Research & experience
Research, industry collaborations, and a background in computer science and design.
Education
University of Waterloo
PhD in Computer Science
Sep 2023 - Present · Waterloo, ON
Advisor: Dr. Jian Zhao · Grade: 96.5/100
University of Waterloo
Master of Mathematics (MMath) in Computer Science
Sep 2021 - Aug 2023 · Waterloo, ON
Advisor: Dr. Jian Zhao · Grade: 93.75/100
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Computer Science
Sep 2017 - May 2021 · Ann Arbor, MI
GPA: 3.695/4.0
Rhode Island School of Design
Pre-college Program, Art & Design
July 2015 - Aug 2015 · Providence, RI
Industry experience
Adobe
Research Intern
Feb 2026 - Present · Toronto, Canada
Sneaks Speaker @ Adobe Summit 2026
Adobe
Research Intern
Aug 2025 - Oct 2025 · San Jose, USA
Microsoft
Research Intern
Apr 2025 - Jun 2025 · Cambridge, UK
Blackberry
Research Intern
Sep 2023 - Feb 2024 · Waterloo, ON
Selected publications
Research in explainable AI, interactive systems, and intelligent transportation.
Surprise2Refine: Axis-Centered Exploration-To-Refinement for Agent-Assisted Creative Scaffolding
Yuzhe You, Gromit Yeuk-Yin Chan, Shunan Guo, Anlan Zhang, Eunyee Koh, Jian Zhao, Tongyu Zhou.
Accepted at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), 2026.
Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation
Anja Thieme, Rita Faia Marques, Martin Grayson, Sidhika Balachandar, Cameron Tyler Cassidy, Madiha Zahrah Choksi, Camilla Longden, Reeda Shimaz Huda, Nicholas Ileve Kalovwe, Christina Mallon, Courtney Mansperger, Daniela Massiceti, Bhaskar Mitra, Ruth Mueni Nzioka, Ioana Tanase, Yuzhe You, Cecily Morrison.
Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2026.
Exploring Comparative Visual Approaches for Understanding Model Trade-offs in Adversarial Machine Learning
Best Paper Award
Yuzhe You, Jian Zhao.
Proceedings of the Graphics Interface Conference, 2025 (In Press).
Panda or not Panda? Understanding Adversarial Attacks with Interactive Visualization
Yuzhe You, Jarvis Tse, and Jian Zhao.
ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems, 2025.
Enhancing AI Explainability for Non-technical Users with LLM-Driven Narrative Gamification
Yuzhe You, Helen Weixu Chen, and Jian Zhao.
Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2025.
PATENT
Axis-Based Variety In Generative Artificial Intelligence.
US Patent App. 19/650,581.
Selected honors & awards
Apr 2025
NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship — Doctoral
$120,000 CAD
Apr 2025
University of Waterloo President’s Graduate Scholarship
$10,000 CAD
May 2025
Best Student Paper in HCI
Michael A. J. Sweeney Award
Apr 2026
2026 Adobe Summit Sneaks (1 of 7 selected from 500+ global submissions)
Apr 2026
WiCS Graduate Scholarship
$3,000 CAD
May 2025
Ontario Graduate Scholarship
Awarded; declined funding to retain the NSERC doctoral scholarship.
$15,000 CAD
Oct 2024
3rd Place Best Poster Award in UWaterloo CPI Conference
$300 CAD
Mar 2024
3rd Place + Business Incubation Award in Dynamic Map Platform Hackathon
50,000 JPY
View 5 more honors & awards
Sep 2023
ICACHI Innovation Design Award
5,000 RMB
May 2023
GO-Bell Scholarship
$24,000 CAD
Feb 2023
Provost Doctoral Entrance Award for Women
$5,000 CAD
Jan 2023
UWaterloo GRADflix competition finalist
Nov 2022
2nd Place Winner in Waterloo.AI Data Challenge
$1,000 CAD
Teaching
Fall 2024
TA for CS486/686: Intro to Artificial Intelligence
University of Waterloo
Spring 2023 - Fall 2023; Spring 2024
TA / Lecturer for CS 449/649: Human-Computer Interaction
Winter 2024; Winter 2025
TA for CS 349: User Interfaces
Fall 2022 - Winter 2023
TA for CS 135: Designing Functional Programs
Dec 2018 - Dec 2019
Tutorial Designer for HS 650: Data Science and Predictive Analytics
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Service & volunteering
Jan 2026
Reviewer for CHI 2026 Posters
Outstanding Review Recognition
Dec 2025
Reviewer for PacificVis 2026 Vis-Meets-AI Workshop
May 2025
Reviewer for UIST 2025 Papers
Aug 2024
Student host for Prof. Niklas Elmqvist's Seminar on Human-Centered AI Tools
University of Waterloo
May 2024
Student host for Prof. John Stasko's Distinguished Lecture on Visualization
Presentations & talks
Adobe Summit 2026 Sneaks: Project Test Kitchen
Live Demo and Oral Presentation, Adobe Summit Sneaks, Las Vegas, Apr 2026.
From Techno-Centred to Human-Centred XAI: Rethinking Meaningful AI Explanations
Oral Presentation, Rising Star series, University of Waterloo Computer Science Club, Feb 2026.
More presentations & invited talks
NavEaz: An AI-based Smartwatch Application for Driver Impairment Detection & Predictive Analysis
Oral Presentation, Transport Canada/NRC Community of Practice (CoP) workshop, Oct 2024.
Panda or Gibbon? A Beginner's Introduction to Adversarial Attacks
Oral Presentation, IEEE VIS, Oct 2024.
AdvEx: Understanding Adversarial Attacks with Interactive Visualizations
Poster Presentation, Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute Annual Conference, University of Waterloo, Oct 2024.
AdvEx: Interactive Visual Explorations of Adversarial Attacks
Oral and Poster Presentations, Math and Computing Research Discovery Days, University of Waterloo, Jun 2023.
Selected News
Adobe Research
Sep 2026
Adobe Research intern follows her mentor’s footsteps onto the Adobe Summit stage
A feature on my Adobe Research internship, mentorship with Tongyu Zhou, and the journey from generative design research to the Summit Sneaks stage.
Read coverage
Adobe for Business
May 2026
Inside Adobe Summit Sneaks 2026 | Adobe for Business
My behind-the-scenes interview on Project Test Kitchen and bringing my research to the Adobe Summit Sneaks stage.
Watch interview · 1:02