Tsung-Han Lu

About Me

I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Architecture at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), advised by Professor Tajana S. Rosing. My research focuses on hardware acceleration for computational biology and machine learning systems, with particular emphasis on processing-in-memory architectures and emerging memory technologies.

Research Interests

My research sits at the intersection of computer architecture, hardware acceleration, and emerging computational workloads:

Core Areas

• Computer Architecture & Hardware Acceleration: Designing efficient accelerators for memory-intensive and compute-intensive workloads
• Processing-in-Memory (PIM) & Emerging Memory Technologies: Exploring 3D DRAM, FeRAM (Ferroelectric RAM), and FeNAND for novel computing paradigms
• Bioinformatics & Multi-omics Acceleration: Hardware solutions for genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data analysis
• Machine Learning Systems: System-level implications of Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) models, sparse gating mechanisms, and intelligent routing algorithms

Current Focus

I’m particularly interested in developing hardware accelerators that leverage emerging memory technologies to accelerate bioinformatics applications. This involves understanding the unique computational patterns of genomic and proteomic analysis and co-designing hardware and algorithms to achieve superior performance and energy efficiency.

Background

I bring a diverse and interdisciplinary background spanning mechanical engineering, health sciences, and computer science:

• Ph.D. in Computer Architecture (UCSD, 2024-2029) - Transitioning from semiconductor process engineering to computer architecture and hardware acceleration
• M.S. in Power Mechanical Engineering (National Tsing Hua University, 2019-2021, GPA: 3.9/4.0) - Specialized in microfluidics and bio-MEMS with a focus on biomedical device design
• B.S. in Health-Related Field (Taipei Medical University, 2015-2019) - Foundation in medical sciences and healthcare informatics

Work Experience

Before pursuing my Ph.D., I worked as a Process Engineer at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) from 2021-2024, where I contributed to advanced node process development (N3/N2), achieving significant improvements in yield enhancement and cost reduction.

This unique trajectory—from healthcare through mechanical engineering and semiconductor process development to computer architecture—has deeply informed my research perspective. I understand both the biological and engineering challenges in building efficient systems for data-intensive applications, positioning me uniquely to bridge these domains.

Collaborations

I actively collaborate with:

• Professor Rob Knight’s group at UCSD - Bioinformatics and microbiome research
• Niema Moshiri - Computational biology and phylogenetics