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Hi, I'm Neil

Neil Tan

Founder at uTensor.ai

I am a deep tech innovator focused on building embodied AI systems. As the lead author of uTensor, I develop real-time AI solutions in speech, motion, RF sensing, and physics-aware design for drones and robots. I am dedicated to creating intelligent machines that interact with the world safely and meaningfully.

ML/Software Engineering
Technical Leadership
Hardware Prototyping

Projects

uTensor
uTensor
Main Author September 2017 - Present

uTensor is an open-source framework that pioneered enabling efficient machine learning on resource-constrained devices. It is designed to be portable, lightweight, and easy to use.

BBC Micro:bit ML
BBC Micro:bit ML
Primary Developer September 2022 - March 2024

A project to bring machine learning to the BBC Micro:bit, a popular educational hardware coding platform. The project aims to make machine learning more accessible to students and educators.

32MB LLM
32MB LLM
Founder July 2024 - Dec 2024

Pre-trained a 1.58-bit Llama-inspired LLM that can fit all its parameters in 32 MB of memory. It is supervised finetuned (SFT) and RLHF aligned for specific use-cases. The project pushes the boundaries of generative models on resource-constrained devices.

Exoskeleton Prototype
Exoskeleton Prototype
Roboticist August 2015 - August 2015

This exoskeleton enhances the quality of life for elderly individuals by providing support for walking and standing. Using sensor fusion and heuristic control algorithms, it anticipates and assists with movement. The prototype was developed in just three weeks as part of an award-winning hackathon project.

GAN for Gundam
GAN for Gundam
Personal Dec 2020 - February 2021

This project uses an U-Net based Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to generate new Gundam designs. The GAN is trained on a dataset of existing Gundam designs and can create new designs that are both novel and realistic.

Experiences

1
Arm

August 2012 - Feb 2020

Taiwan/UK/US

Evangelist & Tech Lead

April 2019 - Feb 2020

Responsibilities:
  • Created the uTensor AI framework as a part of the open source initiative. Facilitated Google-Arm collaboration on TensorFlow Lite Micro.
  • Growing IoT footprint in APAC by actively engaging with commercial partners and communities, hosting developer events, supporting start-up PoCs and open-source projects.
GPU Software Engineer

August 2012 - April 2017

Responsibilities:
  • Arm Inventor Award
  • Developed hardware-accelerated computational kernels in OpenCL as a precursor to the Arm Compute Library.
  • Researched and implemented computer vision, compression and image processing algorithms on Mali GPUs.
  • 3A camera ISP algorithm on GPU prototyping, feasibility and competitive study.

Blackberry

January 2007 - August 2007

Canada

Software Tool Engineer Intern

January 2007 - August 2007

Responsibilities:
  • In-house profiling tool development to help the DSP R&D team optimize their code.
2

3
Robarts Research Institute

July 2002 - September 2002

Canada

Software Developer Intern

July 2002 - September 2002

Responsibilities:
  • Developed and extended GUI feature sets for a medical imaging software package used for MRI.

Talks

The Things Conference

O'Reilly AI Conference

FOSDEM

COSCUP

Education

MSc by Research in Photonics
Lithium Niobate Smart Cut Thin-Film Waveguides:
Development of non-linear photonic devices in simulation and the cleanroom, serving as a building block for scalable quantum computing without the need for cryogenic cooling.
Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering with Nanotechnology Option

Contact Me

Hi there 👋

I'm always excited to connect with brilliant minds from all fields. If you're passionate about deep tech and building empathetic, impactful AI, let's collaborate and create something meaningful!