Mia Tang

Ph.D. Student
Computer Science Department
Stanford University

I am a first-year CS Ph.D. student at Stanford University. I have been fortunate to work closely with Professor Maneesh Agrawala. During my Master’s at Stanford, I have also had the privilege of being part of the Stanford Vision and Learning Lab. Previously, I earned my Bachelor of Computer Science and Arts

My arts concentration was in communications design at CMU School of Design—so I’ve always loved making things visual, from websites and brochures to brand systems and experimental interactive media.

at Carnegie Mellon University, where I was grateful to be advised by Professor Jun-Yan Zhu on generative systems and Professor Kyuha Shim on computational design.

My research explores the intersection of computer graphics, vision, and AI, with a focus on developing interactive, controllable AI systems that align with natural human processes. I leverage generative models to enable broad audiences to meaningfully create, contribute, and solve real-world challenges.

Email: miatang at cs.stanford.edu

Links: Google Scholar |

Office: Stanford CoDa Building Room E368

Publications

ACM SIGGRAPH 2025

Instance Segmentation of Scene Sketches Using Natural Image Priors

Mia Tang / Yael Vinker / Chuan Yan / Lvmin Zhang / Maneesh Agrawala

Transform your complex raster scene sketch into individual, complete object layers.

Project Page arXiv Code Dataset

WACV 2025

CRAFT: Designing Creative and Functional 3D Objects

Michelle Guo* / Mia Tang* / Hannah Cha / Ruohan Zhang / C. Karen Liu / Jiajun Wu

Generate fabricate-able, customizable, and creative everyday objects.

Project Page arXiv

UIST 2024

Block and Detail: Scaffolding Sketch-to-Image Generation

Vishnu Sarukkai / Lu Yuan* / Mia Tang* / Maneesh Agrawala / Kayvon Fatahalian

A novel sketch-to-image tool that aligns with the iterative refinement process of artists.

Project Page arXiv Code

SIGGRAPH Asia 2023

Content-Based Search for Deep Generative Models

Daohan Lu* / Sheng-Yu Wang* / Nupur Kumari* / Rohan Agarwal* / Mia Tang / David Bau / Jun-Yan Zhu

A search algorithm for customized and pre-trained deep generative models.

Project Page arXiv Code

Research & Development Experiences

With a background in traditional graphic design, I'm passionate about bridging research and product by crafting user-facing applications powered by cutting-edge technologies.

[May - December 2023]

Adobe

Research Engineer Intern

I collaborated with amazing research scientists and engineers to bring cutting-edge technology into real-world design tools through tech transfer.

[May - August 2022]

Cesium

Software Developer Intern

I worked on the Cesium for Unreal Plugin, which builds on open standards and APIs, allowing Unreal Engine users to create virtual worlds with massive 3D data.

[May - August 2021]

Jam3

Developer Intern

I had a wonderful time collaborating in a small team of designers and developer, contributing to developing a 3D interactive site where users take on the form of agents embodied by abstract geometric 3D shapes to enjoy music together.

[Sep 2021 - May 2022]

Computational Creativity Lab (CCL)

Research Assistant

I was fortunate to be advised by Prof. Kyuha Shim to design and develop data visualization web experiences in collaboration with the United States Census Bureau, presenting insights on food insecurity across the US.

[Sep 2021 - Mar 2022 ]

Lunar Gala

Co-Head of Web

I had the honor to be Co-Head of Web team for the 2022 Lunar Gala, which is an annual student-run fashion show in Pittsburgh. Working with talented designers and developers is always a wonderful experience.

[January - August 2021]

CMU School of Design

Web Designer & Developer

I was incredibly fortunate to contribute to CMU School of Design's rebrand and website redesign, working alongside some wonderful friends from our design studio. You can see our design system in person at CMU's Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall or explore its digital form on the official website.

[Jan 2020 - May 2021]

IRIS

Frontend Engineer

I was fortunate to be part of the CMU Iris Lunar Rover team, contributing to the control interfaces for the 2kg student-built rover which flew in space in 2024.

Educational Comics

Turning complex ideas into playful, approachable visuals is a challenge that continues to inspire me. As a comic artist, that exploration takes shape through educational illustrations on technical topics. In my free time, I also volunteer as a math tutor for preschoolers at local schools in Palo Alto.

*Click on individual topics for the specific set of comics.

Conference Involvements

Thanks to the wonderful co-instructors and co-organizers who've made these workshops possible. Always up for new ideas, so feel free to reach out if you're cooking up something interesting.

Workshop: Drawing & Sketching: Art, Psychology, and Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH '25)Webpage
Workshop: AI for Creative Visual Content Generation Editing and Understanding (CVPR '25)Webpage
Course: Introduction to Generative Machine Learning (SIGGRAPH '23 & '24 & '25, SIGGRAPH Asia '23)Notes
Course: Generative Models for Visual Content Creation (SIGGRAPH '24)Notes Webpage
Workshop: The Future of Generative Visual Art (CVPR '24)Webpage