applied AI engineer, cognitive science researcher, & human‑centered technologist.
I'm a product engineer and AI/ML scientist focused on bridging the gap between machine and human intelligence. Currently based in LA at the University of Southern California as a Trustee Scholar, where I'm pursuing a bachelor’s in Cognitive Science and a master’s in Computer Science.
As a researcher with the USC Information Sciences Institute, I’m interested in exploring the intersection of cognitive science and artificial intelligence. I study LLMs' abstract reasoning capabilities through the lens of graph theory, linguistics, and cognitive psychology.
I also post articles on a Substack publication, The Perceptron, where I write on cognition, computation, perception, and intelligence.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.04550
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/colegawin_chatgpt-cognitivescience-artificialintelligence-activity-7207080948952174593-RJu4
https://colegawin.substack.com
LavaLab
Aug. 2024 – Present
Director of Development
Code the Change
Aug. 2024 – Present
Tech Lead
Nora Music
Jan. 2024 – Aug. 2024
Head of Product & Engineering
Class Companion
Aug. 2023 – Dec. 2023
Machine Learning Engineer
Fiveable
Oct. 2021 – Aug. 2023
Software Engineer II
I serve as Director of Development at LavaLab, USC's premier product incubator, where I mentor the next generation of technical founders. I also serve as a Tech Lead for Code the Change, overseeing a team of student developers building a mobile app for a local non-profit.
Previously, I worked with Nora Music as Head of Product & Engineering, where I led a team building an innovative music discovery platform. I also worked with Class Companion, transforming educational content delivery through engineering AI systems for automated assignment generation.
I'm particularly fascinated by human-computer interaction and AI for social impact. Among others, I've developed AI solutions for medical coding and language learning, winning multiple hackathon awards for novel applications of machine learning and LLMs.
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LavaLab Spring 2024
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Judge's Choice Award for Best Product
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Stanford TreeHacks 2024
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Best Use of Open-Source AI Models (sponsored by Together.AI)
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Best Use of Bun.sh
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Sigma Eta Pi Fall 2023
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Judge's Choice Award
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Audience's Choice Award
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USC OORI Grant Recipient
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Techstars LA S24
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2022 Congressional App Challenge
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