Steven Luo

Steven Luo

Computer Science, Data Science, and Public Policy at UC Berkeley.

Hi, I’m Steven! 👋

I am a 4th-year undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley double majoring in Computer Science and Data Science with a minor in Public Policy. My research interests broadly lie in computer vision, autonomous systems and robotics, deep learning, and technology/AI policy, and I hope to pursue a PhD in Computer Science after graduation. I currently research drone autonomy in the Video and Image Processing Lab with Professor Avideh Zakhor. I am also building the Tech Policy Initiative at CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, organize an AI policy reading group, and will be on course staff for CS 189/289A: Introduction to Machine Learning in the fall.

This summer, I will be continuing my work on research projects in Berkeley. Last summer, I was a Software Engineering Intern at VitalSense through the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program, and spent the rest of my time as a Congressional Affairs and Policy Planning Intern at the Defense Innovation Unit of the U.S. Department of Defense. Previously, I was a Robust Software Engineering intern at NASA Ames Research Center’s Intelligent Systems Division where I worked on improving the simulation-to-reality transfer learning accuracy of deep neural network classifiers. Before that, I investigated the surprise adequacy scores of deep learning systems at NASA Langley Research Center. Check out my other projects here.

I’m grateful to be supported by the Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholarship and Cal Alumni Association’s Leadership Award. I am also a Data Scholar and part of the STEM Excellence through Equity and Diversity (SEED) Scholars Honors Program.

In addition to my academic pursuits, I enjoy teaching (especially CS education and science communication), reading, cooking, as well as watching the symphony and opera. I’m also a student in the UC Berkeley carillon program and a member of the Berkeley Carillon Guild. This year, I’m challenging myself to read one book every month (with occasional accompanying blogs). Have titles to suggest or thoughts to share? Feel free to reach out — I’d love to hear from you!

If you would like to contact me, you can email me at sfluo (AT@) berkeley (DOT.) edu. Thanks for stopping by!

News

  • [Jul. 2025] I’m organizing an AI policy reading group (sign up here) with the Berkeley AI Safety Initiative!
  • [Jun. 2025] We built Compass at the UC Berkeley AI Hackathon, a “digital case-worker” that helps users navigate applications for government services and automatically fill out applications.
  • [Jun. 2025] Had a blast at Y Combinator’s AI Startup School!
  • [Apr. 2025] I’m excited to participate in the Brown CNTR Tech & Policy Summer School in July!
  • [Apr. 2025] My policy memo defining a limited private right of action for AI harms in K-12 eduction (with Saanvi Arora) won 2nd place at the 2025 Berkeley AI Policy Hackathon!
  • [Feb. 2025] Hearti won the Grand Prize: Most Impactful award at Stanford’s TreeHacks!
  • [Jan. 2025] I was admitted to the EECS Honors Program.
  • [Jan. 2025] I presented my paper “From Simulation to Reality with Random Noise” at the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum in Orlando, Florida.
  • [Sep. 2024] I presented my sim2real research at the SEED Research Symposium to UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff.
  • [Sep. 2024] I presented my work in VitalSense at the 2024 Workforce Innovation Program Symposium.
  • [Mar. 2024] I spent a week at ICANN 79 in San Juan, Puerto Rico diving into the global internet governance community, and presented my research during a conference session.
  • [Nov. 2023] I was selected to participate in the ICANN79 Community Forum NextGen@ICANN Program.
  • [Aug. 2023] I presented my sim2real research at NASA Ames’ poster symposium and to division researchers.