About
The Multimodal and Multilingual Learning Technologies Lab (M2L2) is dedicated to advancing research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and education. Our work focuses on building learning technologies that are informed by education research and designed to serve diverse, multilingual communities.
We develop tools and systems that leverage multimodal data — text, speech, images, and interaction patterns — to create more effective and inclusive educational experiences. Our research aims to facilitate access to emerging technologies and STEM education for historically underrepresented communities.
Members & Affiliated Researchers
The Guy With The API Keys
Dr. Joel A. Walsh
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Occidental College · Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Joel Walsh's research explores the intersection of educational technology, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing. He specializes in designing novel learning technologies that utilize machine learning, multimodal models, and knowledge representation. His academic work is informed by a diverse background, including postdoctoral research at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, industry experience as a machine learning engineer, and foundational years as a high school mathematics teacher in Los Angeles. Joel is currently learning Korean so if you really want to fluster him, ask a question that requires knowing when to use 한자어 or 고유어 숫자 or 높임말.
Lab Members
Sophie Haak
Junior, Computer Science & Mathematics
Occidental College · Los Angeles, CA
Sophie is a junior double majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics from Seattle, WA. Her research experience spans computer science education at Harvey Mudd College and biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University's REU program. Outside of research, Sophie is currently learning Mandarin.
Bingrui (Barry) Yang
Sophomore, Class of 2028 · Computer Science
Occidental College · Los Angeles, CA
Bingrui (Barry) Yang is a computer science student at Occidental College. As a native Mandarin speaker, he is particularly interested in multilingual natural language processing and semantic understanding research. He is also drawn to applying machine learning to real-world domains and has hands-on experience in data analysis and model development, with projects including object detection and financial forecasting. Outside of his work, he explores creative uses of AI, and maintains a strong interest in finance and investing. In his free time, he is a photographer who enjoys playing the guitar and snowboarding.
Sam Hjelmeset
Junior, Physics & Music Production
Occidental College · Los Angeles, CA
Sam Hjelmeset is a junior at Occidental College majoring in Physics and Music Production. They are particularly interested in the intersection of audio processing, electronic systems, and data analysis, with a focus on sustainability and equitable practices in STEM. Outside of academics, Sam is a jazz pianist who enjoys experimenting with digital music production techniques and building guitar pedals from scratch.
Ryan Arboleda
Freshman, Class of 2029 · Computer Science (Education minor)
Occidental College · Los Angeles, CA
Ryan is a freshman Computer Science major and Education minor at Occidental College from Los Angeles, California. His interest in learning technologies stems from his background as a child of two elementary-school teachers and attending LAUSD public schools, sparking an interest in using STEM to create a more equitable experience in education. Outside of his academics, he enjoys reading sci-fi, playing basketball, and refining his Spanish.
Matthew Arboleda
Senior, Computer Science
Occidental College · Los Angeles, CA
Matthew Arboleda is a senior computer science major at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. He has a passion for software development, machine learning, and practical experience mentoring high school students in FIRST robotics.
Affiliated Researchers
Oscar Arenas
M.S. Computer Science
California State University, Long Beach
Oscar Arenas is a Master of Science in Computer Science student at California State University, Long Beach. A native Spanish speaker who grew up in Los Angeles, Oscar designed workflows to evaluate LLMs including GPT-4o, Gemini, and Aya, on Spanish translations across 3rd to 12th grade science texts using Spanish readability metrics. He developed agents comparing untargeted and grade-targeted translation strategies, and built a multi-agent prompt retry system that improved grade-level alignment accuracy.
Projects
Project listings coming soon.
Contact
Interested in our research or joining the lab? Get in touch.
- Email: jwalsh2@oxy.edu
- Location: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA