Malick Lanlokun

Hi. I’m Malick.

I am a Research Engineer working at the frontier of AI and Computational Neuroscience.

Deep Learning Manifold Alignment VR Simulation Neural Decoding

Currently at Nankai University, I am building the Universal Narrative Engine. My work involves decoding latent neural states from the Alice Dataset.

Beyond the lab, find me on the football pitch, at the billiards table, or playing ping pong. I believe research is fueled by a spicy plate of Gong Bao chicken in Tianjin or the comforting taste of West African staples from home.

Currently Decoding Alice Dataset

Research & Projects

The Universal Narrative Engine

Nankai University | Current

Thesis: Manifold Alignment and Zero-Shot Decoding of Latent Neural States

VR & Alice Data Simulator

Using Virtual Reality as an interface/simulator to visualize high-dimensional manifold alignment and interact with neural trajectories decoded from the Alice dataset.

Diagnosis Classification Study

MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM

Postgraduate Research Visitor

Analyzed clinical and laboratory datasets across West Africa to develop predictive classification models for Bacterial Meningitis diagnosis, bridging public health data with machine learning.

Cortical Visual Processing

CMU Africa | Trend CAMINA

Summer School Research Participant (July 2024)

Modeled the differential processing of visual information by cortical inhibitory and excitatory neurons, focusing on the computational foundations of cortical circuitry.

Emerging Class Discovery in LLMs

IndabaX Gambia | 2025

Research Participant

Investigated semantic co-occurrence patterns in large text corpora to improve representation learning and class discovery within Large Language Models (LLMs).

Education

Nankai University

Tianjin, China | 2024 — 2026

Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Software Engineering

  • Focus Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Intelligent Systems
  • Research Computational neuroscience, neural encoding and decoding, vision–language modeling, and brain–machine interfaces
  • Thesis The Universal Narrative Engine: Manifold Alignment and Zero-Shot Decoding of Latent Neural States

University of The Gambia

The Gambia | 2021

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Computer Science

Certifications

Computational Neuroscience Course

Neuromatch Academy

November 2025

Trend CAMINA Summer School

Carnegie Mellon University Africa

Project: Differential Processing of Visual Information by Cortical Inhibitory and Excitatory Neurons

July 2024

Software Engineering Certificate

ALX Africa

Oct 2022 — 2023

Skills & Competences

Research & Strategy

  • • Neural data analysis & encoding/decoding
  • • Computational modeling of brain activity
  • • Multimodal representation analysis
  • • Open source systems research

Personal Strengths

Leadership, Community building (AI Gambia Network), Project management, and Cross-functional team collaboration.

Software & Tools

PyTorch TensorFlow MNE-Python Brian2 AllenSDK Python Kotlin Flutter Django Linux Docker LaTeX Signal Processing

Teaching

Teaching Assistant

University of The Gambia

Human-Computer Interaction & Intelligent Systems

Supported lectures and practical sessions, guiding students through hands-on projects in system design and intelligent computing. Facilitated the transition from theoretical concepts to functional programming tasks.

Conferences & Workshops

Deep Learning Indaba

Poster Presenter & Attendee

Kigali, Rwanda | 2025

OpenKylin Global Developer Conference

Community New Star Award Winner

Beijing, China | 2025

China Open Source Conference (COSC)

Participant & Researcher

Beijing, China | 2025

World Internet Conference

Global Elite Training Program

Wuzhen, China | 2024

Open Source Community Africa (OSCA) Summit

Chapter Lead Representative

Lagos, Nigeria | 2024

ETHIXPERT Conference on Research Ethics

UTG in collaboration with MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM

The Gambia

Industrial Experience

Software Engineer

University of The Gambia

  • Designed and deployed digital platforms for academic management and research support, modernizing institutional data workflows.
  • Collaborated on the university’s digital transformation strategy to improve institutional efficiency and transparency.

2023 — Present

Software Engineer

2M CORP

  • Developed tailored health information systems for the Government of Niue, Kaduna State, and The Gambia.
  • Implemented scalable, secure public data management platforms aligned with international public sector digital standards.

2022 — 2023

Junior Software Engineer Intern

University of The Gambia

Contributed to the development of internal university applications and data portals, supporting the early-stage digitization of student records.

2021 — 2022

Awards & Honors

MOFCOM Scholarship Award

Chinese Government Scholarship for Postgraduate Excellence at Nankai University.

China

3rd Place: Large Model Reasoning Engine

Inference Optimization Competition — Ranked 3rd out of 200+ global teams.

OpenKylin Community

3rd Place: Data Science for Health Ideathon Africa

Google Sponsored — Developed MKUNGA, an AI-driven Swahili antenatal triage system.

Pan-Africa

New Star of the Year Award

Recognized at the OpenKylin Global Developer Conference for community contributions.

Beijing

Poster Presenter Award

Deep Learning Indaba — Recognizing excellence in research presentation.

Kigali, Rwanda

Leadership

Founding Member & Coordinator

Artificial Intelligence Gambia Network

Coordinating AI learning programs and research-driven discussions to build the local ecosystem for data science and machine learning.

Chapter Lead

Open Source Community Africa (OSCA)

Guiding contributors on Git workflows and open-source participation at the Brusubi Chapter.