About Me

My name is Brian Broll. I am currently a Research Scientist at Vanderbilt University working on a variety of projects around computer science education, machine learning, and model integrated computing. For more information on my work, check out the CTLI, DeepForge, NetsBlox, or our recent DARPA grant.

Previously, I was an AI Resident at Microsoft working on integrating rule-based AI and imitation learning to leverage their complementary strengths in game AI settings. The goal was to create an agent which leverages the expressiveness of imitation learning to get more human-like behavior while preserving the predictable behavior guarantees afforded by rule-based approaches.

I finished my PhD at Vanderbilt University in Computer Science (specifically Software and Systems Engineering). My dissertation research focused on making distributed computing accessible to kids leveraging blocks-based programming environment. The implementation of this work, NetsBlox, extends Snap! (the educational visual programming language developed at Berkeley) providing networking capabilities including messaging and access to real world data sources. I am also interested in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and making techniques in these areas more accessible for those outside of the particular fields.

Outside of work, I enjoy rock climbing, coaching wrestling, playing video games, and hanging out with my wife!