Hello, I'm

Howard Qian

Robotics PhD Student at Rice University. I build motion-based interactive perception systems for environment understanding.

CV / Resume
Howard Qian profile photo

About

I'm a PhD student at Rice University advised by Dr. Kaiyu Hang in the Robotics and Physical Interactions Lab. My research focuses on interactive perception and allowing robots to confidently manipulate their environment. I received my B.S. in Computer Science from Rice University in 2024 with Distinction in Research and Creative Works.

Previously, I worked at Pinterest, where I contributed to the bulk ingestion efforts, pin title cleaning algorithms, and sales operations data analysis. I also enjoy working on side projects from time to time.

Research Interests
  • Robotics
  • Computer Vision
  • Interactive Perception
  • Digital Twins
Hobbies
  • Soccer
  • Road Biking
  • Cooking
  • Rugby
  • Guitar

Research

I study motion-based object segmentation with applications to robotic vision and manipulation. My recent work explores improving VLA models for physical AI, with a focus on rigid object video segmentation for robot manipulation.

Interactive Perception
Interactive Perception

By actively interacting with its surroundings, robots will understand their environment with more confidence and can plan actions more effectively.

Motion-based Segmentation
Motion-based Segmentation

Objects that have moved under observation are able to be manipulated by robots and therefore should be segmented by VLA models.

Digital Twins
Digital Twins

Robots must be able to accurately simulate their environment to plan and execute actions effectively in the real world.

Publications

Experience

January 2025 — Present

Graduate Research Assistant — Rice University

Robotics research with Dr. Kaiyu Hang [Robotics and Physical Interactions Lab].

June 2024 — February 2025, Summer 2023, Summer 2022

Software Engineer — Pinterest

  • Bulk Ingestion [Content Acquisition and Media Platform]
  • Pin Title Cleaning Algorithms [Shopping Catalog]
  • Sales Operations Data Analysis [Business Intelligence]
August 2020 — May 2024

Undergraduate Research Assistant — Rice University

  • Robotic Interactive Perception with Dr. Kaiyu Hang [Robotics and Physical Interactions Lab]
  • Driver Response and Reaction to Lead Vehicles with Dr. Patricia DeLucia [Human Computer Interaction Lab]
  • Hardware Neural Architecture Search with Dr. Yingyan Lin [Efficient and Intelligent Computing Lab]

Projects

Contact

I'm open to collaborations and conversations. The best way to reach me is by email.

hhq1@rice.edu Back to top