Student Researcher, Tang Lab
University of Washington · July 2025–present
Working with Asst. Prof. Johnathan C. Y. Tang. I designed and built XCAVATE, from inference pipelines and cross-model replication to statistical validation.
William Lin
I’m a computer science co-op student at the University of Waterloo. I’m interested in AI, neuroscience, and building useful software.
Right now, I’m a student researcher at the University of Washington’s Tang Lab, working on how language models represent human concepts.
Experience
Campus Ambassador, Velocity
University of Waterloo · Fall 2026
Promoting programming at Waterloo’s startup incubator, organizing events, and working with student-led organizations.
Projects
- XCAVATE. A research platform mapping human concepts onto brain regions through replicated LLM inference. Built in Python and Streamlit, covering 260+ concepts, 80 brain regions, and 50 models.
- XCAVATE Viewer. A React, FastAPI, and PyVista tool that turns brain activation vectors into six-panel figures, with cortical surface views and a subcortical heatmap.
Research
XCAVATE: A Cross-Model Platform for Mapping Concepts onto the Human Brain. First-author poster abstract accepted at FENS Forum 2026, Barcelona.
I’ve also presented research at the University of California, Santa Cruz. First-author and co-authored manuscripts are in preparation.
Education
University of Waterloo
Computer Science, Co-op · 2026–2031 (expected)
Advanced coursework in algebra, calculus, and functional programming.
Other things
- 1st place, Healthcare Track, UTMIST × WAT.ai AI Hackathon (September 2026).
- Royal Conservatory of Music Level 10 piano certification.
- First-degree black belt in Gima-ha Shotokan-ryu karate. Silver in kumite, Blue–Brown Belt Division, at the Steveston Invitational (March 2025).
- Member of Waterloo’s Computer Science, Quant, Data Science, and Poker clubs.