I am a PhD candidate in the University of Washington Department of Electrical Engineering, where I am working under the guidance of professors Jeff Bilmes and Bill Noble. Our research focuses on peptide sequencing in tandem mass spectrometry using probabilistic graphical models. My past research has focused on optimal collaborative detection in cognitive radio networks, potentially optimal lossy data compression, and digital image processing.
My research interests are:

1. Peptide Identification in Tandem Mass Spectrometry
2. Probabilistic Graphical Models
3. Information Theory and Communications
4. Image and Signal Processing
5. Data Compression, specifically Lempel-Ziv and Block-Sorting Compression schemes
   

One can also find a few graduate/undergrad projects I've worked on in the past and other information here.

1. Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Fall 2010-Present.
2. M.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, August 2010.
   Thesis Title: "Probabilistic Graphical Models and Random Graphs with Applications to Wireless Communications and Data Compression"
   
3. B.S. in Electrical Engineering and B.S. in Mathematics, Seattle University, June 2008.

1. Graduate Research Assistant - University of Washington, Winter 2011 - Present
2. Graduate Research Assistant - University of Hawaii at Manoa, Summer 2009 - Summer 2010
3. Undergraduate Research Assistant - Seattle University, Summer 2007

I was a teaching assistant for the 2008-2009 academic year in the EE department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. My duties primarily consisted of administering the course labs, presenting lab lectures, being available for office hours, and grading students labs and course exams.
The courses I assisted in were:

1. EE 160 : Programming (in C) for Engineers (2 sections, Fall Semester 2008)
2. EE 213: Basic Circuit AInalysis II (1 section, Spring Semester 2009)
3. EE 367: Computer Data Structures and Algorithms (1 section, Spring Semester 2009)

• Y. Liang, L. Lai, J. Halloran, "Distributed cognitive radio network management via algorithms in probablistic graphical methods", IEEE JSAC, Special Issue on Advances in Cognitive Radio Networking and Communications, Feb. 2011.
• Y. Liang, L. Lai, J. Halloran, "Distributed algorithm for collaborative detection in cognitive radio network", Proc. Allerton Conf. on Communication, Control, and Computing, Monticello, IL, Sept. 2009.

1. Email: the first five letters of my last name concatenated with j3 at u dot washington dot edu