
In his free time, Haotian works as a GitHub news editor to inform the public about the latest programming developments. He is committed to using more charts and data to display the overall development of AI.
Anyssa Castorina
BS Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Bio:
Anyssa is a senior electrical engineering student enrolled at Rice University. She is currently completing her Bachelor’s degree with a specialization in data science and is simultaneously pursuing her Master’s degree with a focus on computer engineering. Throughout her academic career, she has gained practical experience in both fields through various internships.
Her primary interest lies in the intersection of data science and computer architecture with the goal of optimizing systems. She aspires to apply her skills to make a meaningful impact in the aerospace industry, as she is passionate about innovating in such a challenging and hostile environment as space.
Raj Anthony
BS Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Bio:
Raj is a sophomore at Rice University majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a specialization in Computer Engineering and pursuing the Certificate in Engineering Leadership. He is passionate about engineering solutions for the Renewable Energy transition; as engineering lead and incoming president of Rice’s US DOE Collegiate Wind Competition team, he has gained a lot of hands-on mechanical and electrical engineering experience as well as leadership experience. In addition, he is an active member of Rice Center for Engineering Leadership’s Events Team, which plans campus-wide engineering leadership-focused events for the Rice community.
In his free time, Raj enjoys producing technology YouTube videos, listening to melodic EDM (and many other types of music), and hanging out with friends.
Ultimately, Raj hopes to use the skills he learns in class and through his extracurricular experiences to design cutting-edge Renewable Energy solutions.