Student and Alumni

Celebrate Excellence: EE/CE Senior Awards 2026

Columbia Electrical Engineering Department recognizes the outstanding achievements of its senior students with the 2026 Senior Dinner. 

By
Xintian Tina Wang
May 04, 2026
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Each year, the Columbia Electrical Engineering Department honors its outstanding EE/CE seniors with prestigious awards recognizing their achievements in various fields. The 2026 Senior Awards highlight the exceptional talents, passions, and accomplishments of students who have excelled in areas such as research, teaching, and service.

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Edwin Howard Armstrong Memorial Award

  • Recipient: Xuanyi Wu
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: Undergraduate Researcher at Paninski Lab in Zuckerman Institute on neuroscience foundation models. Co-first author of Unsupervised learning reveals rapid gait adaptation after leg loss and regrowth in spiders (Kane et al., 2025).
  • Future Plans: Purse a PhD
     

Computer Engineering Award of Excellence 

  • Recipient: Maria Eleni Batatoudi
  • Major: Computer Engineering
  • Bio: Pulse Wave Imaging Researcher at the Ultrasound and Elasticity Imaging Lab (UEIL), TA for Intro to Electrical Engineering, Vice President of the Honor’s Engineering Society Tau Beta Pi’s NY Alpha Chapter, President of Columbia’s Sustainable Development Goals Hub
  • Future Plans: Working as an Applied AI Engineer at DistylAI, then joining the Deals Strategy team at PwC Strategy.
     
  • Recipient: Ming Gong
  • Major: Computer Engineering
  • Bio: Research Assistant at Mobile X Lab and Barmak Lab. TA for Embedded and prev. Head TA for Fundies. Electrical/Programming Lead of Columbia Combat Robotics. Prev. intern at Alibaba
  • Future Plans: Pursuing a Ph.D. at CMU ECE 
     

Student Excellence Award in Information and Systems 

  • Recipient: Sekander Ali
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: LA for Digital Systems Lab and Circuit Analysis Lab, Combined Plan with Wesleyan University (BA Math, Physics), prev. Project Management intern at E-J Electric Installation Co.
  • Future Plans: Management Team at McMaster-Carr
     
  • Recipient: Serena Yang
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: Projects applying EE to medicine; previously a research assistant in Stockwell Lab.
  • Future Plans: MD at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
     

Student Excellence Award in Electronics, Circuits and Physics 

  • Recipient: Rachinta Bellina Marpaung
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: Previously a research assistant at Columbia Lightwave Research Laboratory and The Columbia Laboratory for Unconventional Electronics; TA for Electronic Circuits and Signals and Systems Lab
  • Future Plans: System Design Engineer at NVIDIA
     
  • Recipient: ChangHee Choi
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: Focused on the intersection of applied physics and analog electronics through design-focused coursework and technical projects. Key areas of technical focus include analog circuit architectures, display electronics, and optical sensing systems.
  • Future Plans: Pursuing opportunities in electrical engineering with a focus on circuit design and hardware systems. 
     

Department Research Award 

  • Recipient: Sunny Hu
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: Undergraduate researcher at ETHER Lab in GaN semiconductors devices, previously research assistants at Structure Function Imaging Lab and Columbia Astrophysics Lab. Served as CAs for Solid-State Devices and Electronic Circuits.
  • Future Plans: Pursuing a PhD at Columbia’s ETHER Lab. 
     
  • Recipient: Amir Hossein Zarandi
  • Major: Computer Engineering
  • Minor (if any): Applied Mathematics
  • Bio: Research assistant at ICE (Innovation, Collaboration, Excellence) Lab, TA Computer Hardware Design, prev-LA Signals and Systems Lab, prev-Intern McKinsey and Co. (MIO Partners)
  • Future Plans: Software Engineer at Tower Research Capital
     
  • Recipient: Sasha Isler
  • Major: Computer Engineering
  • Bio: Research on mmWave and Full Duplex Radio for wireless networks with the WiMNet Lab, presented work at Brooklyn 6G and Data Science Day.
  • Future Plans: Firmware Developer at IBM
     
  • Recipient: Riju Dey
  • Major: Computer Engineering
  • Bio: Undergraduate research with the WiMNET Lab and under Tal Zussman with Prof. Cidon's group. Served as CA/TA for Circuit Analysis and Programming Languages & Translators.
  • Future Plans: Applying for Ph.D in Computer Science.
     

Department Service Award

  • Recipient: Elijah Tate Johnson
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: Columbia IEEE Chapter President, CLUE Lab Research Assistant, TA for Communication Systems and Circuit Analysis Lab, TI and BNL Intern
  • Future Plans: Pursue a Ph.D. after graduating in May 2027


Department Teaching Award 

  • Recipient: Rosnel Alejandro Leyva-Cortes
  • Major: Electrical Engineering
  • Bio: VP of Technical Operations and Lead Electronics designer for Columbia University Formula Racing Club. Previously served as an Undergraduate Researcher at Barmak Lab and CISL under Professor Kinget. As a teaching assistant I’ve served as a lab instructor for Intro.to EE, Circuit Analysis, Electronic Circuits, and also as a course assistant for EE Senior Design (PCB Manufacturing).
  • Future Plans: Avionics Electronics Engineer @ ShieldAI