Alex Jiakai XU

Alex Jiakai XU

Computer Science Student

Columbia University

Biography

Jiakai Xu is a self-motivated, responsible, and easy-going master’s student in Computer Science at Columbia University. He holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science from Columbia University and the City University of Hong Kong, earned through the Joint Bachelor’s Degree Program. With a strong academic record, Jiakai has extensive experience as both a Research and Teaching Assistant. His primary interests lie in computer systems, programming languages, software architecture, and cybersecurity. Additionally, he has notable achievements and strong interests in civil aviation flight technology, aerospace vehicle design, and life sciences, particularly in immunology, stem cells, and public health.

Interests
  • Computer Systems
  • Programming Languages
  • Software Architecture
  • Cyberspace Security
  • Civil Aviation
  • Life Sciences
Education
  • M.S. in Computer Science, 2024 ~ 2025

    Columbia University in the City of New York

  • B.A. in Computer Science, 2022 ~ 2024

    Columbia University in the City of New York

  • B.S. in Computer Science, 2019 ~ 2024

    City University of Hong Kong

Skills

c
C
cplusplus
C++
java
Java
python
python
go
go
php
PHP
html5
HTML
css3
CSS
javascript
JavaScript
linux
Shell
haskell
Haskell
sql
SQL
matlab
Matlab
ruby
Ruby

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Columbia University
Head Teaching Assistant
Sep 2025 – Dec 2025 New York, NY

COMS W4995 Design Using C++ : Graduate seminar on programming language design in C++
Instructor: Prof. Bjarne Stroustrup ; Enrollment: 30+ students

Mentored and evaluated 11 student software development team projects.
Created tutorial materials, designed three assignments and grading rubrics, and coordinated coursework progress.

 
 
 
 
 
Columbia University
Teaching Assistant
Sep 2025 – Dec 2025 New York, NY

COMS W4113 Distributed Systems : Go-based course on designing scalable and fault-tolerant systems
Instructor: Prof. Roxana Geambasu ; Enrollment: 120+ students

Built and maintained the programming infrastructure for assignments on distributed storage and consensus protocols.
Guided students in debugging complex distributed behaviors and applying best practices for concurrency, fault tolerance, and performance.

 
 
 
 
 
Columbia University
Research Assistant (Fulltime)
Jun 2025 – Aug 2025 New York, NY

Conducted research in DAPLab under Prof. Kostis Kaffes and Prof. Eugene Wu on systems for emerging agent workloads.

Led research on system forking for agentic workloads, creating tools and benchmarks that drew industry funding.
Directed a GPU LLM serving project, building a differentiable simulator for workload-aware scheduling.

 
 
 
 
 
Columbia University
Head Teaching Assistant
Jan 2025 – May 2025 New York, NY

COMS W4118 Operating Systems : Linux kernel hacking and concurrent programming in C
Instructor: Prof. Kostis Kaffes ; Enrollment: 150+ students

Designed and graded kernel hacking homework and exams; coordinated grading progress across the TA team.
Delivered recitations and held weekly office hours to support student learning.
Assisted the professor with instruction, material preparation, and overall course logistics.

 
 
 
 
 
Columbia University
Head Teaching Assistant
Aug 2024 – Dec 2024 New York, NY

COMS W4995 Design Using C++ : Graduate seminar on programming language design in C++
Instructor: Prof. Bjarne Stroustrup ; Enrollment: 30+ students

Mentored and evaluated 11 student software development team projects.
Created tutorial materials, designed three assignments and grading rubrics, and coordinated coursework progress.

 
 
 
 
 
Columbia University
Teaching Assistant
Jan 2024 – May 2024 New York, NY

COMS W4118 Operating Systems : Linux kernel hacking and concurrent programming in C
Instructor: Prof. Kostis Kaffes ; Enrollment: 150+ students

Designed and graded kernel hacking homework, and midterm exams for the class.
Developed automated grading scripts for the teaching team.
Delivered recitations and met with students during weekly office hours.

 
 
 
 
 
Columbia University
Teaching Assistant
Jan 2023 – May 2023 New York, NY

COMS W3157 Advanced Programming : UNIX systems programming using C and shell
Instructor: Dr. Brian Borowski ; Enrollment: 350+ students

Delivered recitations and met with students during weekly office hours.
Designed and graded 7 programming labs and 3 exams for the class.
Assisted the professor with instruction and material preparation.

 
 
 
 
 
City University of Hong Kong
Research And Teaching Assistant
Jun 2022 – Jan 2023 Hong Kong SAR

CS2204 Fundamentals of Internet Applications Development : Website frontend development using html, css, javascript
Instructor: Prof. Zhenjiang Li ; Enrollment: 200+ students

Developed a new set (15 sessions) of tutorial materials independently.
Assisted professor in updating lecture notes and coursework.
Led follow-up research on sign language recognition and bio-algorithm analysis project.

 
 
 
 
 
City University of Hong Kong
Research Assistant (Fulltime)
Jul 2021 – Jun 2022 Hong Kong SAR

Research on automated bioinformatics analysis workflow under the supervision of Prof. Shuaicheng Li

Developed a new genetic diagnosis and cancer screening website with colleagues using ruby on rails and vue.js.
Developed several bioanalysis processes using bash and python scripts.
Responsible for the deployment of the website and server administration.

Recent Publications

Quickly discover relevant publications by filtering publications.
(2024). Enhancing the Applicability of Sign Language Translation. IEEE Trans. Mob. Comput..

Cite Project DOI

Projects

See my projects for more details on my work.
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Accomplish­ments

Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society
The Neil R. and Ann B. Hammer Family Charitable Foundation Scholarship
Dean List of School of General Studies (every semester)
Dr. & Mrs. Yeung Kin Man Scholarship
Dean List of College of Engineering (every academic year)

Contact