Yafan Huang | University of Maryland

Prospective PhD Students

Thanks for checking this page! I am planning to recruit 2–3 PhD students to join my research group in the UMD Department of Computer Science through the Fall 2027 admission cycle. Please apply through the UMD Official Application Page.

Broadly speaking, I am interested in almost everything related to high-performance computing (HPC) systems, from large language model inference and training to scientific computing applications, and from traditional GPU clusters to emerging AI accelerators. In short, anything that makes execution faster, that can be considered as HPC. In particular, I am interested in system-level designs that improve the efficiency and reliability of program execution. My research spans several areas, including:

AI and HPC Co-design: HPC for Machine Learning Systems, LLM Inference for HPC
Data Compression: GPU Compression, In-situ Compression, Compression for Science
Fault Tolerance: HPC Resilience, AI Resilience, Software-directed Fault Tolerance
Parallel Computing: Massive Parallelism, Parallel Reduction, Dataflow Architecture
Compiler Optimization: Program Analysis, Code Transformation, IR Optimization

I am also actively exploring other interesting research directions beyond the areas listed above.

Applicants should have a strong background in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, or a related field, and should be comfortable programming in at least one language. Experience with LLVM compiler infrastructure, CUDA GPU programming, or large-scale computing clusters would be a strong plus. Prior research experience in related areas is also highly valued. If you have carefully read some of my papers and developed your own thoughts, questions, or even disagreements about them, I would be especially happy to hear from you.

More importantly, I value curiosity and self-motivation. Systems research often starts with asking why something works the way it does, whether it really has to work that way, and whether we can build something better. Technical skills can be developed over time; curiosity is much harder to teach.

If you are interested in joining my group, please mention my name in your Statement of Purpose and briefly describe the research areas you are interested in and why you would like to work with me. Application requirements and instructions can be found on the UMD Official Application Page. You are also very welcome to email me. Please start the subject line with [Prospective PhD Student] and include your CV and a brief description of the research topics or problems that you find interesting.