About
Up in the air, or wrenching on the next build — flight has shaped much of my life.
I am a software engineer who not only develops flight software, but also builds, tunes, and flight-tests the real-world systems behind it. At the same time, I am a competitive pilot who designs and programs the very flight stack algorithms I fly. For me, flight software and algorithms are best understood when you are the one holding the sticks.
Currently, I am an autonomy software engineer at Joby Aviation, developing software and systems for autonomous flight. Prior to this, I earned my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia, where I worked on control theory (Google Scholar).
Beyond academia and the day job, my real playground is pushing the boundaries of custom hardware and open-source flight control software.
Over 15+ years, 50+ custom builds, and 5,000+ flights, I have developed extensive hands-on experience across UAV systems, from advanced control architectures and firmware customization (PX4, ArduPilot, Rotorflight, Betaflight) to simulation, HW/SW co-design, sensor integration, and flight testing.
Combined with extensive real-world piloting experience across aerobatic, FPV, and autonomous operations, this has given me a strong empirical intuition for aerodynamics, aircraft design, control response, and real-world failure modes beyond simulation alone.
Alongside my academic and professional journey, my love for freestyle aerobatic piloting has taken me to the international competitive stage, pushing RC models to their absolute limits.
- Former Team Member — Chinese National Model Helicopter Team (China, 2015)
- 1st Place — Mid-Atlantic Helicopter Championships, F3N Helicopter Freestyle Aerobatics (US, 2021)
- 4th Place — IRCHA Jamboree, Battle of the Brands (US, 2021)
- 1st Place — Thailand Heli Blowout, Expert Class (Thailand, 2015)
- 3rd Place — China RC Helicopter Elite Competition, Advanced Class (China, 2015)
- 1st Place — 3DX Asia Pacific, Sportsman Class (China, 2014)
- 3rd Place — Mikado Model Helicopter Funfly Competition (China, 2014)
- 5th Place — National Aerospace Model Championships, P3N Helicopter Freestyle Aerobatics (China, 2014)
- 2nd Place — National Aeromodelling Open, Nanjing, Radio Control Helicopter Mission Flight (China, 2012)
