Steven Cao
Builder and researcher @ UCI.

I love building things — there's something about watching an idea take shape and then seeing it flourish that feels like nurturing something alive.🌱

I study CS & math at UC Irvine, where I research perception and biometrics. Three published papers so far — identifying people from brainwaves, detecting brain injuries, improving fetal heart monitoring. I've interned at Meta through the MLH Fellowship and at Crusoe. I'm drawn to problems where the bottleneck isn't motivation or talent, but rather access.

You'll usually find me on a trail or writing about something I'm still figuring out.🌿

email · linkedin · github · google scholar

What I've been working on recently:

Selected work

2024 Notive: A note-taking app that uses AI to capture key points and generate study materials.
Read coverage ( ICS, UCI News, CHOC) · View front-page screenshot.

2022 EEG Biometric Identification: A secure, low-cost approach to authentication using EEG signals that remains reliable over time.
Read publication · View research code.

2025 Question Video Explainer: A multi-agent app that turns questions into short, visual explanatory videos.
View code on GitHub.

More projects

2024 LAILA: An AI assistant that turns natural-language commands into automated web actions.
View project on GitHub · View Devpost · Cal Hacks 11.0.

2024 Geoflare: A real-time wildfire response platform that uses computer vision to assess risk and help plan response actions.
View project on GitHub · View Devpost · IrvineHacks 2024.

2024 TagAlong: An AI-powered platform that matches people to local activities and companions.
View project on GitHub · View Devpost · LA Hacks 2024.

2022 El Pollo Loco: A 2D platformer game built with Phaser featuring tilemap navigation, collectibles, and enemy interactions.
View code on GitHub · MIT Blueprint Hackathon 2022.