Assel Kembay

Assel Kembay’s path into AI research began with a fascination for understanding how the brain works—and how to build AI systems that can learn and adapt the way biological systems do. As a PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Santa Cruz, she focuses on brain-inspired AI and neuromorphic computing, developing techniques that allow AI systems to continuously learn in dynamic, real-world environments.

Her research journey has taken her across continents. Originally from Kazakhstan, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Mathematical and Computer Modeling, Assel completed her master’s in AI-Robotics at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. She’s conducted research in Korea, India, and the United States, giving her a diverse perspective on how AI can solve problems across different contexts and cultures.

Her research spans from the theoretical to the immediately practical. She recently co-authored a paper published in Nature Communications on forecasting brain seizures, developing a model that can predict seizures one hour in advance. “We believe this will help to save patients’ lives,” she explains. She’s also working on making large language models smaller and more efficient so they can run on edge devices like phones and tablets without sacrificing performance.

“My goal is to make smaller models perform at the same level as large language models,” she says.

Her work in neuromorphic computing—developing AI systems inspired by how the brain processes information—represents what she sees as the third generation of neural networks. While these spiking neural networks are harder to train than conventional approaches, they’re far more efficient when run on specialized neuromorphic hardware. At AI Fund, Assel conducts AI product research focused on motion tracking technology.