👋 Hello!

I graduated from MIT in May 2026 with an S.M. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and an MBA. I was part of MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) Class of 2026.

I am interested in building AI systems that work in the real world: systems that can reason across messy environments, expose the right feedback to people, and become reliable products. Lately I have been thinking about simulation realism, world models, sensor simulation, synthetic data, and the product infrastructure needed to test autonomy before it reaches the road.

Before MIT, I spent six years at SoundHound building voice AI products in English and Chinese. I am now a Product Manager at Waymo working on simulation realism: making autonomous driving simulation more realistic, scalable, and useful for engineering, research, safety, and operations teams.

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Now

I joined Waymo this summer as a product manager working on simulation, and I am deep in learning mode: how simulation, AI systems, and product judgment come together in autonomy.

Lately I have been thinking about how simulated worlds become trustworthy product infrastructure: how to measure realism, where synthetic data helps or misleads, and how better tools let teams test rare, safety-critical scenarios before they happen on public roads.

Chat with me about:

• Autonomy, Simulation & Machine Vision - world models, sensor simulation, synthetic data, and evaluation
• AI & Machine Learning - foundation models, generative AI, representation learning, and vision-language models
• Human-AI Interaction - how people understand, trust, and steer AI systems
• Multi-Agent Systems - from negotiation to simulated road users and coordination
• Building AI Products - requirements, roadmaps, and reliable systems across research, engineering, safety, and operations
• Navigating MIT - LGO, EECS, MBA, and life between programs
• Career Transitions - moving between industry engineering, research, graduate school, and product-building
• Some fun stuff:
  • Public Transit & Trains - subway analytics, model railroads, and more
  • Jazz & Classical Music - clarinet player, curious about art + tech
  • Photography - I love landscapes and cityscapes

I am especially interested in conversations about how simulation, evaluation, and product judgment turn AI research into systems people can trust.

At SoundHound, I worked on voice AI products, designing and developing conversational experiences in both English and Chinese. A few examples:

• 🥪 Restaurant voice AI that answers phone or drive-thru orders 🗣️ “I want a number 2 sandwich foot long on wheat bread with no pickles” (Press Release)
• 🚙 In-car voice AI assistant shipped to Citroën Versailles C5 X in China 🗣️ “Roll up the windows and navigate to the nearest gas station” (Press Release)

Writing

I publish reflective essays on my Substack, and technical tutorials and project write-ups here on this site. All posts stay readable on junruren.com either way — nothing is locked behind a subscription. The newsletter just means you do not have to remember to check back.