7 students received TAITA-SV scholarships to help expand industry contacts_1
During the 21st annual meeting of the Silicon Valley Taiwanese American Industrial Technology Association (TAITA-SV) held on the 19th, seven students were awarded scholarships. This year’s ceremony featured a unique approach, allowing recipients to set up displays and explain their proposals directly to attendees, as noted by the association’s president, Luc Yu. He expressed the hope that this format would provide students with valuable exposure and connect them with opportunities within the Taiwanese and American industries.
Among the scholarship recipients were three high school students and four college students. Wang Anyu, a high school student from the Bay Area, earned the TAITA-SV high school scholarship for her initiative in providing English language services to underserved elementary schools in rural Taiwan through remote online teaching. Wang shared her passion for education and emphasized her desire to help children in these areas gain learning opportunities. “I just moved to the Bay Area last year, having lived in Taiwan before that. To me, Taiwan will always feel like home,” she reflected.
Wang’s mother, Guo Xiaoqing, expressed gratitude to the organizers for the scholarship event and shared her pride in her daughter’s achievements. Transitioning to life in the Bay Area marked a significant change for Wang, but she credited the resilience instilled by her Taiwanese education for her ability to persevere in challenging circumstances. “We don’t give up easily; that’s the spirit of Taiwan,” she affirmed.
Ethan Chang, a sophomore in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bay Area native with Taiwanese parents, received recognition for his proposal addressing the issue of incomplete information generated by large language models (LLMs). His innovative approach involved creating a system where two opposing perspectives optimize responses. Initially applying just to secure a scholarship, Ethan found himself inspired after interacting with key figures from the tech industry and academia at the event. He encouraged other aspiring scholarship applicants to pursue their dreams passionately, as that enthusiasm can set them apart.
Other scholarship recipients included Milpitas High School’s Jason Yang, Livermore High School’s Joseph Eng, Lebanese-American Brian Sawaya from De Anza College, and University of California students Rachel Yen and Joe Lin.
