Class of 2027 · Suzhou North America High School

Hi, I’m Zimo Fan

Student researcher and maker exploring how the brain pays attention — through EEG experiments, wearable hardware, psychology research, and the viola I have played since I was five.

Explore My Work Get In Touch

LearnTune — custom EEG headband →

The finished helmet prototype with a heads-up display

Heads-up display helmet prototype →

Seitz Concerto No. 5 — viola solo →

About me

Steady Hands,
Curious Mind

I started the viola at five, on a doctor’s advice, to strengthen fingers affected by cerebral palsy. The instrument trained me — and, in the years I resisted it, my cat Fantuan kept me company without asking anything of me. Both taught me how much the body, the mind and the things around us shape one another.

That question now runs through everything I do: building a closed-loop EEG system that adapts music to attention, designing a heads-up helmet so delivery riders never look down, researching animal-assisted therapy across cultures, and creating quiet spaces for classmates under pressure.

School: Suzhou North America High School
Graduation: June 2027
Interests: Neuroscience · Psychology · Engineering

Research & Engineering

From Question to Prototype

Independent projects carried through the full pipeline — field observation, hardware, experiments, analysis and writing.

Nov 2025 – Present Neuroengineering

LearnTune: Closed-Loop Music Neurofeedback

Student Researcher · Shing-Tung Yau High School Science Award project

A wearable system that reads a learner’s state and adapts music in real time. I designed and built a custom scalp-EEG headband, fused it with camera-derived heart rate and facial arousal, and ran a within-participant experiment during word learning.

Designed the headband PCB (dual-channel EEG front end, nRF52840 Bluetooth MCU, 6-axis IMU) and the closed-loop control pipeline: individual calibration, quality-weighted fusion, Kalman filtering and negative-feedback music control.
Ran controlled experiments comparing closed-loop and static music; coordinated participant recruitment and processed the multimodal data with Python and machine learning (29 participants).
Under closed-loop feedback, variability of the composite arousal index fell by 12.8%. No learning benefit was detected, so the paper focuses on system feasibility and measurement limits.

LearnTune: An Exploratory Pilot Study of Multimodal Closed-Loop Music Biofeedback During Word Learning
Co-authored with Ting Jiang, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University.

Diagram of the LearnTune closed-loop signal flow, with photos of the custom EEG headband PCB and the experimental setup — System architecture: multimodal sensing → calibration and fusion → Kalman filtering → negative-feedback music control.

Custom EEG headband circuit board with labelled components — Custom EEG headband PCB

The finished EEG headband — Finished headband

Paired chart: within-block standard deviation is lower under closed-loop feedback for 17 of 24 participants — Results: 17 of 24 participants showed lower variability

Read the full project → Paper (PDF)

Mar 2024 – Oct 2025 Hardware · Patent pending

Smart Safety Helmet for Delivery Riders

Cyclist, Designer & Researcher

Field research showed that delivery riders repeatedly look down at their phones for navigation, orders and notifications. I designed, built and iterated a helmet with a heads-up display, aiming to reduce how often they need to look down.

Translated rider observation into three goals: keep information in view, keep alerts from interfering with control, and keep the helmet’s protective structure intact.
Built the full hardware pipeline: schematic, PCB layout and fabrication, ESP32 firmware and a custom 3D-printed mount for a micro-display with a reflective light guide.
Wrote the “Rigonomics” posture algorithm, which computes body angles from IMU data; added LED indicators, collision detection, environmental sensing and handlebar controls.

The finished helmet with the heads-up display mounted at the edge of the rider’s view — Final prototype: speed, posture and battery at the edge of the rider’s vision.

Rendered helmet circuit board with ESP32 module and display connectors — ESP32 control board

Circuit schematic of the helmet system — Schematic

Bench test of the board driving two micro-displays — First display bench test

Read the full project →

Psychology Research

Animal-Assisted Therapy Across Cultures

Grade A · 4 Oberlin College credits

Mar – Jul 2026

A comparative review of how cultural attitudes, institutions, socioeconomic access and individual factors shape animal-assisted therapy in the US, Europe, Japan, China and Hawaii. Supervised by Prof. Anre Venter, University of Notre Dame.

When Recognition Becomes a Label

John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize · Psychology

Are mental illnesses overdiagnosed? Drawing on the looping effect, diagnosis data and popular culture, I argue they are both overdiagnosed and better recognized — and that the real question is whether care can be offered without requiring a label first.

Academic Foundation

A STEM-heavy course load alongside psychology and research — attending SNA on a full-ride merit scholarship from Grade 9 through Grade 12.

Full-Ride Merit Scholarship Suzhou North America High School · Grade 9 to Grade 12

AP Calculus BC5
AP Calculus AB5
AP Statistics5
AP Physics C: Mechanics5
AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism5
AP Chemistry5
AP Computer Science A5
AP English Language & Composition5
AP Research5
AP Biology4
AP Psychology4
AP United States History4

Activities

Beyond the Classroom

Communities I founded, people I support, and the music that started it all.

Community

SNA Meditation Club

Founder & Facilitator

Founded the club and advocated for a dedicated meditation space on campus. I lead weekly mindfulness and breathing sessions and low-pressure peer-support activities for students navigating academic stress.

80+ unique participants · 1,000+ cumulative participations Read more →

Singing bowls arranged on a rug for a club session

Arts

SNA Chamber Strings

Founder, Ensemble Leader & Violist

Founded the school’s first chamber string ensemble: recruited members, arranged repertoire and organized rehearsals and concerts — learning to listen, blend and make space for other voices.

Zimo performing with a chamber ensemble on stage

Service

Suzhou Youth Psychology Association

Youth Support Volunteer

Join home visits and youth-support activities for adolescents facing depression, school refusal and academic withdrawal, under the guidance of mental-health professionals — listening first, and building trust from shared experience.

STEM

FIRST Robotics Competition

Programmer

Responsible for programming and part of the component machining and assembly. Competed with the team across several events, winning a Third Prize and the Team Sustainability Award.

Third Prize · Team Sustainability Award Read more →

Reflection

Buddhist Temple Residency

Resident & Volunteer Mentor

Lived in a Buddhist temple for two months studying meditation, philosophy and contemplative practice, then returned as a long-term volunteer mentoring younger participants.

Arts

The Cat and the Viola

Violist & violinist · since age 5

Began as rehabilitation for cerebral-palsy-related fine-motor impairment; grew into public performance, youth competitions and ABRSM Grade 8 with Distinction — and later into research on music and attention.

ABRSM Viola Grade 8 · Distinction Read more →