Yijun (Esther) Gu

I'm a fourth year Robotics PhD student at Imperial College London, supervised by Professor Yiannis Demiris in the Personal Robotics Lab.

My research focuses on developing human-centered robotic systems that support both caregivers and care recipients with physical or cognitive impairments in their daily lives. I integrate multi-modal perception, human robot interaction, machine learning, and control to create intelligent, assistive technologies that enhance comfort, safety, and overall quality of life.

Previously, I received my M.S. in Computer Science with a specialization in Computation Perception and Robotics at Georgia Institute of Technology. During the time, I worked with Professor Charlie Kemp and Professor Zackory Erickson in the Healthcare Robotics Lab, with the thesis topic "Virtual Reality as a Stepping Stone to Real-World Robotic Caregiving". Prior to that, I received dual B.S.E in Computer Science and Data Science at University of Michigan, where I worked with Professor Chad Jenkins on occlusion-robust 6D pose estimation.

I am currently on the job market for academic positions starting May 2026. If you find my research background a good fit, please feel free to reach out to me.

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Publications and Preprints

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