Honoring the Legacy of Education and Innovation: Wei Family Private Foundation Fellowship Awards

On November 20, Columbia University’s Department of Electrical Engineering welcomed representatives from the Wei Family Private Foundation to recognize the 2024 recipient of its prestigious scholarship grant, Arthur Dell Yang, advised by Ken Shepard, Lau Family Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and hear the research updates from the past award recipients. This annual event not only honors the memory of Dr. Chung Kwai Lui Wei and Mr. Hsin Hsu Wei but also highlights the impact of their foundation in supporting future leaders in science and engineering.

The meeting began with a greeting from Columbia’s Dean of Engineering and Applied Science, Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor of Electrical Engineering Shih-Fu Chang. Dean Chang expressed gratitude to the Wei Family Private Foundation for its unwavering support of students.

A Legacy Rooted in Education

The Wei Family Private Foundation was established to honor Dr. Chung Kwai Lui Wei, a trailblazer who became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Physics from Oregon State University in 1941, and Mr. Hsin Hsu Wei, a distinguished graduate of Columbia University with an MS in Electrical Engineering. Together, they embodied a commitment to higher education and the perseverance needed to overcome adversity.

Dr. Lui, who worked on the Manhattan Project and was named “Woman of the Day” by Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mr. Wei, a renowned electrical engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corporation, founded the Wei Family Private Foundation to provide financial assistance to students of Chinese heritage pursuing degrees in electrical engineering, physics, or mathematics. Today, their vision continues to inspire the next generation of scholars.

The Wei Family Private Foundation Fellowship supports high-achieving students of Chinese heritage in the Columbia Electrical Engineering Department.

Celebrating the 2024 Recipient

This year’s recipient, Arthur Dell Yang, exemplifies the values championed by the Wei’s. Yang is a first-year MS/Ph.D. student in Columbia’s Electrical Engineering Department and a graduate of UCLA with a BS in Electrical Engineering. As an undergraduate, Arthur gained extensive experience in channel coding, communication systems, and analog and RF IC design. Now, under the mentorship of Prof. Ken Shepard, he is focused on analog and digital IC design for biological applications in the Bioelectronics Systems Lab.

During the event, Arthur expressed his gratitude for the fellowship, sharing how the award will allow him to advance his research ambitions.

Showcasing Past Scholars

The event also featured presentations from past fellowship recipients, each sharing their cutting-edge research and achievements:

• Haiqiu Yang (2020), advised by Christine Hendon, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering; Vice Dean of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships: Presented advancements in high-density optical substrate mapping systems.
• Xilin Jiang (2022), advised by Nima Mesgarani, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering; Principal Investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute; presented on speech enhancement and understanding of the target talker with natural language and brain signals. 
• Yinghao Li (2020), advised by Nima Mesgarani: Shared insights from his work in LLM performance and human brain similarity, as he approaches graduation in May 2025.

Their accomplishments underscore the impact of the Wei Family Private Foundation in nurturing leaders who push the boundaries of science and technology.