Michael Chen
AI engineer in
the Bay Area.
I build agent runtimes and evaluation harnesses at Epoch AI / Zerg AI, and I do forward-deployed engineering with our customers.
Selected work
Agent systems, speech, and listening.
Zerg and ZTC
Zerg is a spec-driven framework for autonomous coding agents, and ZTC is its terminal client.
My work spans parallel tool dispatch, isolated batch execution, and the live web interface.
Explore the projectKestrel
I distilled Kokoro-82M into a single-voice audiobook engine for MLX with about 10M active parameters.
Fast and intelligible, but less clear than Kokoro. Both quality gates fail.
Measurements and limits
My audiobook setup
I built Epub Listener, Hark and Kestrel to turn books into audio and listen on my device.
On-device narration, read-along, and offline playback. Visual: existing iPhone test capture.
From book to playbackExperience and awards
Experience
2025 to now
AI engineer, Epoch AI / Zerg AI Agent runtimes, CI on Fly.io, a multi-agent simulation engine and evaluation harnesses, plus forward-deployed work with customers.
2023 to now
Software engineer (part-time), MOBIVOLT AI-agent circuit design in KiCad and ngspice, test-stand software in C# and Avalonia, hardware-in-the-loop simulation and firmware migration for a DOD-funded fuel-cell program.
2023 to 2025
Founder and president, AI at UCR UC Riverside’s first official AI organization. 50+ members and 10+ technical workshops.
June 2026
B.S. Computer Science, UC Riverside GPA 3.66, with a minor in Strategy & Entrepreneurship.
Awards
AMD University Program Award
AMD Pervasive AI Developer Contest, for PHiLIP, a human-in-the-loop image-generation prototype I worked on with a team, built on AMD ROCm.
Cutie Hack 2022
First place in the sustainability track.
Writing
Scripts, Orchestrators, and Worker Sessions
Tech & Building ·
Scripts, orchestrators, and worker sessions: a practical way to keep a personal AI setup useful, predictable, and cheaper to run.
My Sleeper NBA Draft: Get My Guys, Leave Room for Upside
Fantasy Sports ·
I was mostly reacting to the board in this draft. I wanted to get my guys, but I wasn't trying to follow a rigid plan for every round.
Week 6: Stroud, Bernard and a Win
Fantasy Sports ·
Week 5 was a 133.34–170.60 loss. In Week 6, I changed five starters and won 156.08–129.58, moving to 4–2. Two new pickups, C.J. Stroud and Germie Bernard, finished as my highest scorers.
Contact
Away from work, I build apps for friends and personal tools, and I write.
Projects & Fun
Writing About me