Dr. Amy Zhang

Biography

Amy Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds the Jack Kilby/Texas Instruments Endowed Faculty Fellowship. Her research focuses on improving sample efficiency and generalization in reinforcement learning algorithms, bridging theoretical foundations with practical applications, and developing novel decision-making algorithms to address real-world problems. Amy earned her PhD in Computer Science from McGill University, where she was advised by Joelle Pineau and Doina Precup. She has a strong background in artificial intelligence and machine learning, previously serving as a research scientist at Facebook AI Research and as a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley. Amy obtained her Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She actively contributes to the field of machine learning and has spent years on the board of directors for Women in Machine Learning, aiming to enhance diversity and inclusion in the community.

Research Interests