Zhe Fu. a Ph.D. candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has been selected as a recipient of the Asian American Architects and Engineers Association (AAa/e) scholarship. The AAa/e scholarship is part of the organization's broader mission to empower professionals in the built environment, fostering personal and professional growth, business development, and community leadership. Each year, the AAa/e offers this prestigious scholarship to select full-time students pursuing a career in the AEC Industry (architecture, engineering, construction, etc.), who have demonstrated a measurable level of involvement/ service to the Asian-Pacific Islander community. The 2024 AAa/e scholarship banquet was held on October 3 in Los Angeles; Fu will formally receive the scholarship at the 2025 AAa/e banquet due to a scheduling conflict with the Rising Star Workshop.
"I'm incredibly honored to have been selected for the AAa/e scholarship," Fu stated. "The AAa/e scholarship represents a meaningful acknowledgment of my work, and I am excited to use the support to continue contributing to the field of transportation engineering while fostering greater diversity and inclusion in STEM."
Fu, who is currently pursuing her doctorate in Transportation Engineering under the guidance of Professor Alexandre Bayen, has demonstrated exceptional academic prowess and research capabilities. Her work focuses on leveraging machine learning and autonomous vehicle technologies to enhance traffic mobility and reduce energy consumption, intersecting with the work of Berkeley’s Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) Lab, the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), Center for Information Technology and Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), Berkeley Deep Drive (BDD) and California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (California PATH).
Professor Alexandre Bayen, Fu's advisor, expressed his pride in her accomplishment: "I am absolutely thrilled to hear that Zhe has been awarded the AAA/e scholarship. Her dedication to academic excellence and commitment to advancing diversity in engineering have always been one of the foci of her time at Berkeley. This recognition is not only well-deserved but also a testament to her potential to make significant contributions to the field."