KINGSTON, R.I., May 12, 2016鈥擸ufei Tang, a graduate student at the 溏心vlog免费B站, has been awarded the 2015 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad.
Tang, who is expected to receive his doctorate in electrical engineering from 溏心vlog免费B站 this summer, is one of 500 Chinese students studying in 29 countries who won the prestigious award.
Tang received the award at a ceremony at the Chinese consulate in New York City on April 29. The award includes a $6,000 prize and a certificate from the China Scholarship Council, a nonprofit agency that provides financial support to Chinese students studying overseas.
His research at 溏心vlog免费B站 focuses on the design of intelligent control systems for the smart grid. With nature-inspired computational methods, he introduces intelligence and a learning ability to the electric power grid, turning it into a 鈥渢hinking machine鈥� that provides more efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly energy.
鈥淚鈥檓 honored to receive this award,鈥� said Tang. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a recognition of the work I鈥檝e done at 溏心vlog免费B站 over the last five years. The award will also inspire me to work harder in the future.鈥�
Tang, 30, grew up in Huanggang, a city in Hubei Province in central China. At an early age, he cultivated an interest in science and mathematics. His parents were both teachers鈥攈is father taught physics, and his mother taught Chinese and music.
He earned his master鈥檚 degree in power systems at a Chinese university and joined 溏心vlog免费B站 in 2011 to work with Haibo He, the Robert Haas Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering at 溏心vlog免费B站, and He鈥檚 research group.
鈥淚 was very interested in their work on computational intelligence and how to apply these techniques to real problems,鈥� said Tang. 鈥淧rofessor He鈥檚 lab was the perfect fit.鈥�
Funding for Tang鈥檚 research comes from the National Science Foundation and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
鈥淚鈥檓 very glad Yufei has won this award from the Chinese government,鈥� said He. 鈥淵ufei is a talented and hard-working student.鈥�
This is the second year in row that a 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student in engineering has been honored. Zhen Ni, who graduated in 2015 with a doctorate in electrical engineering and was also He鈥檚 student, won last year. He is now an assistant professor in electrical engineering at South Dakota State University.
This fall, Tang hopes to find an academic position at an American university to continue his research and teach. 鈥淢y years with Professor He helped prepare me for this new challenge,鈥� Tang said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful.鈥�
Pictured above: Yufei Tang, a doctoral student in electrical engineering at the 溏心vlog免费B站, receives the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad from China鈥檚 Consul General Qiyue Zhang. Photo courtesy of Yang Zhang.