Guanglei Zhou is a Ph.D. candidate in computer engineering in the Duke ECE Department under the supervision of Prof. Yiran Chen. He received his M.A.Sc. degree in the UofT ECE department under the supervision of Prof. Jason Anderson. He received his B.ENG from CityU HK in 2020. His research interests focus on machine learning applications in Electronic Design Automation, especially post-training techniques in generative methods including Large Language Models (LLMs) and Diffusion Models.

💻 Experiences

• 2025.02 - 2025.05, Research Intern in NVIDIA Research (ASIC & VLSI Group), Santa Clara, CA, USA.
• 2024.05 - 2024.08, CAD Research Intern in Intel Corp., Hillsboro, Oregon, USA.
• 2023.05 - 2023.08, CAD Research Intern in Intel Corp., Hillsboro, Oregon, USA.
• 2022.05 - 2022.08, CAD Research Intern in Intel Corp., Hillsboro, Oregon, USA.

📝 Publications

• First-author papers

  • [MLCAD’26] Guanglei Zhou, Chen-Chia Chang, Yikang Shen, Jonathan Ku, Isaac Jacobson, Jingyu Pan, Yiran Chen, and Xin Zhang, “EXPLORE: Exploration with Guided Search for Analog Topology Generation using Language Models,” 8th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Machine Learning for CAD (MLCAD), Jeju, South Korea, Sept. 7-9, 2026.

  • [ICCAD’25] Guanglei Zhou, Chen-Chia Chang, Junyao Zhang, Jingyu Pan, and Yiran Chen, “Diffusion-Model-Enhanced Layout Pattern Generation for Sub-3nm DFM,” 2025 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD), Oct. 26-30, 2025, pp. 1-7. (Invited Paper) [DOI]

  • [DAC’25] Guanglei Zhou, Bhargav Korrapati, Gaurav Rajavendra Reddy, Chen-Chia Chang, Jingyu Pan, Jiang Hu, Yiran Chen, and Dipto G. Thakurta, “PatternPaint: Practical Layout Pattern Generation Using Diffusion-Based Inpainting,” 62nd ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC), San Francisco, June 22-25, 2025.

  • [SPIE’25] Guanglei Zhou, Bhargav Korrapati, Gaurav Rajavendra Reddy, Junyao Zhang, Yiran Chen, and Dipto G. Thakurta, “Vario: Enhance Pattern Diversity using Diffusion Model,” SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning, San Jose, Feb. 23-27, 2025.

  • [FPL’23] Guanglei Zhou, Mirjana Stojilović, and Jason H. Anderson, “GRAMM: Fast CGRA Application Mapping Based on A Heuristic for Finding Graph Minors,” 33rd International Conference on Field-Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL), Gothenburg, Sweden, 2023, pp. 305-310.

  • [ASP-DAC’23] Guanglei Zhou and Jason H. Anderson, “Area-Driven FPGA Logic Synthesis Using Reinforcement Learning,” 28th Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASP-DAC), Jan 16–19, 2023, Tokyo, Japan.

• Co-author papers

  • [ICCAD’26] I. Jacobson, Z. Zhao, R. Mehrotra, G. Zhou, V. Rashingkar, and Y. Chen, “DiffPower: GPU-Accelerated Differentiable Switching Power Analysis and Optimization,” 2026 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD), San Jose, California, Nov. 8-12, 2026.

  • [MLCAD’26] Runzhi Wang, Donghao Fang, Guanglei Zhou, Fenghua Wu, Yiran Chen, and Jiang Hu, “DREAM: Design-flow and RTL Enhancement via End-to-End LLM-Assisted Method,” 8th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Machine Learning for CAD (MLCAD), Jeju, South Korea, Sept. 7-9, 2026.

  • [TODAES’26] Yiyi Lu, Hoi Ian Au, Junyao Zhang, Jingyu Pan, Guanglei Zhou, Yiting Wang, Jingwei Sun, Ang Li, Jianyi Zhang, Hai Li, and Yiran Chen, “AutoEDA: Enabling EDA Flow Automation through Microservice-Based LLM Agents,” ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems, 2026.

  • [TODAES’26] Chen-Chia Chang, Wan-Hsuan Lin, Yikang Shen, Guanglei Zhou, Yiran Chen, and Xin Zhang, “LaMAGIC: Advanced Circuit Formulations for Language-Model-based Topology Generation for Analog Integrated Circuits,” ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems, vol. 31, no. 5, Article 109, 21 pages, 2026.

  • [DATE’25] Junyao Zhang, Guanglei Zhou, Feng Cheng, Jonathan Hao-Cheng Ku, Qi Ding, Jiaqi Gu, Hanrui Wang, Hai “Helen” Li, and Yiran Chen, “qGDP: Quantum Legalization and Detailed Placement for Superconducting Quantum Computers,” IEEE/ACM Proceedings Design, Automation and Test in Europe (DATE), Lyon, France, Mar. 31–Apr. 02, 2025. (Best Paper Nomination)

  • [ASP-DAC’25] Chen-Chia Chang, Wan-Hsuan Lin, Jingyu Pan, Guanglei Zhou, Zhiyao Xie, Jiang Hu, and Yiran Chen, “PRICING: Privacy-Preserving Circuit Data Sharing Framework for Lithographic Hotspot Detection,” 28th Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASP-DAC), Jan 20–23, 2025, Tokyo, Japan.

  • [MICRO’23] Edward Hanson, Shiyu Li, Guanglei Zhou, Feng Cheng, Yitu Wang, Rohan Bose, Hai Li, and Yiran Chen, “Si-Kintsugi: Towards Recovering Golden-Like Performance of Defective Many-Core Spatial Architectures for AI,” IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture (MICRO), Toronto, Oct. 28–Nov. 01, 2023.

  • [ICCAD’23] Qijun Zhang, Shiyu Li, Guanglei Zhou, Jingyu Pan, Chen-Chia Chang, Yiran Chen, and Zhiyao Xie, “PANDA: Architecture-Level Power Evaluation by Unifying Analytical and Machine Learning Solutions,” IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD), San Francisco, Oct. 29–Nov. 02, 2023.

• Survey

  • “A Survey: Collaborative Hardware and Software Design in the Era of Large Language Models”. IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine ( Volume: 25, Issue: 1, 2025).
  • “A Survey of Research in Large Language Models for Electronic Design Automation”. ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems ( Volume: 30, Issue: 3, 2025).

🏆 Honors and Awards

• DATE Best Paper Nomination, DATE Conference, 2025
• 3rd place, SRC CADT Anneal Poster Competition, Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), 2024
• Design Automation Conference (DAC) Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference (DAC), 2023 & 2025
• Edward S. Rogers Sr. Graduate Scholarship, University of Toronto, 2020, 2021
• HKSAR Government Scholarship (Top 1%), HKSAR Government, 2018, 2019
• HKSAR, China – APEC Scholarship (Top 1%), HKSAR Government, 2019
• CENG Dean’s Scholarships (Top 5 in College), College of Engineering, CityU, 2019
• Gold Peak Group Scholarships, Gold Peak Group & CityU, 2018
• Jockey Club Harmony Hall Scholarships, The Hong Kong Jockey Club & CityU, 2017

👨‍💼 Services

• Reviewer of ICCAD TCAD.