Team and Recruiting
Current Team
 | Joong Ho Kim is a CSE PhD Student at LSU under the supervision of Dr. Mills. Joong Ho obtained his BSc in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022, and then later an MSc in Computer Science from California State University in San Bernadino, under the supervision of Dr. Bilal Khan, where he also completed a Summer Research Fellowship at UC Riverside. His research interests and directions broadly relate to making AIGC models more effective and efficient. |
 | Kevin Vo Bigting is a CSE PhD student at LSU under the supervision of Dr. Keith G. Mills. Kevin obtained his BSc in Computer Science with a concentration in Data Analytics from LSU in May 2026. During his undergraduate studies, he conducted research on applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to chemistry and developed AI-powered systems for contract analysis. His research interests broadly relate to machine learning, artificial intelligence, graph neural networks, and developing effective AI systems for scientific and real-world applications. |
 | Garrett Wainright is an MS Computer Science student (thesis track) at LSU under the supervision of Dr. Keith G. Mills. Garrett earned his BS in Economics with concentrations in econometrics, communication studies, and energy from LSU where his work with time-series data sparked an interest in how temporal signals can be processed efficiently on constrained hardware. His interests include neuromorphic computing and the efficient deployment of neural networks on edge devices, with an eye toward condition monitoring of continuously operating industrial machinery such as pumps and bearing-based systems. |
 | Chidera C. Nnadiekwe is concurrently an MSc student in Computer Science Department under the supervision of Dr. Keith G. Mills and a PhD candidate in the Chemistry Department under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Chambers, both at LSU. His research interests span Artificial Intelligence/Chemical Data Science and Chemistry, with a focus on Trustworthy LLM Agents, Adaptive Experimentation, and Design of Experiments for scientific discovery. His MSc work develops a calibrated, evidence-grounded agentic framework for catalytic condition and outcome prediction in Cobalt/Rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation and isomerization processes. |
 | William S. Morales is a Computer Science senior at LSU pursuing a concentration in Data Science with minors in Linguistics and Spanish. A member of the LSU Honors College, he works under Dr. Keith G. Mills on his Honors thesis, which examines how far phonological representations in Self-Supervised Speech Models (S3Ms) can be compressed before degradation, bridging model efficiency and phonological theory. He previously studied Spanish intensifier variation under Dr. Rafael Orozco, published in the Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America, and sociophonetic speech perception under Dr. Hyunju Chung and Dr. Irina Shport. He serves as President of the LSU Student Linguistics Association and is applying to graduate programs in Computational Linguistics. |
 | Aedan J. DeFrates is a Computer Science SWE student at LSU pursuing his bachelor's degree with a minor in Mathematics. Aedan works under Dr. Mills on Graph Neural Network (GNN) research. His interest in this field developed while simultaneously studying Theory of Graphs and Artificial Intelligence, which sparked his curiosity about the connections between graph theory and AI. |
 | Damien Nguyen, is an Undergraduate Senior in Computer Engineering at Louisiana State University, working on applied machine learning and LLM agent systems. His recent experience spans production agent infrastructure at AWS Supply Chain and independent research on agentic workflows and AutoML. |
 | Kennedy Nguyen is a Computer Science senior at LSU concentrating in Software Engineering. He enjoys learning new areas of computer science through personal projects, especially in computer graphics, artificial intelligence, and engine programming. He is developing a C++/Vulkan real-time engine inspired by Portal and Valve’s Source engine, featuring portal rendering and mechanics, Source/Quake-style movement, bhop mechanics, custom scene editing tools, and real-time lighting. He also works at LSU CARTS, developing AI tools for transportation data. His interests include real-time rendering, GPU programming, artificial intelligence, and building interactive systems from the ground up. |
Alumnus
 | Evan B. Sanders is a student at the Episcopal High School of Baton Rouge (EHSBR class of 2027). After completing Grade 11, he joined Dr. Mills' ATHENA Lab for summer 2026 under EHSBR's ESTAAR program, coordinated by Dr. Jeff McClean. His interests pertain to programming languages such as C# & C++, computer graphics, AI systems. |
 | Nicholas Thai is an LSU graduate who earned his BSc in Software Engineering in Spring 2026 with a minor in Mathematics. During his time as an undergraduate student, he collaborated closely with Dr. Mills on Diffusion Model research. Now, he is working full-time as a Software Engineer at Visa Inc. |