About Me

Lillian (Lilly) Chin is a graduate student at MIT in Daniela Rus' lab, working towards a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She received her SB and SM from MIT in 2017 and 2019, respectively, in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with minors in Mechanical Engineering and Comparative Media Studies.

Broadly, Chin's research interests center on embodied intelligence -- whether it's how humans manifest their physical intelligence online through digital avatars or how robots provide physical form to algorithmic ideals. Chin has primarily focused on creating new actuators and sensors for soft robotic manipulators, modular volumetric actuators and computational material robots. All of these robots' advanced functionality derives from a systems-level design of their material properties, often aided through computational design.

Recently, Chin has begun using sociological lenses to better understand the social impact of these digital tools. She is interested in understanding how current conflicts in identity creation across new media such as video games and Internet culture can better inform the ramifications of wide-scale deployment of robots and algorithims.

This website also provides a visual archive of Chin's personal projects, ranging from engineering projects like recreational robots, visual art like glassblowing and cross stitch, and amateur and professional writing. Archives of Chin's higher visibility activities such as her performance on Jeopardy! as the 2017 College Champion / "spiciest memelord" or her activism work at MIT may also be found here.