Michael

About

Hello, I'm Michael.

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I turn messy data into clear decisions. With an interdisciplinary background spanning international finance, public policy, and social data science, I bring both technical depth and strategic context to every problem, whether it's developing software, building a machine learning pipeline, designing a dashboard for stakeholders, or advising on data governance.

I thrive in collaborative, fast-moving teams where curiosity is rewarded and impact is measured. I've shipped end-to-end data products, automated research workflows, and translated complex quantitative findings into actionable recommendations for non-technical audiences. I'm comfortable working with large-scale datasets and building pipelines that handle volume without breaking. My toolkit spans Python, R, TypeScript, React/Next.js, SQL, Docker, AWS, and visualization platforms like Tableau and Power BI. I embrace emerging AI tools, from calling LLM APIs to orchestrating autonomous agents, and use them to multiply productivity so I can focus on creativity, ideas, and strategic thinking.

I don't just model the data. I understand the institutions, incentives, and constraints behind it. That means fewer blind spots, better questions, and solutions that actually survive contact with the real world.

I speak fluent English, native Mandarin and Cantonese, and basic Japanese. In my spare time, I love photography, collecting Pokémon cards, and cooking.

Michael — profile photo

With McDull, my furry friend. August 2025.

Focus Areas

  • Data science & AI engineering
  • NLP & computational linguistics
  • Policy evaluation & quantitative methods
  • Full-stack product development

Technical Skills

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Proficient in Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, and R with extensive experience in data analysis and full-stack development. Skilled in modern frameworks including React and Next.js, with expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI), and statistical analysis (STATA). Strong foundation in database management (MySQL) and containerization (Docker).

Python
Python
TypeScript
TS
R
R
React
React
Next.js
Next.js
Node.js
Node
FastAPI
FastAPI
MySQL
MySQL
Tableau
Tableau
Power BI
Power BI
STATA
STATA
Docker
Docker
Azure
Azure
AWS
AWS

Focus Areas

  • Languages & Software: Python (Pandas, scikit-learn, Streamlit, Plotly), R, SQL, TypeScript, Tableau, Power BI, STATA, SPSS
  • Data, ML & AI: Classification, prediction, NLP, time series, ETL, Transformers, LLM agents, RAG, LangChain, prompt engineering, model evaluation
  • Research: Topic modeling, survey design and programming (ODK), meta-analysis, thematic analysis, desk research, comparative analysis
  • Web, App & Infrastructure: React (Next.js), Node.js, FastAPI, Tailwind, Docker, AWS, Azure, HPC, CI/CD

644 contributions in 2026

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Professional Experience

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I've worked across data, policy, and engineering roles in both public and private sectors, always at the intersection of technology and real-world impact.

Jul 2025 — Present

Washington, D.C., United States

The World Bank

The World Bank

Developer Consultant, People - Chief Economist Office

Go-to technical resource for the team: end-to-end development of internal platforms, automation pipelines, analytics dashboards, and survey programming to support research operations.

▸ See details
  • • Rebuilt the public-facing project website (HTML) with CI/CD, and handled technical implementation with content from the research team
  • • Engineered a project management tool (Python, GitHub Actions API) with a real-time dashboard to track 200+ issues across multi-stage data extraction pipelines with coder-supervisor dependencies, replaced manual tracking and surfaced bottlenecks to accelerate reviews
  • • Developed a suite of internal tools including a web scraper, an ML-ensemble methodological classifier, and a Shiny app for side-by-side comparative review to support quality control across the data extraction workflow
  • • Architected a one-stop full-stack data entry platform (frontend, backend, SQL data storage) from 0-1 for 30+ users with integrated QA, RBAC, and performance monitoring, consolidated scattered resources into one unified platform

Jan 2025 — May 2025

Berkeley, United States

Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)

Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)

Data Visualization Analyst (Project), Psychology and Economics of Poverty Initiative

LLM-based text classification and data visualization to support systematic literature review and research synthesis.

▸ See details
  • • Applied LLMs to extract information from and classify 1000+ academic publications, refined label accuracy through iterative prompt engineering and few-shot calibration
  • • Evaluated LLM classification performance using confusion matrix analysis, confidence calibration, and inter-annotator agreement metrics
  • • Contributed to visualization strategy, selected appropriate chart types to reveal linkages across paper components and thematic patterns
  • • Authored methodology documentation on the LLM classification pipeline (CoT, PDF parsing, prompt evaluation) as a reusable reference

Jan 2025 — May 2025

Milpitas, CA, United States

FocusKPI

FocusKPI

Data Scientist (Project), AI Product Team

Built the App Review Intelligence Platform end-to-end: data pipeline, NLP classification, containerized deployment, and dashboards.

▸ See details
  • • Architected an end-to-end ETL and NLP pipeline that ingests, cleans, and classifies open-source app reviews across major App Stores, enabling automated sentiment analysis at production scale
  • • Built an LLM-powered classification engine with optimized label taxonomy via iterative sampling and word-embedding evaluation; packaged the solution in Docker for consistent cross-environment deployment
  • • Delivered the platform as a full-stack application (React, TypeScript frontend; FastAPI backend; Docker Compose) with RAG-powered insight generation via OpenAI and sentence-transformers

Jun 2024 — Aug 2024

Shanghai, China

Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences

Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences

Policy Analyst (Part-time), Institute of World Economy

Comparative economic research and policy benchmarking to support regional financial sector planning.

▸ See details
  • • Authored 5 in-depth benchmark reports profiling leading global financial hubs, directly informing the preliminary research framework for Shanghai Hongkou District's Fifteenth Five-Year Plan (Financial Sector)
  • • Synthesized regional economic outlook data and curated case studies to equip senior researchers with actionable inputs for strategic policy recommendations

Mar 2024 — Jul 2024

Shenzhen, China

UNESCO-ICHEI (International Center for Higher Education Innovation)

UNESCO-ICHEI (International Center for Higher Education Innovation)

Project Management Trainee, Global Partnership and Program Office

Cross-stakeholder program coordination and data-driven evaluation for AI-in-education policy initiatives.

▸ See details
  • • Supported two Regional High-Level Policy Dialogues on GenAI in Higher Education: SEA (Jakarta, ~200 participants, 8 countries) and Central Asia (Tashkent, 220+ participants, 14 countries)
  • • Drafted press releases and news articles for international delegation visits, published on the official website and WeChat public account
  • • Conducted research on GenAI in higher education: regional policy mapping, AI-empowered teacher development analysis, and weekly international briefings to inform program strategy

Jun 2022 — May 2023

Hong Kong SAR, China

RAND

RAND

Research Team Member (Project, HKUST Capstone), Center for Asia Pacific Policy

Mixed-methods research on telemedicine adoption: survey design, SEM, and stakeholder engagement.

▸ See details
  • • Co-designed a 500+ respondent survey (UTAUT framework) to quantify telemedicine acceptance drivers and barriers in Guangdong
  • • Applied SEM in SmartPLS to test causal paths, isolate latent adoption barriers, and segment findings by demographic/geographic variables
  • • Conducted stakeholder interviews with healthcare practitioners and policymakers, translated findings into policy recommendations

Jun 2022 — Aug 2022

Hong Kong SAR, China

CECEP Environmental Consulting Group Limited (HK)

CECEP Environmental Consulting Group Limited (HK)

Project Assistant (Full-time Intern), Sustainability Department

ESG consulting support: industry benchmarking, disclosure auditing, and quantitative compliance analysis for listed companies.

▸ See details
  • • Benchmarked ESG performance of sector leaders and analyzed macro sustainability trends to inform strategy recommendations for clients
  • • Audited client sustainability disclosures against HKEX and GRI/SASB standards, identified data gaps and prioritized remediation
  • • Produced quantitative compliance analyses and editorial recommendations that improved clients' ESG ratings and reporting quality

May 2020 — Apr 2021

Shenzhen, China

Grant Thornton China (Shenzhen Office)

Grant Thornton China (Shenzhen Office)

Analyst, Consulting Department

Government consulting: economic data analysis, primary research design, and policy reporting for regional planning authorities.

▸ See details
  • • Produced policy briefs and weekly economic bulletins for municipal government to support regional planning and investment decisions
  • • Designed online surveys targeting local enterprises to capture data on industrial trends, fixed-asset investment, and SME needs
  • • Coordinated cross-functional deliverables across audit, tax, and advisory teams to produce quarterly macroeconomic reports
  • • Queried and consolidated investment and industrial output datasets using SQL to support economic forecasting and trend analysis

Education

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UC Berkeley

University of California,
Berkeley

Master of Computational Social Science

GPA: 3.98/4.0 · Aug 2024 – May 2025

Key Modules

Advanced Computing, Applied Statistics, Data Visualization, Data Ethics, Social Technology and Human Psychology, Quantitative Political Risk Analysis, Decoding Housing Displacement

Activities

  • • Ad-hoc Reviewer for the 11th International Conference on Computational Social Science (2025)
HKUST

The Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology

Master of Public Policy

GPA: 3.76/4.3 · Sep 2021 – Nov 2023

Key Modules

Quantitative Analysis and Empirical Methods, Policy Analysis, Text Analysis and Machine Learning, Microeconomics, Risk and Regulation, Advanced Analytical Tools, Computational Social Science

Activities

  • • Research: The Role of Public Research Universities in the Innovation Ecosystem (2021-2022)
University

Guangdong University
of Foreign Studies

B.A. in Business English (International Finance)

GPA: 3.83/4.0 · Sep 2016 – Jun 2020

Key Modules

Research Methods, Advanced Mathematics, Business Statistics, Computer Science, Linguistics, Translation and Interpretation, Financial Statement Analysis

Activities

  • • Research: Food and Drug Safety Regulation in the GBA (with Guangdong Institute for International Strategy, 2019-2020)

Certificates

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