Principals
Dr. John Choi
Founder and Chief Scientist, Banzai Research Institute
Ph.D. in Computational Neurobiology, UC Irvine
B.A. in Molecular Cellular Biology, Johns Hopkins University
Dr. John Choi brings over three decades of experience in a variety of fields which form the foundation of the Natural Logic Processing algorithms being developed at the Banzai Research Institute to allow computers to plan and respond in a more intelligent, human-like fashion. These include research and teaching fellowships focusing on the neurobiology of brain cell development, measurement and analysis of brain cell networks, and the biophysical analysis and modeling of intracellular signaling pathways at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California, Irvine. There he designed and developed numerous innovative software systems to control devices, analyze data and simulate models using neuro-network, genetic, stochastic, and cellular automata algorithms.
Before founding Banzai Research Institute, Dr. Choi leveraged his understanding of human learning to design and develop computationally advanced software systems accessed via innovative and intuitively simple human interfaces during his employment as a Software Engineer and Senior Scientist at pioneering companies such as Pages Software, Cambridge
Animation, NeXT Software, and Apple Computer.
Dr. Bing Chen
Ph.D. in Computational Nuclear Physics, California Institute of Technology
M.S. in Condensed Matter Physics, Princeton University
B.S. in Physics, University of Science and Technology
Dr. Chen is currrently a Sr. Consulting Engineer at Apple Computer where he has been developing a variety of information management systems for high profile clients such as Warner Music, MCI, Disney, and Modern Postcard. As an early adopter of NeXT Computer's innovative pure object-oriented language Objective-C, he brings almost two decades of experience developing object-oriented software using a variety of derived languages, including JAVA.
Kenny Leung
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta
An early adopter of innovative technologies, Kenny was an inaugural member of the University of Alberta team that eventually won the Ford/DOE Hybrid Electric Vehicle Contest. Previously a Campus Consultant for NeXT Software and Software Engineer at Apple Computer, Kenny brings over a decade of experience problem solving and developing object-oriented software systems.
Currently a Sr. Software Engineer at Banzai Research Institute, Kenny has designed and developed numerous financial and scientific information management and analysis systems for companies such as Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Avolent, Pfizer, and QuickCeph.
Matthew Smith
B.S. in Computer Engineering, UC Irvine
In college Matthew was the leader of a research team that worked on a virtual white board that extended into 3D. He also worked as a web application and automation developer at IO Integration which gave him an understanding of a broad range of programming languages. Given his love of everything Mac Matthew decided to turn to Mac OS X based technologies and focus his attention on Cocoa application development.