Benjamin Joens

Hello, my name is Ben Joens, and I am a third-year student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, majoring in Computer Science and Data Science. I am originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and in my free time, I enjoy playing soccer, biking, and playing video games. RISS 2024 will be my first time participating in formal research! At my school, I am involved in robotics, and serve as a TA for many undergraduate courses. In collaboration with other classmates, I have developed numerous machine learning models for various tasks, including image classification, sentiment analysis, and human-robot collaboration. Additionally, through my most recent internship with Caterpillar, I was able to develop software for fully autonomous mining trucks that are located around the globe. This experience helped fuel my passion for robotics. My research interests primarily lie in the foundations of deep learning and how we can approach artificial general intelligence through bio-inspired systems. Drawing inspiration from intelligent organisms will allow for more efficient and interpretable models. Exploring energy-efficient alternatives to resource-heavy models would then increase accessibility for individuals to train and deploy their own models locally. I want to thank Rachel Burcin, Dr. Artur Dubrawski, and the people at Auton Lab for offering me this incredible opportunity. I cannot wait to get started!