Jun 2026
film
My Neighbor Totoro and the Monomyth
How a film without a conventional villain quietly follows the oldest story structure in the world.
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about me
Who I am
Howard Yao
Hello! I'm Howard, a senior Electrical Engineering & Computer Science student at UC Berkeley.
I am currently a Student Assistant in the Engineering Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where I have the privilege of conducting research under the guidance of Stijn Wielandt.
I'm passionate about robotics, sensors, and digital systems. My work spans embedded systems, sensing technologies, and intelligent machines.
Thanks for stopping by! It's great to meet you!
technical
FIG. 01 — SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM2025
FIG. 01 — RSSI INTERPOLATION MAP2024
Works
FIG. 01 — SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM2025research
A 60 GHz Millimeter-Wave FMCW Radar System for Real-Time Observations in Remote Outdoor Environments
IEEE SAS 2025 — Best Poster Award. Weatherproof mmWave radar for long-term environmental field deployments.
FIG. 01 — RSSI INTERPOLATION MAP2024research
Portable Cellular Signal Towers for 5G-based Data Collection and Kriging-based Spatial Interpolation in Fields
DOE CCI Program. Raspberry Pi + 5G sensor platform with Ordinary Kriging for real-time geospatial RSSI mapping.
creative
2026
2026
2026
2026
Creative
2026Bのリベンジ — B小町 feat. Rose SV & Kasane Teto SV
Opening song from the anime TVアニメ「【推しの子】」- 「Oshi no Ko」 Season 3
2026Idol — YOASOBI feat. Hatsune Miku (V6 Cover)
A Vocaloid V6 cover arrangement of YOASOBI’s "Idol," feats. Hatsune Miku
2026SF Zine — Photo Series
A photo series shot in San Francisco.
2026Pochita — 3D CAD & Print
A 3D model of Pochita from Chainsaw Man, designed in Blender and printed in full color
writing
Thoughts & notes
Jun 2026
visual novel
Song of Saya
Pure oxygen must be diluted with five parts nitrogen before humans can breathe it—so too must some truth be diluted with lies.
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background2025–20272023–2025Jun 2024–PresentJun 2021–May 2025Oct–Nov 2025Download PDF →
Résumé
Education
B.S. Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
University of California, Berkeley
Major GPA: 3.9 / 4.0
A.S. Mathematics & Computer Engineering
Mt. San Antonio College
Major GPA: 3.87 / 4.0
Experience & Projects
Student Intern / Research Assistant
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) · Berkeley, CA
- –Designed a portable embedded sensor platform (Raspberry Pi + Quectel RM502Q-AE 5G NR) for real-time environmental data collection in remote regions.
- –Built end-to-end MQTT data pipeline with Grafana visualization — <1–2 s latency for sensor and RSSI streams.
- –Developed Kriging-based spatial interpolation for RSSI mapping; ~20–30% accuracy gain over naïve methods across >1 km² terrain.
- –Integrated with QGIS for geospatial analysis of >1000 geo-tagged data points per deployment.
Team Captain / Electrical & Software Engineer
FIRST & VEX Robotics Teams · Diamond Bar, CA
- –Developed autonomous and teleoperated robot control systems in C++ with sensor feedback for navigation, manipulation, and scoring.
- –Built match strategy data tools (React, TypeScript, MongoDB) supporting 20+ teams; designed components in Fusion 360 and OnShape.
- –Led 4–6 member teams across mechanical, electrical, and software domains through full competition lifecycle.
Acoustic Positioning System (APS)
Python · Signal Processing · Numerical Methods · Berkeley, CA
- –Implemented cross-correlation algorithms to extract time-of-arrival offsets from multi-beacon acoustic signals in noisy environments.
- –Averaged 100k+ sample signals to reduce noise and improve peak detection accuracy.
- –Solved overdetermined least-squares system from TDOA data to achieve high-accuracy 2D localization.
Technical / Honors
–Co-Author: A 60 GHz Millimeter-Wave FMCW Radar System for Real-Time Observations in Remote Outdoor Environments
–IEEE Sensor Applications Symposium 2025 — Best Poster Award
–LBNL 2024–2025 Recognition of Excellence Award
–VEX Robotics Excellence Award & Tournament Champion / Finalist (VEX / FRC)
Additional Skills
C/C++PythonRISC-Vx86Embedded SystemsRaspberry PiSTM32ESP32MQTTLinuxSignal ProcessingPCB Design (KiCad)UART/SPI/I2C/CANGitSensors & IoTData Structures & Algorithms