Hello! I'm Elaine, a student studying at Northeastern University. I'm constantly trying to understand how things work and how I can improve them, which is why I love fiddling with the things around me! I've always loved numbers and sequences (send me puzzles that involve those, thanks). Patterns play a huge role in my life — I believe they're the manifestation of the interconnectedness of everything and my daily routines revolve around them.

Probably working on new course material for Northeastern's new introductory CS course, CS2000, doing research on price discrimination, or building infrastructure for an AI flaw reporting form. I'll also be at PwC as a cybersecurity consultant this summer!

My research interests primarily lie in cybersecurity and privacy. I am particularly interested in how technology can be designed to enhance user experience while ensuring data security and privacy, while mitigating biases and harms to the user. I'm also interested in the education research domain.

Yep! Below are some of my publications and media features in this domain:

• Echoes of Privacy: Uncovering the Profiling Practices of Voice Assistants
  Tina Khezresmaeilzadeh, Elaine Zhu, Kiersten Grieco, Daniel Dubois, Konstantinos Psounis, David Choffnes
  PoPETS 2025. PDF
• What voice assistants like Alexa know about you – and how they use it
  New Scientist. Web
• What You Say to Google Assistant and Alexa (but Not Siri) Gets Used for Ad Targeting. Here’s How.
  Consumer Reports. Web

Same goes, see below:

• FEEDBOT: Formative Design Feedback on Programming Assignments
  Elaine Zhu, Smaran Teja, Chris Coombes, Daniel Patterson
  ITiCSE 2025. PDF
• Duolingo English Test and U.S. College Admissions
  USNews. Web

When I'm not looking for patterns in everyday things, you can find me struggling to draw with the Keynote Pen Tool or taking photos. I also like to read, bake, and complain about Boston's public transport.

You can reach me through email or LinkedIn. Alternately, find my resume here.