EDUCATION

• Northwestern University, Evanston, IL: Sept 2009 - Present
Ph.D program, Linguistics: Pre-candidacy; specialization in Cognitive Science

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA: June 2009
Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Thesis: Incorporating Pitch Features for Tone Modeling in Automatic Recognition of Mandarin Chinese
Advisors: Wade Shen, Robert Berwick

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA: June 2008
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Minor in Linguistics

GRANTS, AWARDS, & HONORS

Linguistics Department Fellowship, Northwestern University, 2009.
MIT VI-A M.Eng thesis Program, Dept. of EECS, MIT, 2008-2009.
Eta Kappa Nu, Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society, 2008.
First Prize, S. Klein Prize for Scientific and Technical Writing, MIT, 2007.

PRESENTATIONS & POSTERS

Upcoming
Chu, K. & Goldrick, M. (2010 October). Modeling Gradient Speech Errors in Articulatory Phonology. Poster to be presented at the 16th Annual Mid-Continental Workshop on Phonology (McWOP). Chicago, IL.

Past
Chu, K. (2009 August). Incorporating Pitch Features in Automatic Recognition of Mandarin Chinese. Thesis presented in the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Summer Student Presentations. Lexington, MA.
Chu, K. (2007 August). Incorporating Pitch Features in Automatic Recognition of Mandarin Chinese. Thesis presented in the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Summer Student Presentations. Lexington, MA.
Chu, K. (2007 April). Rhyming in Mandarin Chinese: A Study Based on Popular Song Lyrics. Paper presented at the 1st Annual Cornell Undergraduate Linguistics Colloquium. Ithaca, NY.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

• Northwestern Univ. Dept of Linguistics, Evanston, IL
June 2009 - Aug 2009
Summer Research Assistant

Worked on "Modeling Gradient Speech Errors in Articulatory Phonology." Implemented a quantitative model of gestural coactivation using the TADA routine in MATLAB (Nam, H., Goldstein, L., Saltzman, E., Byrd, D. (2004)).

• MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA
May 2007 - Sept 2009
Research Assistant

Worked on "Incorporating Pitch Features in Automatic Recognition of Mandarin Chinese." Surveyed and explored previous methods of incorporating tone in automatic speech recognition (ASR). Modified ASR system at Lincoln Laboratory to be compatible with Mandarin Chinese input and output. Implemented and tested a baseline method for tone incorporation using Perl, C++, and Matlab. Implemented and tested a preliminary multistream HMM approach for tone incorporation.

• MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
May 2006 – Sept 2006
Research Assistant

Developed two algorithms using fast Fourier transform, linear parameter analysis, and support vector machines for analyzing and identifying chord progressions in recorded music. Coded program in Java to record live sound as a wav file, analyze chord content, and display results.

• MIT Speech Communication Group, Cambridge, MA
Jan 2006 – May 2006
Research Assistant

Analyzed and labeled prosodic boundaries in recorded speech through waveforms and spectrogram data.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Teaching Assistant, Northwestern University: Fall 2010
LING 250 Sound Patterns in Human Language

• Laboratory Assistant, MIT: Fall 2007
6.131 Power Electronics Laboratory

• MCAS Tutor, MATCH Charter High School, Boston, MA: Sept 2005 - May 2008

LANGUAGES

Mandarin Chinese | Advanced proficiency: speaking
French | Advanced proficiency: reading, writing. Intermediate proficiency: speaking

Programming: Perl, R, Praat, Python, MATLAB, C++, Java, Scheme
Markup Languages: LaTeX, CSS/HTML

SERVICE & AFFILIATIONS

Service
Visiting Lecturer Liason, Northwestern University Dept. of Linguistics

2010 - present

Admissions Coordinator, Northwestern University Dept. of Linguistics

2010 - present

Certified SPEAK Test Rater, Northwestern University ESL Program

Aug 2010 - present

Reception Committee, Northwestern University Linguistics Colloquia

Sept 2009 - June 2010


Affiliations
Linguistics Society of America
Society of Women Engineers