Bala Thoravi Kumaravel
Senior Researcher
About
I am Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research, Redmond at the EPIC team (opens in new tab). I work on leveraging Generative AI models (LLMs and Diffusion models) to enhance user productivity and collaboration in business-critical applications. I am particularly interested in customizing, finetuning, and aligning generative AI models for specific end-user applications.
Before joining Microsoft, I completed my Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley where I was advised by Prof. Björn Hartmann (opens in new tab). My research at Berkeley was concentrated in the domains of Virtual and Augmented Reality, exploring applications in diverse activities, from AR/VR-assisted robotics interactions to enhancing learning experiences. Before that, I completed my Bachelors at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras where my Bachelors’ thesis won the best interdisciplinary thesis project amongst all engineering departments and the best thesis in the department.
More details on my publications and projects can be found at my personal website – www.tkbala.com (opens in new tab)