Yulie Arad

Year in School
Senior

Major
Computer Science + Mathematics

Research Interests

Research Mentor
Nancy Amato

Research/Engagement Experience
I joined the Parasol Lab in February 2023 where I have been working on a motion planning project for robotics. I am a part of the IBM Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute working with Professor Felix Leditizky.

Interests
My research interests are quantum computing and motion planning.

Project Title
Toggle Space Exploration

How did I get interested in Computer Science?
I began programming when my dad introduced me to codecademy in fifth grade and immediately fell in love. Since then, I have been pursuing a career in computer science, majoring in it in high school and now in college as well.

What social interests matter to me?
I am very passionate about making good education more accessible.

What is my most impactful college experience?
Joining the Parasol Lab has introduced me to many priceless opportunities that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

These are a few of my favorite things!
Books, boxing and gardening!

Research Description
I am working on a motion planning research project. This project focuses on fast exploration, in which we first sample a point, check its validity (either free or obstacle space) and then proceed to expand a ball around the point, until we find a point of the opposite validity. Once we repeat this process some number of times, we have a roadmap of balls of both free and obstacle space that we can use to traverse through the space. We are exploring different methods of connecting points within the roadmap, variations of expansion methods, and different types of queries that we can use to determine the number of samples we need to take.

Biography
I am from New Jersey, but moved around quite a bit before settling in my current home. I am the oldest of 5 and the youngest is 17 years younger than me. I have a Border Collie-Australian Sheperd mix who is an amazing dog.