Cathy Fang

Cathy Mengying Fang is a researcher and creative technologist born in Shanghai, China, currently a Ph.D. candidate with the Fluid Interfaces group at the MIT Media Lab. Her research focuses on how artificial intelligence systems, particularly conversational and voice interfaces, influence human behavior, health, and well-being. Her projects encompass studying the long-term, large-scale use of language models, multimodal sensing for personalized health insights, and context-aware wearable systems for proactive interventions. She has published her work at top-tier HCI conferences such as ACM CHI and UIST, earning several Best Paper Awards and Honorable Mentions. Her work has also been featured by CBS News, Bloomberg, and MIT Technology Review and has received design accolades from Fast Company. Fang holds a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an honors bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University. She has previously worked with Microsoft, Apple, IDEO, and Magic Leap.

• 2024–Present·MIT Media Lab·Ph.D. Candidate
  • Focused on AI and human-computer interaction, researching voice interfaces and wearable devices.
• Previous Years | Microsoft, Apple, IDEO, Magic Leap | Intern and Researcher
  • Contributed to the development of innovative technologies and products, including applications in virtual and mixed reality.

• 2024–Present·Massachusetts Institute of Technology·Ph.D. Candidate
  • Member of the Fluid Interfaces research group, specializing in AI and human-computer interaction.
• 2014–2018·Carnegie Mellon University·Bachelor’s (Honors)
  • Major in Mechanical Engineering and Human-Computer Interaction.