This award honors Nirere’s academic achievements and research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
UW ECE doctoral student Devin Murphy, working in the lab of Assistant Professor Yiyue Luo and collaborating with MIT, has created OpenTouch Glove — a cost-effective, accessible, tactile sensing glove based on flexible printed circuit board technology.
UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) is the Vice President of Global Front-End Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry. Despite humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee, she built an outstanding career as well as a life defined by purpose, achievement, and service.
Professor Lih-Yuan Lin was recently elected to the NAI 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her influential contributions to nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology.
UW ECE and Applied Mathematics Professor Nathan Kutz has been named to the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, a distinction that celebrates researchers whose work has shaped their fields.
Read the latest issue of The Integrator, UW ECE’s flagship annual magazine highlighting the Department’s extraordinary faculty and student research, achievements, alumni stories, special events and more from this past year!
This award honors Nirere’s academic achievements and research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
UW ECE doctoral student Devin Murphy, working in the lab of Assistant Professor Yiyue Luo and collaborating with MIT, has created OpenTouch Glove — a cost-effective, accessible, tactile sensing glove based on flexible printed circuit board technology.
UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) is the Vice President of Global Front-End Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry. Despite humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee, she built an outstanding career as well as a life defined by purpose, achievement, and service.
Professor Lih-Yuan Lin was recently elected to the NAI 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her influential contributions to nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology.
UW ECE and Applied Mathematics Professor Nathan Kutz has been named to the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, a distinction that celebrates researchers whose work has shaped their fields.
Read the latest issue of The Integrator, UW ECE’s flagship annual magazine highlighting the Department’s extraordinary faculty and student research, achievements, alumni stories, special events and more from this past year!
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[_finalHTML:protected] => https://www.ece.uw.edu/spotlight/eliane-nirere-2026-vadari-fellowship/UW ECE graduate student Eliane Nirere receives 2026 Vadari fellowship award for research helping to bring electricity to remote African communities
This award honors Nirere’s academic achievements and research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A smart glove with its own sense of touch
UW ECE doctoral student Devin Murphy, working in the lab of Assistant Professor Yiyue Luo and collaborating with MIT, has created OpenTouch Glove — a cost-effective, accessible, tactile sensing glove based on flexible printed circuit board technology.
A fearless leader and a lifelong learner
UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) is the Vice President of Global Front-End Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry. Despite humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee, she built an outstanding career as well as a life defined by purpose, achievement, and service.
UW ECE Professor Lih-Yuan Lin named National Academy of Inventors Fellow
Professor Lih-Yuan Lin was recently elected to the NAI 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her influential contributions to nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology.
Professor Nathan Kutz named to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list
UW ECE and Applied Mathematics Professor Nathan Kutz has been named to the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, a distinction that celebrates researchers whose work has shaped their fields.
The Integrator 2025–2026
Read the latest issue of The Integrator, UW ECE’s flagship annual magazine highlighting the Department’s extraordinary faculty and student research, achievements, alumni stories, special events and more from this past year!
UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere has received a 2026 fellowship award from the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering. The award honors her academic achievements and research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo by Digitec Studios in Rwanda.[/caption]
This academic quarter, UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere received a 2026 fellowship award from the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering — a fund established at UW ECE to foster advanced education in Power and Energy Systems. Each year, the fund recognizes an exceptional UW ECE graduate student in this field of study. This year’s fellowship award honors Nirere’s academic achievements and her research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“This fellowship means a lot to me, and it came to the right person at the right time. It has helped me to extend my working hours and be able to devote more time to my research,” Nirere said. “The funding from the Vadari fellowship is helping me to achieve more, and it is contributing to research that is making change for people who need it.”
A personal mission shaped by experience
Nirere was born and raised in Rwanda, where she saw firsthand how a lack of electricity affects education, health, and economic opportunity. As a child, she wanted to help address the problem, even though she did not yet know what the solution could be. In school, she excelled in math and physics. So, at the university level, she decided to major in engineering, hoping to work in one of the local utilities on the technical side of electricity generation.
“To achieve a transition to renewable energy, we will need decentralized systems, such as mini-grids, to electrify rural areas and also supplement and integrate renewable energies in the larger grids. It’s important to note that these systems, which we optimize or develop as engineers, need to be usable and benefit the communities they serve. To achieve that, we need to include the community perspective in our planning.” — UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere
In 2020, she received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical and energy engineering from the University of Rwanda. She went on to pursue graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University Africa, where, in 2022, she graduated with a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering with a concentration in power and energy systems.
“During my graduate studies, I was exposed to renewable energy research and how it could help bring electricity to people in rural and remote areas,” she said. “I was really moved by that experience and inspired and eager to join other people involved in this work.”
Nirere came to UW ECE in 2023 to pursue her doctoral degree. Since then, she has divided her time between research in the lab and leading data collection projects in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Nirere works closely with small communities in these countries to ensure their voices are heard in the complex process of building electrical grids and systems based on renewable energy. She uses machine learning techniques to incorporate community input into electrification planning, which helps ensure that the systems built closely match the needs and expectations of the people for which they are intended to serve.
“We hope that this award will encourage other outstanding students like Eliane to come to the UW to complete their doctoral degree here, and like Eliane, do research for the betterment of all,” said UW ECE alumnus and Affiliate Professor Subramanian (Mani) Vadari (MSEE ‘86, Ph.D. EE ‘91).
Vadari, along with his brother, Viswanathan (Vish) Vadari, and their sister, Meenakshi Ganesh, created the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering in 2013 to honor their mother — Vadari Sarala Ramachandran. According to Mani Vadari, she had many roles in life, including wife, mother, teacher, friend, mentor, chef extraordinaire, artist, role model, and problem solver. He said that his mother’s larger-than-life personality was instrumental in his and his siblings’ development as successful educators and engineers.
Mani Vadari is an IEEE Life Fellow as well as the founder and president of Modern Grid Solutions, a consulting firm that advises electric utilities and vendors on smart grid technologies, renewable energy integration, and modernizing electrical systems. In addition to his affiliation with UW ECE, he is also an adjunct professor at Washington State University. Vish Vadari is a Global Senior Technology Specialist at ZF Automotive and is a recognized expert in the field of acoustics, vibrations, and noise abatement. Meenakshi Ganesh is a former high school teacher, who is retired and living in Chennai, India.
Community engagement that benefits electrification planning
[caption id="attachment_40392" align="alignright" width="475"]
Nirere (right) with her adviser, UW ECE Assistant Professor June Lukuyu, in the IDEAS Research Lab. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
Community engagement is at the heart of Nirere’s research. She works closely with residents in remote communities to gather qualitative feedback about their lived experiences, energy needs, and expectations for new electrical systems. Using machine learning techniques, she then converts this community feedback into actionable, quantitative data that can guide engineers and energy developers.
Her work contributes to broader efforts across Sub-Saharan Africa to advance clean-energy adoption and ensure that new electrical systems are functional, affordable, and responsive to local needs. The data and tools she develops help energy developers better estimate electricity demand, reduce installation costs, and design systems that communities can successfully adopt and sustain.
Nirere is advised by UW ECE Assistant Professor June Lukuyu, who is known for her work building sustainable, community-inclusive, energy systems across Africa and around the world. Nirere first met Lukuyu in June 2022 at a sustainable energy conference in Rwanda. The meeting inspired Nirere to apply to UW ECE’s doctoral program and join Lukuyu’s Interdisciplinary Energy Analytics for Society (IDEAS) Research Lab. Nirere said she found a kindred spirit and mentor in Lukuyu.
“She’s an incredible person to work with. She makes sure that you are doing projects that align with your goals, and she is really good at providing valuable feedback,” Nirere said of Lukuyu. “She’s created an open culture of learning in the IDEAS Lab. She also understands the many hurdles that international students have to overcome, and she advises us in a way that helps us to advance.”
Advancing renewable energy through mini-grid development
[caption id="attachment_40371" align="alignright" width="475"]
Nirere at a solar-powered mini-grid electrical system run by KUDURA Power in Busia County, Kenya. Her research at UW ECE is helping to inform and establish grid systems like this one, which bring clean, renewable energy to remote communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Photo provided by Eliane Nirere.[/caption]
Nirere’s projects in the IDEAS Research Lab have been varied and include collecting data on the adoption of energy-efficient electric kettles in Kigali, Rwanda, and comparing different survey approaches for electrical demand estimation in Fiji. But her main focus as of late has been on helping to bring clean, renewable energy to remote, often rural, communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria in the form of solar-powered “mini-grid” electrical systems.
These mini-grid systems are customized to the communities in which they are built. They also operate independently from larger electrical grids that serve cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to providing clean, affordable electricity to the areas in which they are installed, they have proven to be more reliable than larger electrical grids serving the cities, which can be prone to unpredictable power outages.
“To achieve a transition to renewable energy, we will need decentralized systems, such as mini-grids, to electrify rural areas and also supplement and integrate renewable energies in the larger grids,” she said. “It’s important to note that these systems, which we optimize or develop as engineers, need to be usable and benefit the communities they serve. To achieve that, we need to include the community perspective in our planning.”
Mentorship, community outreach, and looking ahead
[caption id="attachment_40372" align="alignright" width="475"]
Nirere in the hub of a solar-powered mini-grid system run by Rafiki Power in Kibaigwa, Dodoma, Tanzania. Mini-grid systems like this one are customized to the communities in which they are built. They also operate independently from larger electrical grids that serve cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo provided by Eliane Nirere.[/caption]
In addition to her work in the IDEAS Research Lab and at UW ECE, Nirere is also a Graduate Fellow with the Clean Energy Institute. In this role, she works with college students in the Washington Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program. She helps to teach the students about renewable energy systems through hands-on projects, workshops, and classroom presentations. In addition, she has advised Global Renewables Infrastructure Development (GRID), a UW student organization, on data collection and digitization methods. Nirere said she enjoys her role as a mentor.
“Electricity planning is complicated, and it brings in many different community stakeholders, such as policy makers,” Nirere said. “I’m able to share with students how you can engage with multiple stakeholders, so you can successfully deploy renewable energy systems.”
Looking ahead, one of the results Nirere is aiming to produce from her research is a tool energy developers in Africa could use to better estimate community demand for electricity. She plans to design the tool to make it easy for developers to incorporate community input into their equations. The device will employ sophisticated technologies, such as the machine learning algorithms she uses in her own work.
Nirere said she would like to stay in applied research after completing her doctoral degree, focusing on the transition to renewable energy, decarbonizing electrical grids, and providing better access to electricity for remote areas in Africa and around the world. She noted how the Vadari fellowship is giving her a boost in that direction.
“Receiving this fellowship is gratifying because it shows that there are people who see my work as valuable,” Nirere said. “Being selected means the work I’m doing resonates with them, and it validates that I am contributing to something important. It’s giving me a strong push forward.”
For more information about Eliane Nirere’s work in Africa visit the IDEAS Research Lab website.
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UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) is the Vice President of Global Front-End Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry. She started from humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee in America, but she seized every opportunity this country offered — learning, growing, and using her electrical engineering degree from the UW to build a life defined by purpose, achievement, and service. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
By Wayne Gillam / UW ECE News
What does it mean to live a good life — a rich, fulfilling life? This is a question many of us wrestle with at one time or another. For UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93), it is something she has pondered for years, not just in theory, but in the way she has chosen to live. Tran’s journey began with humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee, arriving in America with her family and little else but hope. She seized every opportunity this country offered — learning, growing, and using her electrical engineering degree from the UW to build a life defined by purpose, achievement, and service.
[caption id="attachment_39778" align="alignright" width="461"]
Tran stands with the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program 2021 cohort after delivering the commencement address as the featured graduation speaker.[/caption]
Today, Tran is the Vice President of Global Front-End Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry specializing in computer memory and storage solutions. She stands among the world’s experts in the process technology development of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, — a technology that powers countless electronic devices. Tran transitioned to her current role to learn more about the business side of semiconductors after serving as Vice President of DRAM Process Integration at Micron, where she led global teams across the United States and Asia, driving technology development and transferring advanced DRAM into high-volume manufacturing fabrication facilities. Her career spans more than three decades, with experience in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including pivotal leadership roles at two semiconductor fabrication startups.
Tran’s academic journey did not end at the UW. She is a recent alumna of the Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Executive Program and the McKinsey Executive Leadership Program. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, and a member of the Society of Women Engineers. Tran was the honored guest speaker for UW ECE’s 2025 Graduation Celebration and serves on the UW ECE Advisory Board. She is a strategic advisory board member for the International Semiconductor Executive Summit and Mercado Global, and a recipient of the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s 2023 Rising Women of Influence award. Tran will join the Micron Foundation Board of Directors in 2026. She is also an inventor holding seventeen patents and an entrepreneur who started small businesses of her own while working full time.
[caption id="attachment_39791" align="alignleft" width="456"]
Tran with her husband, Chris, and children, Maila and Thoren, in Paris, France in 2022.[/caption]
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Tran is a mother of two, a real estate investor, traveler, avid art and book lover, and a collector. Her passion for literature spans from modern fiction and poetry to English and Russian classics. Her personal library is a testament to her lifelong pursuit of knowledge and intellectual enrichment. By nearly any measure, she has achieved a life that is rich and fulfilling, and she has always managed to keep people — family, friends, colleagues — at the heart of her journey.
“I don’t define myself solely as American, Vietnamese, or an immigrant. My roots are in the people who have stood by me — my family and closest friends,” she said. “They are my foundation, the ones who keep me grounded. And for the past 20 years, my husband’s unwavering support has been my anchor through the toughest moments. At the same time, I know my life isn’t just about me. It’s part of something bigger — a network of connections and experiences that have shaped me in ways I never imagined. Every relationship, every shared moment reminds me that we’re all interconnected. Because in the end, success isn’t defined solely by what you achieve — it’s also measured by what you empower others to accomplish.”
These are the basic facts about Thy Tran, and they are impressive. Many at the UW and throughout the semiconductor industry know of her business acumen, her vast network, and her multicultural insight. But what is less well-known is the long, arduous journey she undertook to reach where she is today.
A refugee from Vietnam
[caption id="attachment_39785" align="alignleft" width="306"]
A photo of Tran holding her refugee number sign after arriving at a Thailand refugee camp in 1979.[/caption]
Tran’s father served as a colonel in the South Vietnamese military, fighting alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. After the war ended, he was sentenced by the North Vietnamese government to 10 years in prison for his collaboration with the U.S. military. Recognizing the precariousness of their situation, Tran’s family decided to escape Vietnam in 1979, four years after the fall of Saigon. Tran was just 11 years old. With currency unstable, the family traded their life savings for gold bars to buy passage out of the country — a risky and complex endeavor. After two failed escape attempts, their third try was successful. Tran, her mother, stepfather, older sister, two younger brothers, and cousin boarded a boat bound for Thailand in the dead of night.
But their ordeal was far from over. The ocean was fraught with thunder, lightning, and violent storms. Armed pirates boarded their boat twice, robbing and assaulting passengers. After four days and three harrowing nights, Tran and her family arrived at a refugee camp in Thailand. There, they slept in a large tent shared with other families on the beach alongside other refugees, provided with only the barest necessities. Many found the camp to be a harsh new reality, but Tran saw it through a different lens.
“I remember the sand—smooth and white, like flour.” she recalled. “I watched the trees tilt and sway in the wind, taking it all in—the nature, the beauty—choosing to focus on that instead of the harsh reality of people surviving on bare necessities and in poor living conditions.”
[caption id="attachment_39786" align="alignright" width="290"]
Tran with her mother and sister, Linh, in Vietnam.[/caption]
Tran’s family received sponsorship from her aunt in the U.S. after a year in the refugee camp. In immigration law, sponsorship is a legally binding contract to provide financial support, ensuring newcomers will not become a public burden. Tran and her family moved from Thailand to El Paso, Texas, where they began the process of adjusting to a new culture and way of life. Tran studied English as a Second Language, or ESL, quickly becoming a translator for her family. She still remembers her first trip to an American grocery store, marveling at the beautiful, shiny fruit that was so perfectly organized. She also recalled the kindness and cruelty she encountered.
“I remember a lot of things. For instance, other kids making fun of me because I looked different, had an accent, and could not communicate well, or later being told to go back to where I came from,” she said. “But I also experienced the kindness of strangers. Looking back, all the kindness far surpassed those bad memories.”
After a year in El Paso, friends of the family who owned a restaurant encouraged the family to move to Seattle. There, Tran’s stepfather, once a lawyer in Vietnam, reskilled as an electronics technician. Her mother, a former teacher, worked in their friend’s restaurant as a cook, and later other temporary jobs. While working, she went to nursing school to get her degree as a registered nurse. She eventually held two full-time nursing jobs for fourteen years. Tran’s mother also gave birth to two more daughters in Seattle, bringing the number of children in the family to six.
[caption id="attachment_39781" align="alignleft" width="338"]
Tran with her sister, Linh, on a beach in Vietnam.[/caption]
While both parents worked, the children pitched in to help. Tran began by delivering newspapers, and soon her mother and siblings joined, managing six paper routes together. She proudly recalled earning an award from The Seattle Times for outstanding service. As she grew older, Tran balanced multiple jobs—working at McDonald’s, a community center, and even a funeral home. She also taught karate, worked as a camp counselor and receptionist, and, alongside her older sister, helped care for her younger siblings. She said these experiences fostered independence and maturity. Though her journey from stranger in a foreign land to proud American was marked by hardship, Tran said she remembered it as a magical time because she was with her family through it all.
Tran is descended from strong women who valued education. Her mother was the first woman from her village to attend a university, and her grandmother was the first girl from her village to go to school. With this lineage, it is no surprise that Tran excelled academically.
“I was always good in math and science, and they put me in the Alpha Mentor program for gifted students when I was in sixth grade,” she said. “My English was weak, but I still stood out academically. I was part of the math Olympiad and French team competitions, and we did well and received several trophies.”
Throughout high school, Tran took every opportunity she could to get involved, including playing varsity volleyball and cheerleading as well as becoming tennis captain and debate club president. Outside of school activities, she studied karate and earned her second-degree black belt, taught karate during high school and college, and even took home some trophies from the Western Regional Championship women’s competitions.
“Those recognitions taught me that success depends on your determination, effort, and abilities — not where you come from or your place in society,” she said.
From UW student to semiconductor expert
[caption id="attachment_39814" align="aligncenter" width="1135"]
Throughout high school, Tran took every opportunity she could to get involved, including playing varsity volleyball and cheerleading, as well as becoming tennis captain and debate club president. Tran was a high school homecoming queen and was involved in a number of activities outside of her classes, including studying karate and earning her second-degree black belt. (far right) Tran during the UW Kappa Delta Sorority Pledge Week 1988.[/caption]
Tran excelled in junior high and high school, advancing several grades in math. She originally aspired to become an artist, but her talent in math and science, coupled with her family’s financial need, led a school counselor to advise her to pursue engineering. Tran took the advice, was accepted into the UW, and attended the University on a full-ride scholarship.
She flourished at the UW, joining the Kappa Delta Sorority and serving as scholarship chairman and Kappa Delta class president. She applied herself diligently to rigorous electrical engineering studies. She also took courses in philosophy and English literature to broaden her horizons. Yet, during her first years of undergraduate study, she struggled with regrets about giving up art, which made her engineering studies more challenging.
“To me, the best part is more about enjoying the journey — the friends you meet and the deep bonds you form, how you get there and how you grow and learn along the way.” — Thy Tran, UW ECE alumna (BSEE '93)
[caption id="attachment_39797" align="alignright" width="550"]
Tran was among several industry leaders at the 30th Anniversary of the Global Semiconductor Alliance Awards, where the GSA rang the closing bell at the NASDAQ Stock Market on November 14, 2024.[/caption]
Everything changed the summer of her sophomore year, when she took a solo backpacking trip across Europe. The trip opened her eyes to art, architecture, history, and a world full of possibilities. She realized that to travel and immerse herself in rich, cultural experiences, she needed to be able to support that lifestyle. Rather than continuing to worry about “selling out,” she decided to embrace electrical engineering and her natural talent in math and science, recognizing that this was the ticket to living her best life. This mindset shift changed everything.
“For me, mindset can determine skill set,” she said. “If you have the right mindset — mental toughness, perseverance, and tenacity — the skill set is easier to acquire.”
After returning to the UW, Tran’s engineering studies began to come easily to her. She took a semiconductor physics course at UW ECE that became an inflection point. Tran said she found it fascinating, and as she called it, “the magic of semiconductors” landed her an internship at IBM, setting the stage for her future career.
A leader in DRAM technology
[caption id="attachment_39796" align="alignright" width="413"]
Micron’s HBM4 is a third-generation, high-bandwidth memory cube, an example of Micron’s industry products enabled by DRAM technology. This product is designed to accelerate next- generation AI platforms by providing higher speeds, increased capacity, and better power efficiency.[/caption]
Tran’s first job after graduation was at Motorola in Austin, Texas, working on process technology for microprocessors and static random access memory, or SRAM, as a device engineer. After three and a half years at Motorola, her curiosity and desire to explore the world led her to Siemens, where she joined the company’s International Technology Transfer Management team. Tran played a key role in the ProMOS semiconductor manufacturing fab startup — a joint venture between Siemens and Mosel Vitelic — transferring DRAM technology from research and development to manufacturing.
“To me, the best part is more about enjoying the journey — the friends you meet and the deep bonds you form, how you get there and how you grow and learn along the way,” she said. “It’s also about taking stock of the path you are on, your efforts, your resilience, and the people who helped you or inspired you.”
From 1996 to 2008, Tran worked in the United States, Europe, and Asia, leading innovative and entrepreneurial projects. In 1997, she was part of the WaferTech startup team, a company now known as TSMC Washington in Camas, Washington. Two years later, she returned to Siemens, which spun off Infineon in Richmond, Virginia. At Infineon, which later spun off to Qimonda for the Memory sector, Tran advanced to the Technical Ladder Program as Principal Engineer and Overall Integration Leader. In 2004, she relocated to the company’s memory research and development headquarters in Dresden, Germany, to lead DRAM technology node development.
[caption id="attachment_39756" align="alignleft" width="337"]
A silicon wafer containing hundreds of microchips produced by Micron.[/caption]
In 2008, Tran joined Micron, where she thrived and rose through the ranks—leading DRAM module development programs that included advanced capacitor, metallization, and through-silicon-via (TSV) process integration—before assuming the role of DRAM Process Integration node lead for several technology generations. Tran later oversaw teams across the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan. Her technical contributions and leadership have been pivotal to Micron’s DRAM technology development, helping the company achieve industry leadership in DRAM technology.
Tran is a steadfast innovator. Her inventions and patent disclosures have advanced semiconductor fabrication techniques, enabling more efficient and reliable memory devices. Her work has addressed critical challenges in miniaturization and performance optimization for modern electronics, including low-capacitance interconnect structures, advanced planarization techniques, and vertically integrated DRAM architectures. Collectively, her innovations have pushed the boundaries of semiconductor scaling, enabling smaller, faster, and more power-efficient consumer electronics.
“To continue scaling DRAM technology, we must keep pushing the limits of physics. That means being creative and innovative—finding new ways to enable the next generation of memory. It also requires making tough, sometimes risky decisions: setting the right strategy, balancing incremental improvements with disruptive changes, and ensuring robust risk mitigations to cover all bases.”
[caption id="attachment_39799" align="aligncenter" width="1201"]
Tran was the recipient of the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s 2023 Women of Influence award. She is pictured here at the award celebration with Micron’s CEO and executives.[/caption]
Tran is also a fearless leader who knows how to motivate her team and stand up for them when needed. When she joined Micron, the company was behind its competitors in DRAM development. Tran rose through the ranks, assuming more leadership roles and responsibilities. Before long, she was leading the company’s DRAM Process Integration organization in Technology Development. Micron went from fast follower to industry leader within a few DRAM generations. Tran believes that a winning mindset was key to her team’s success, just as it had been for her as a UW undergraduate.
“Yesterday’s best is not good enough for tomorrow. So, you must be maniacal, and drive with a ‘what is possible’ mindset instead of just doing what you can to get by,” she said. “I always say, ‘go big or go home.’ Sometimes we bet wrong, but if you mitigate the risk, you will still come out on top — that is part of strategic and technical leadership.”
A lifelong learner
[caption id="attachment_39789" align="alignright" width="334"]
Tran was the honored guest speaker for UW ECE’s 2025 Graduation Celebration, and she serves on the UW ECE Advisory Board. Her nephew was in the 2025 graduating class, and three generations of Tran’s family attended the ceremony. Photo by Tara Brown.[/caption]
Tran was invited to be the honored guest speaker for the UW ECE 2025 Graduation Ceremony. At the event, she noted that her nephew was in the graduating class, and she was visibly moved when speaking about her family. Three generations of Tran’s family attended the ceremony. All six of her siblings graduated from the UW, as did three nieces and her nephew. In total, they are, according to Tran, “10 proud Huskies!”. Through talent, determination, and the support of family, friends, and colleagues, this former Vietnamese refugee and her family, which now includes doctors, engineers, a researcher, and an economist are making significant contributions to America and society.
“I felt deeply humbled and grateful to be invited as the honored speaker. To me, it is a testament to the University’s values, reflected in the speaker profiles UW ECE chooses to showcase,” she said. “For me, it was a true homecoming, and it just filled my heart with tremendous pride and joy.”
Tran is focused on giving back to the next generation through mentorship at both the UW and Micron. She has served on the UW ECE Advisory Board for several years, bringing industry experience, insights, and connections to maximize opportunities for students and faculty. She is working with UW ECE to set up semiconductor fabrication facility site visits and is coordinating with Micron’s design and products team to provide more opportunities for students in the UW ECE Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or ENGINE, capstone program. At Micron, Tran has been the executive sponsor for the Women Leadership network, or MWLN, for several tenures and an active mentor for multiple programs, including MWLN, the Technical Leadership Program, Micron Young Professionals, and the Global Mentorship Program for external university students. She is a popular mentor with a long wait list of mentees.
“I felt deeply humbled and grateful to be invited as the honored speaker. To me, it is a testament to the University’s values, reflected in the speaker profiles UW ECE chooses to showcase. For me, it was a true homecoming, and it just filled my heart with tremendous pride and joy.” — Thy Tran
In October 2025, Tran delivered the closing keynote — Dream Big. Live Large. Give Back. — at the Society of Women Engineers’ WE25 conference in New Orleans, leaving thousands of attendees deeply moved. Tran received a standing ovation and sparked a wave of LinkedIn posts celebrating the power and authenticity of her story. Her message went beyond inspiration, igniting meaningful conversations about courage, leadership, and the limitless possibilities ahead.
And she continues to be a lifelong learner.
[caption id="attachment_39813" align="alignleft" width="567"]
(left) Tran on the day of achieving the rank of second-degree black belt in karate while at the UW. (right) Tran’s oil-on-canvas study — an homage to French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, painted during her art school days.[/caption]
Over the years, Tran has studied painting and printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University, rare books at the University of Virginia, and explored other martial arts, including Kung Fu and Taekwondo, even while working as a full-time engineer. Her passion for knowledge and new experiences continues today. Recently, she was accepted into UC Berkeley’s full-time master’s degree program in information and data science, with an emphasis in artificial intelligence (AI). Tran says Micron and her own organization within the company have ambitious AI roadmaps with numerous initiatives underway. She felt that if she understood data science and AI at a deeper level, she could more effectively lead and coach her team. She also said that it is simply exhilarating to learn new things.
“I don’t do things only because they are necessary to advance. I choose the hard things because they stretch me — technically, intellectually — and because in the long run, they broaden my knowledge and perspective,” she reflected. “I can hang with engineers and artists, literary geeks, food and wine enthusiasts, political junkies, and world travelers. Being well-rounded doesn’t just enrich my life, but also others’ — it helps me connect with others with diverse backgrounds to form meaningful and lasting friendships. Most people go through life anchored in a single version of themselves. Every challenge we embrace, every curiosity we follow, uncovers another layer of who we are and who we might become.”
Epilogue: The many versions of a life well-lived
Thy Tran’s journey is a testament to the power of resilience, curiosity, and the courage to embrace possibility. From a refugee camp in Thailand to the global stage of semiconductor innovation, she has lived out answers to the question: What does it mean to live a rich, fulfilling life? From Tran’s experience, it means embracing opportunity, lifting others as you rise, and never ceasing to learn and grow. Her story is not just about achievement — it is about transformation, about the many versions of ourselves waiting to be discovered, and about the beauty of building bridges across cultures and generations.
[caption id="attachment_39812" align="aligncenter" width="1205"]
Tran with three generations of her extended family, attending her brother Phuc’s wedding in Jamaica in 2014.[/caption]
See more photos of Thy Tran in this year's issue of The Integrator magazine.
[post_title] => A fearless leader and a lifelong learner
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[post_content] => By Wayne Gillam / UW ECE News
[caption id="attachment_39673" align="alignright" width="575"]
Professor Lih-Yuan Lin was recently elected to the NAI 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her influential contributions to nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (UW ECE) congratulates Professor Lih-Yuan Lin, who has been elected into the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her outstanding work and lasting impact in nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology. Lin is one of only 10 UW faculty members to ever receive this honor. She will be formally inducted as an NAI Fellow and presented with a medal by a senior official of the United States Patent and Trademark Office at the NAI 15th Annual Conference on June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.
“We are immensely proud of Lih-Yuan and all she has achieved,” said UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins. “Her research and teaching are exemplary, and her many inventions are in a wide span of academic disciplines. She is deeply committed to her students and works with them to bring research into practical, real-world applications.”
The NAI Fellowship, established in 2012, honors inventors whose work has made exceptional contributions to the nation’s innovation ecosystem, economic development, and society. Today, it is widely regarded as the highest professional distinction for academic inventors. The 2025 Class of Fellows includes 169 distinguished academic and institutional inventors from 127 universities, government agencies, and research institutions across 40 states and 16 international organizations. Collectively, NAI Fellows hold over 86,000 U.S. patents, have developed 20,000 licensed technologies, and according to a recent NAI press release, have contributed to innovations generating an estimated $38 trillion in revenue and 1.4 million jobs.
“I believe the future of our research lies in creating technologies that directly improve quality of life,” Lin said. “From enabling faster, more sustainable communication networks to developing advanced sensing systems for healthcare, my goal is to ensure these innovations serve society and address global challenges.” — UW ECE Professor Lih-Yuan Lin
[caption id="attachment_39661" align="alignright" width="475"]
A scanning electron microscope image of a MEMS micro-mirror for optical switches and interconnects. The 800-micron mirror, designed by Lin and her team, was part of her optical switching technology for fiber networks. This pioneering work enabled large capacity data networks to reduce cost and power consumption while paving the way for modern MEMS-based optical circuit switches. Photo courtesy of Professor Lih-Yuan Lin.[/caption]
“Inventions come from inspirations. I am very fortunate to have worked with people who inspired me throughout my career, and I am deeply honored to be elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors,” Lin said. “This recognition reflects the collaborative efforts of my students and colleagues over the years. Innovation is about turning ideas into solutions that make a real difference, and I am excited to continue pushing the boundaries of research to address future challenges.”
Lin joined UW ECE in 2003 and is currently the Department’s Associate Chair for Research. She directs the UW Photonics Lab and is a faculty member of the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand, and the Institute for Nano-engineered Systems. She is also an affiliate faculty member of the Clean Energy Institute. In addition to holding 41 granted patents, she has over 100 journal publications, over 180 conference papers, and five book chapters to her name. Her work has been cited nearly 10,000 times. Lin’s research projects at the UW have included nanophotonic devices using solution-processed materials, optoelectronics driven by artificial intelligence, nanostructure-enhanced laser tweezers, biophotonics, and optical micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).
Lin received her doctoral degree in electrical engineering in 1996 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After graduating, she worked at AT&T Labs-Research from 1996 to 2000 as a senior technical staff member on micromachined technologies for optical switching and lightwave communication systems. Then, prior to joining UW ECE, she worked at Tellium, Inc. from 2000 to 2002 as a director of optical technologies. At Tellium, she co-led the company’s research and development effort on high-port-count MEMS optical crossconnects. Over the years, she built a strong reputation for innovation, invention, and connecting her research with industrial and entrepreneurial applications.
In addition to becoming an NAI Fellow, Lin has been recognized by many other awards and honors, including receiving an MIT Technology Review Award in 2003, and becoming an Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) Fellow in 2010, an Optica Fellow in 2020, and an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow in 2024.
Pioneering innovations in MEMS, optoelectronics, and photonics
[caption id="attachment_39663" align="alignright" width="475"]
A schematic and photograph (inset) of a perovskite vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser — one example of Lin’s work in nanophotonic devices. This laser uses distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) and all-inorganic cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3) perovskite quantum dots, which have emerged as highly promising solution-processed materials for the next generation of light-emitting applications. Photo courtesy of Professor Lih-Yuan Lin.[/caption]
Lin’s career is marked by groundbreaking contributions that span multiple fields, including MEMS technology, solution-processed optoelectronics, and nanophotonics. And she started inventing early in her academic career. As a graduate student at UCLA, Lin invented the first MEMS-based Fresnel lens, a breakthrough that made headlines in photonic technology circles.
At AT&T Labs-Research, she demonstrated the first MEMS optical cross-connect for high-capacity fiber networks, sparking an industry-wide effort involving major corporations and startup companies. She subsequently created several more inventions at AT&T, resulting in 23 patents that were of high commercial value to the company. She was later recruited by Tellium, Inc. to commercialize related technologies.
The MIT Technology Review Award Lin received in 2003 recognized her invention of MEMS optical switching technology and the resulting contributions to optical fiber networks. She was the first person to propose, patent, and implement MEMS-based optical switches to enable large capacity data networks with reduced cost and power consumption. This pioneering work laid the foundation for modern MEMS-based optical circuit switches.
At UW ECE, Lin has continued to push boundaries, leading research on solution-processed optoelectronic materials and semiconductor quantum dots for photonic devices and systems while continuing research on optical MEMS. She has also developed these technologies for biomedical applications such as neurostimulators and biomedical imaging. For example, from 2009 to 2012, she was the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health bioengineering research grant to develop next generation fiber-optic endoscopes and molecular contrast agents for early cancer detection. In this work, she led a team of five interdisciplinary investigators, and under her leadership and vision, the five-year grant led to 20 impactful publications.
In recent years, Lin’s research group has focused on metal halide perovskites for advanced optoelectronic applications, including displays and lighting, lasers, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors, solar cells, and computer memory. Her team’s work has produced seven U.S. patents and highly cited papers, including one with over 1,000 citations.
Turning research into real-world impact
[caption id="attachment_39664" align="alignright" width="475"]
Fluorescent images of patterned color-converter materials made from quantum dots and perovskite for micro-display applications. The white scale bar is 200 microns wide. Lin and her team fabricated multicolor patterns with red, green, and blue pixels on a single substrate, a technique applicable to high-resolution displays used in televisions, monitors, smartphones, augmented and virtual reality, wearable tech, and more. Photo courtesy of Professor Lih-Yuan Lin.[/caption]
Lin’s approach to research goes beyond discovery. She is committed to translating inventions into commercial products and empowering her students to become leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship. Many of her former students now hold leadership roles in industry, and some have co-founded successful startups, including LumiSands and Vuemen, both of which originated from her lab. LumiSands develops environmentally friendly silicon quantum dots for lighting and bio-labeling, while Vuemen is advancing low-cost micro-LED manufacturing solutions. These ventures received support through UW CoMotion’s Innovation Gap Fund program and earned an NSF Partnership for Innovation award as well as an NSF Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase 1 award.
Throughout her career, Lin has pioneered technologies, such as micro-electromechanical optical switches, efficient solar cells based on quantum dots, and optical tweezers for biological sampling. She has contributed to optogenetics, the light-based control of biological cells, using quantum dots as a light source. She has explored the use of quantum dots as optical waveguides as well as applications of metal halide perovskites in integrated photonics. And she has followed through on turning her research into real-world impact. Overall, her vision is clear.
“I believe the future of our research lies in creating technologies that directly improve quality of life,” Lin said. “From enabling faster, more sustainable communication networks to developing advanced sensing systems for healthcare, my goal is to ensure these innovations serve society and address global challenges.”
Learn more about UW ECE Professor Lih-Yuan Lin on her bio page. To learn more about the NAI, visit their website, read the NAI announcement, and the full list of 2025 NAI Fellows.
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UW ECE and Applied Mathematics Professor Nathan Kutz has been named to the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, a distinction that celebrates researchers whose work has shaped their fields. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
UW ECE is proud to announce that Professor Nathan Kutz was recently named to the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, a distinction that celebrates researchers whose work has shaped their fields. Kutz is one of 56 UW faculty and researchers recognized.
Kutz is a Boeing Professor in AI & Data-Driven Engineering and holds a joint appointment between UW ECE and the UW Department of Applied Mathematics. He is an expert in machine learning, data science, dynamical systems, scientific computing, and control systems. His research applies computational and mathematical methods across engineering, as well as the physical and biological sciences.
In addition to this recognition from Clarivate, Kutz has earned numerous prestigious honors throughout his career. He is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and previously served as chair of the UW Department of Applied Mathematics from 2007 to 2015.
“I’m honored by this recognition,” Kutz said. “It reflects the creativity and dedication of the students and collaborators I’ve had the privilege to work with.”
The Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list identifies scholars who demonstrated significant and broad influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. This annual list names researchers whose work ranks among the top 1% of citations for their field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index.
The 2025 list includes 7,131 awards from more than 1,300 institutions in 60 countries and regions. According to Clarivate, these individuals represent a small fraction of the global research community yet contribute disproportionately to advancing knowledge and driving innovation. The rankings are determined using data and analysis from bibliometric experts and data scientists at Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information.
Kutz is part of a distinguished group of UW ECE faculty who have earned major awards and are recognized as highly cited researchers in their fields. To learn more about the accomplishments of UW ECE faculty, visit our Faculty Highlights webpage.
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[post_content] => Read the latest issue of The Integrator, UW ECE's annual magazine highlighting faculty and student research, alumni news, and more!
Read previous issues of The Integrator here.
[post_title] => The Integrator 2025–2026
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[post_content] => By Wayne Gillam / UW ECE News
[caption id="attachment_40369" align="alignright" width="575"] UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere has received a 2026 fellowship award from the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering. The award honors her academic achievements and research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo by Digitec Studios in Rwanda.[/caption]
This academic quarter, UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere received a 2026 fellowship award from the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering — a fund established at UW ECE to foster advanced education in Power and Energy Systems. Each year, the fund recognizes an exceptional UW ECE graduate student in this field of study. This year’s fellowship award honors Nirere’s academic achievements and her research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“This fellowship means a lot to me, and it came to the right person at the right time. It has helped me to extend my working hours and be able to devote more time to my research,” Nirere said. “The funding from the Vadari fellowship is helping me to achieve more, and it is contributing to research that is making change for people who need it.”
A personal mission shaped by experience
Nirere was born and raised in Rwanda, where she saw firsthand how a lack of electricity affects education, health, and economic opportunity. As a child, she wanted to help address the problem, even though she did not yet know what the solution could be. In school, she excelled in math and physics. So, at the university level, she decided to major in engineering, hoping to work in one of the local utilities on the technical side of electricity generation.
“To achieve a transition to renewable energy, we will need decentralized systems, such as mini-grids, to electrify rural areas and also supplement and integrate renewable energies in the larger grids. It’s important to note that these systems, which we optimize or develop as engineers, need to be usable and benefit the communities they serve. To achieve that, we need to include the community perspective in our planning.” — UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere
In 2020, she received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical and energy engineering from the University of Rwanda. She went on to pursue graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University Africa, where, in 2022, she graduated with a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering with a concentration in power and energy systems.
“During my graduate studies, I was exposed to renewable energy research and how it could help bring electricity to people in rural and remote areas,” she said. “I was really moved by that experience and inspired and eager to join other people involved in this work.”
Nirere came to UW ECE in 2023 to pursue her doctoral degree. Since then, she has divided her time between research in the lab and leading data collection projects in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Nirere works closely with small communities in these countries to ensure their voices are heard in the complex process of building electrical grids and systems based on renewable energy. She uses machine learning techniques to incorporate community input into electrification planning, which helps ensure that the systems built closely match the needs and expectations of the people for which they are intended to serve.
“We hope that this award will encourage other outstanding students like Eliane to come to the UW to complete their doctoral degree here, and like Eliane, do research for the betterment of all,” said UW ECE alumnus and Affiliate Professor Subramanian (Mani) Vadari (MSEE ‘86, Ph.D. EE ‘91).
Vadari, along with his brother, Viswanathan (Vish) Vadari, and their sister, Meenakshi Ganesh, created the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering in 2013 to honor their mother — Vadari Sarala Ramachandran. According to Mani Vadari, she had many roles in life, including wife, mother, teacher, friend, mentor, chef extraordinaire, artist, role model, and problem solver. He said that his mother’s larger-than-life personality was instrumental in his and his siblings’ development as successful educators and engineers.
Mani Vadari is an IEEE Life Fellow as well as the founder and president of Modern Grid Solutions, a consulting firm that advises electric utilities and vendors on smart grid technologies, renewable energy integration, and modernizing electrical systems. In addition to his affiliation with UW ECE, he is also an adjunct professor at Washington State University. Vish Vadari is a Global Senior Technology Specialist at ZF Automotive and is a recognized expert in the field of acoustics, vibrations, and noise abatement. Meenakshi Ganesh is a former high school teacher, who is retired and living in Chennai, India.
Community engagement that benefits electrification planning
[caption id="attachment_40392" align="alignright" width="475"] Nirere (right) with her adviser, UW ECE Assistant Professor June Lukuyu, in the IDEAS Research Lab. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
Community engagement is at the heart of Nirere’s research. She works closely with residents in remote communities to gather qualitative feedback about their lived experiences, energy needs, and expectations for new electrical systems. Using machine learning techniques, she then converts this community feedback into actionable, quantitative data that can guide engineers and energy developers.
Her work contributes to broader efforts across Sub-Saharan Africa to advance clean-energy adoption and ensure that new electrical systems are functional, affordable, and responsive to local needs. The data and tools she develops help energy developers better estimate electricity demand, reduce installation costs, and design systems that communities can successfully adopt and sustain.
Nirere is advised by UW ECE Assistant Professor June Lukuyu, who is known for her work building sustainable, community-inclusive, energy systems across Africa and around the world. Nirere first met Lukuyu in June 2022 at a sustainable energy conference in Rwanda. The meeting inspired Nirere to apply to UW ECE’s doctoral program and join Lukuyu’s Interdisciplinary Energy Analytics for Society (IDEAS) Research Lab. Nirere said she found a kindred spirit and mentor in Lukuyu.
“She’s an incredible person to work with. She makes sure that you are doing projects that align with your goals, and she is really good at providing valuable feedback,” Nirere said of Lukuyu. “She’s created an open culture of learning in the IDEAS Lab. She also understands the many hurdles that international students have to overcome, and she advises us in a way that helps us to advance.”
Advancing renewable energy through mini-grid development
[caption id="attachment_40371" align="alignright" width="475"] Nirere at a solar-powered mini-grid electrical system run by KUDURA Power in Busia County, Kenya. Her research at UW ECE is helping to inform and establish grid systems like this one, which bring clean, renewable energy to remote communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Photo provided by Eliane Nirere.[/caption]
Nirere’s projects in the IDEAS Research Lab have been varied and include collecting data on the adoption of energy-efficient electric kettles in Kigali, Rwanda, and comparing different survey approaches for electrical demand estimation in Fiji. But her main focus as of late has been on helping to bring clean, renewable energy to remote, often rural, communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria in the form of solar-powered “mini-grid” electrical systems.
These mini-grid systems are customized to the communities in which they are built. They also operate independently from larger electrical grids that serve cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to providing clean, affordable electricity to the areas in which they are installed, they have proven to be more reliable than larger electrical grids serving the cities, which can be prone to unpredictable power outages.
“To achieve a transition to renewable energy, we will need decentralized systems, such as mini-grids, to electrify rural areas and also supplement and integrate renewable energies in the larger grids,” she said. “It’s important to note that these systems, which we optimize or develop as engineers, need to be usable and benefit the communities they serve. To achieve that, we need to include the community perspective in our planning.”
Mentorship, community outreach, and looking ahead
[caption id="attachment_40372" align="alignright" width="475"] Nirere in the hub of a solar-powered mini-grid system run by Rafiki Power in Kibaigwa, Dodoma, Tanzania. Mini-grid systems like this one are customized to the communities in which they are built. They also operate independently from larger electrical grids that serve cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo provided by Eliane Nirere.[/caption]
In addition to her work in the IDEAS Research Lab and at UW ECE, Nirere is also a Graduate Fellow with the Clean Energy Institute. In this role, she works with college students in the Washington Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program. She helps to teach the students about renewable energy systems through hands-on projects, workshops, and classroom presentations. In addition, she has advised Global Renewables Infrastructure Development (GRID), a UW student organization, on data collection and digitization methods. Nirere said she enjoys her role as a mentor.
“Electricity planning is complicated, and it brings in many different community stakeholders, such as policy makers,” Nirere said. “I’m able to share with students how you can engage with multiple stakeholders, so you can successfully deploy renewable energy systems.”
Looking ahead, one of the results Nirere is aiming to produce from her research is a tool energy developers in Africa could use to better estimate community demand for electricity. She plans to design the tool to make it easy for developers to incorporate community input into their equations. The device will employ sophisticated technologies, such as the machine learning algorithms she uses in her own work.
Nirere said she would like to stay in applied research after completing her doctoral degree, focusing on the transition to renewable energy, decarbonizing electrical grids, and providing better access to electricity for remote areas in Africa and around the world. She noted how the Vadari fellowship is giving her a boost in that direction.
“Receiving this fellowship is gratifying because it shows that there are people who see my work as valuable,” Nirere said. “Being selected means the work I’m doing resonates with them, and it validates that I am contributing to something important. It’s giving me a strong push forward.”
For more information about Eliane Nirere’s work in Africa visit the IDEAS Research Lab website.
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[post_content] => By Wayne Gillam / UW ECE News
[caption id="attachment_40369" align="alignright" width="575"] UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere has received a 2026 fellowship award from the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering. The award honors her academic achievements and research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo by Digitec Studios in Rwanda.[/caption]
This academic quarter, UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere received a 2026 fellowship award from the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering — a fund established at UW ECE to foster advanced education in Power and Energy Systems. Each year, the fund recognizes an exceptional UW ECE graduate student in this field of study. This year’s fellowship award honors Nirere’s academic achievements and her research aimed at bringing electricity and renewable energy to remote, underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“This fellowship means a lot to me, and it came to the right person at the right time. It has helped me to extend my working hours and be able to devote more time to my research,” Nirere said. “The funding from the Vadari fellowship is helping me to achieve more, and it is contributing to research that is making change for people who need it.”
A personal mission shaped by experience
Nirere was born and raised in Rwanda, where she saw firsthand how a lack of electricity affects education, health, and economic opportunity. As a child, she wanted to help address the problem, even though she did not yet know what the solution could be. In school, she excelled in math and physics. So, at the university level, she decided to major in engineering, hoping to work in one of the local utilities on the technical side of electricity generation.
“To achieve a transition to renewable energy, we will need decentralized systems, such as mini-grids, to electrify rural areas and also supplement and integrate renewable energies in the larger grids. It’s important to note that these systems, which we optimize or develop as engineers, need to be usable and benefit the communities they serve. To achieve that, we need to include the community perspective in our planning.” — UW ECE doctoral student Eliane Nirere
In 2020, she received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical and energy engineering from the University of Rwanda. She went on to pursue graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University Africa, where, in 2022, she graduated with a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering with a concentration in power and energy systems.
“During my graduate studies, I was exposed to renewable energy research and how it could help bring electricity to people in rural and remote areas,” she said. “I was really moved by that experience and inspired and eager to join other people involved in this work.”
Nirere came to UW ECE in 2023 to pursue her doctoral degree. Since then, she has divided her time between research in the lab and leading data collection projects in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Nirere works closely with small communities in these countries to ensure their voices are heard in the complex process of building electrical grids and systems based on renewable energy. She uses machine learning techniques to incorporate community input into electrification planning, which helps ensure that the systems built closely match the needs and expectations of the people for which they are intended to serve.
“We hope that this award will encourage other outstanding students like Eliane to come to the UW to complete their doctoral degree here, and like Eliane, do research for the betterment of all,” said UW ECE alumnus and Affiliate Professor Subramanian (Mani) Vadari (MSEE ‘86, Ph.D. EE ‘91).
Vadari, along with his brother, Viswanathan (Vish) Vadari, and their sister, Meenakshi Ganesh, created the Sarala Vadari Endowed Fund in Electrical & Computer Engineering in 2013 to honor their mother — Vadari Sarala Ramachandran. According to Mani Vadari, she had many roles in life, including wife, mother, teacher, friend, mentor, chef extraordinaire, artist, role model, and problem solver. He said that his mother’s larger-than-life personality was instrumental in his and his siblings’ development as successful educators and engineers.
Mani Vadari is an IEEE Life Fellow as well as the founder and president of Modern Grid Solutions, a consulting firm that advises electric utilities and vendors on smart grid technologies, renewable energy integration, and modernizing electrical systems. In addition to his affiliation with UW ECE, he is also an adjunct professor at Washington State University. Vish Vadari is a Global Senior Technology Specialist at ZF Automotive and is a recognized expert in the field of acoustics, vibrations, and noise abatement. Meenakshi Ganesh is a former high school teacher, who is retired and living in Chennai, India.
Community engagement that benefits electrification planning
[caption id="attachment_40392" align="alignright" width="475"] Nirere (right) with her adviser, UW ECE Assistant Professor June Lukuyu, in the IDEAS Research Lab. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
Community engagement is at the heart of Nirere’s research. She works closely with residents in remote communities to gather qualitative feedback about their lived experiences, energy needs, and expectations for new electrical systems. Using machine learning techniques, she then converts this community feedback into actionable, quantitative data that can guide engineers and energy developers.
Her work contributes to broader efforts across Sub-Saharan Africa to advance clean-energy adoption and ensure that new electrical systems are functional, affordable, and responsive to local needs. The data and tools she develops help energy developers better estimate electricity demand, reduce installation costs, and design systems that communities can successfully adopt and sustain.
Nirere is advised by UW ECE Assistant Professor June Lukuyu, who is known for her work building sustainable, community-inclusive, energy systems across Africa and around the world. Nirere first met Lukuyu in June 2022 at a sustainable energy conference in Rwanda. The meeting inspired Nirere to apply to UW ECE’s doctoral program and join Lukuyu’s Interdisciplinary Energy Analytics for Society (IDEAS) Research Lab. Nirere said she found a kindred spirit and mentor in Lukuyu.
“She’s an incredible person to work with. She makes sure that you are doing projects that align with your goals, and she is really good at providing valuable feedback,” Nirere said of Lukuyu. “She’s created an open culture of learning in the IDEAS Lab. She also understands the many hurdles that international students have to overcome, and she advises us in a way that helps us to advance.”
Advancing renewable energy through mini-grid development
[caption id="attachment_40371" align="alignright" width="475"] Nirere at a solar-powered mini-grid electrical system run by KUDURA Power in Busia County, Kenya. Her research at UW ECE is helping to inform and establish grid systems like this one, which bring clean, renewable energy to remote communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Photo provided by Eliane Nirere.[/caption]
Nirere’s projects in the IDEAS Research Lab have been varied and include collecting data on the adoption of energy-efficient electric kettles in Kigali, Rwanda, and comparing different survey approaches for electrical demand estimation in Fiji. But her main focus as of late has been on helping to bring clean, renewable energy to remote, often rural, communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria in the form of solar-powered “mini-grid” electrical systems.
These mini-grid systems are customized to the communities in which they are built. They also operate independently from larger electrical grids that serve cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to providing clean, affordable electricity to the areas in which they are installed, they have proven to be more reliable than larger electrical grids serving the cities, which can be prone to unpredictable power outages.
“To achieve a transition to renewable energy, we will need decentralized systems, such as mini-grids, to electrify rural areas and also supplement and integrate renewable energies in the larger grids,” she said. “It’s important to note that these systems, which we optimize or develop as engineers, need to be usable and benefit the communities they serve. To achieve that, we need to include the community perspective in our planning.”
Mentorship, community outreach, and looking ahead
[caption id="attachment_40372" align="alignright" width="475"] Nirere in the hub of a solar-powered mini-grid system run by Rafiki Power in Kibaigwa, Dodoma, Tanzania. Mini-grid systems like this one are customized to the communities in which they are built. They also operate independently from larger electrical grids that serve cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo provided by Eliane Nirere.[/caption]
In addition to her work in the IDEAS Research Lab and at UW ECE, Nirere is also a Graduate Fellow with the Clean Energy Institute. In this role, she works with college students in the Washington Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program. She helps to teach the students about renewable energy systems through hands-on projects, workshops, and classroom presentations. In addition, she has advised Global Renewables Infrastructure Development (GRID), a UW student organization, on data collection and digitization methods. Nirere said she enjoys her role as a mentor.
“Electricity planning is complicated, and it brings in many different community stakeholders, such as policy makers,” Nirere said. “I’m able to share with students how you can engage with multiple stakeholders, so you can successfully deploy renewable energy systems.”
Looking ahead, one of the results Nirere is aiming to produce from her research is a tool energy developers in Africa could use to better estimate community demand for electricity. She plans to design the tool to make it easy for developers to incorporate community input into their equations. The device will employ sophisticated technologies, such as the machine learning algorithms she uses in her own work.
Nirere said she would like to stay in applied research after completing her doctoral degree, focusing on the transition to renewable energy, decarbonizing electrical grids, and providing better access to electricity for remote areas in Africa and around the world. She noted how the Vadari fellowship is giving her a boost in that direction.
“Receiving this fellowship is gratifying because it shows that there are people who see my work as valuable,” Nirere said. “Being selected means the work I’m doing resonates with them, and it validates that I am contributing to something important. It’s giving me a strong push forward.”
For more information about Eliane Nirere’s work in Africa visit the IDEAS Research Lab website.
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[post_content] => [caption id="attachment_39773" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) is the Vice President of Global Front-End Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry. She started from humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee in America, but she seized every opportunity this country offered — learning, growing, and using her electrical engineering degree from the UW to build a life defined by purpose, achievement, and service. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
By Wayne Gillam / UW ECE News
What does it mean to live a good life — a rich, fulfilling life? This is a question many of us wrestle with at one time or another. For UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93), it is something she has pondered for years, not just in theory, but in the way she has chosen to live. Tran’s journey began with humble beginnings as a Vietnamese refugee, arriving in America with her family and little else but hope. She seized every opportunity this country offered — learning, growing, and using her electrical engineering degree from the UW to build a life defined by purpose, achievement, and service.
[caption id="attachment_39778" align="alignright" width="461"] Tran stands with the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program 2021 cohort after delivering the commencement address as the featured graduation speaker.[/caption]
Today, Tran is the Vice President of Global Front-End Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry specializing in computer memory and storage solutions. She stands among the world’s experts in the process technology development of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, — a technology that powers countless electronic devices. Tran transitioned to her current role to learn more about the business side of semiconductors after serving as Vice President of DRAM Process Integration at Micron, where she led global teams across the United States and Asia, driving technology development and transferring advanced DRAM into high-volume manufacturing fabrication facilities. Her career spans more than three decades, with experience in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including pivotal leadership roles at two semiconductor fabrication startups.
Tran’s academic journey did not end at the UW. She is a recent alumna of the Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Executive Program and the McKinsey Executive Leadership Program. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, and a member of the Society of Women Engineers. Tran was the honored guest speaker for UW ECE’s 2025 Graduation Celebration and serves on the UW ECE Advisory Board. She is a strategic advisory board member for the International Semiconductor Executive Summit and Mercado Global, and a recipient of the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s 2023 Rising Women of Influence award. Tran will join the Micron Foundation Board of Directors in 2026. She is also an inventor holding seventeen patents and an entrepreneur who started small businesses of her own while working full time.
[caption id="attachment_39791" align="alignleft" width="456"] Tran with her husband, Chris, and children, Maila and Thoren, in Paris, France in 2022.[/caption]
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Tran is a mother of two, a real estate investor, traveler, avid art and book lover, and a collector. Her passion for literature spans from modern fiction and poetry to English and Russian classics. Her personal library is a testament to her lifelong pursuit of knowledge and intellectual enrichment. By nearly any measure, she has achieved a life that is rich and fulfilling, and she has always managed to keep people — family, friends, colleagues — at the heart of her journey.
“I don’t define myself solely as American, Vietnamese, or an immigrant. My roots are in the people who have stood by me — my family and closest friends,” she said. “They are my foundation, the ones who keep me grounded. And for the past 20 years, my husband’s unwavering support has been my anchor through the toughest moments. At the same time, I know my life isn’t just about me. It’s part of something bigger — a network of connections and experiences that have shaped me in ways I never imagined. Every relationship, every shared moment reminds me that we’re all interconnected. Because in the end, success isn’t defined solely by what you achieve — it’s also measured by what you empower others to accomplish.”
These are the basic facts about Thy Tran, and they are impressive. Many at the UW and throughout the semiconductor industry know of her business acumen, her vast network, and her multicultural insight. But what is less well-known is the long, arduous journey she undertook to reach where she is today.
A refugee from Vietnam
[caption id="attachment_39785" align="alignleft" width="306"] A photo of Tran holding her refugee number sign after arriving at a Thailand refugee camp in 1979.[/caption]
Tran’s father served as a colonel in the South Vietnamese military, fighting alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. After the war ended, he was sentenced by the North Vietnamese government to 10 years in prison for his collaboration with the U.S. military. Recognizing the precariousness of their situation, Tran’s family decided to escape Vietnam in 1979, four years after the fall of Saigon. Tran was just 11 years old. With currency unstable, the family traded their life savings for gold bars to buy passage out of the country — a risky and complex endeavor. After two failed escape attempts, their third try was successful. Tran, her mother, stepfather, older sister, two younger brothers, and cousin boarded a boat bound for Thailand in the dead of night.
But their ordeal was far from over. The ocean was fraught with thunder, lightning, and violent storms. Armed pirates boarded their boat twice, robbing and assaulting passengers. After four days and three harrowing nights, Tran and her family arrived at a refugee camp in Thailand. There, they slept in a large tent shared with other families on the beach alongside other refugees, provided with only the barest necessities. Many found the camp to be a harsh new reality, but Tran saw it through a different lens.
“I remember the sand—smooth and white, like flour.” she recalled. “I watched the trees tilt and sway in the wind, taking it all in—the nature, the beauty—choosing to focus on that instead of the harsh reality of people surviving on bare necessities and in poor living conditions.”
[caption id="attachment_39786" align="alignright" width="290"] Tran with her mother and sister, Linh, in Vietnam.[/caption]
Tran’s family received sponsorship from her aunt in the U.S. after a year in the refugee camp. In immigration law, sponsorship is a legally binding contract to provide financial support, ensuring newcomers will not become a public burden. Tran and her family moved from Thailand to El Paso, Texas, where they began the process of adjusting to a new culture and way of life. Tran studied English as a Second Language, or ESL, quickly becoming a translator for her family. She still remembers her first trip to an American grocery store, marveling at the beautiful, shiny fruit that was so perfectly organized. She also recalled the kindness and cruelty she encountered.
“I remember a lot of things. For instance, other kids making fun of me because I looked different, had an accent, and could not communicate well, or later being told to go back to where I came from,” she said. “But I also experienced the kindness of strangers. Looking back, all the kindness far surpassed those bad memories.”
After a year in El Paso, friends of the family who owned a restaurant encouraged the family to move to Seattle. There, Tran’s stepfather, once a lawyer in Vietnam, reskilled as an electronics technician. Her mother, a former teacher, worked in their friend’s restaurant as a cook, and later other temporary jobs. While working, she went to nursing school to get her degree as a registered nurse. She eventually held two full-time nursing jobs for fourteen years. Tran’s mother also gave birth to two more daughters in Seattle, bringing the number of children in the family to six.
[caption id="attachment_39781" align="alignleft" width="338"] Tran with her sister, Linh, on a beach in Vietnam.[/caption]
While both parents worked, the children pitched in to help. Tran began by delivering newspapers, and soon her mother and siblings joined, managing six paper routes together. She proudly recalled earning an award from The Seattle Times for outstanding service. As she grew older, Tran balanced multiple jobs—working at McDonald’s, a community center, and even a funeral home. She also taught karate, worked as a camp counselor and receptionist, and, alongside her older sister, helped care for her younger siblings. She said these experiences fostered independence and maturity. Though her journey from stranger in a foreign land to proud American was marked by hardship, Tran said she remembered it as a magical time because she was with her family through it all.
Tran is descended from strong women who valued education. Her mother was the first woman from her village to attend a university, and her grandmother was the first girl from her village to go to school. With this lineage, it is no surprise that Tran excelled academically.
“I was always good in math and science, and they put me in the Alpha Mentor program for gifted students when I was in sixth grade,” she said. “My English was weak, but I still stood out academically. I was part of the math Olympiad and French team competitions, and we did well and received several trophies.”
Throughout high school, Tran took every opportunity she could to get involved, including playing varsity volleyball and cheerleading as well as becoming tennis captain and debate club president. Outside of school activities, she studied karate and earned her second-degree black belt, taught karate during high school and college, and even took home some trophies from the Western Regional Championship women’s competitions.
“Those recognitions taught me that success depends on your determination, effort, and abilities — not where you come from or your place in society,” she said.
From UW student to semiconductor expert
[caption id="attachment_39814" align="aligncenter" width="1135"] Throughout high school, Tran took every opportunity she could to get involved, including playing varsity volleyball and cheerleading, as well as becoming tennis captain and debate club president. Tran was a high school homecoming queen and was involved in a number of activities outside of her classes, including studying karate and earning her second-degree black belt. (far right) Tran during the UW Kappa Delta Sorority Pledge Week 1988.[/caption]
Tran excelled in junior high and high school, advancing several grades in math. She originally aspired to become an artist, but her talent in math and science, coupled with her family’s financial need, led a school counselor to advise her to pursue engineering. Tran took the advice, was accepted into the UW, and attended the University on a full-ride scholarship.
She flourished at the UW, joining the Kappa Delta Sorority and serving as scholarship chairman and Kappa Delta class president. She applied herself diligently to rigorous electrical engineering studies. She also took courses in philosophy and English literature to broaden her horizons. Yet, during her first years of undergraduate study, she struggled with regrets about giving up art, which made her engineering studies more challenging.
“To me, the best part is more about enjoying the journey — the friends you meet and the deep bonds you form, how you get there and how you grow and learn along the way.” — Thy Tran, UW ECE alumna (BSEE '93)
[caption id="attachment_39797" align="alignright" width="550"] Tran was among several industry leaders at the 30th Anniversary of the Global Semiconductor Alliance Awards, where the GSA rang the closing bell at the NASDAQ Stock Market on November 14, 2024.[/caption]
Everything changed the summer of her sophomore year, when she took a solo backpacking trip across Europe. The trip opened her eyes to art, architecture, history, and a world full of possibilities. She realized that to travel and immerse herself in rich, cultural experiences, she needed to be able to support that lifestyle. Rather than continuing to worry about “selling out,” she decided to embrace electrical engineering and her natural talent in math and science, recognizing that this was the ticket to living her best life. This mindset shift changed everything.
“For me, mindset can determine skill set,” she said. “If you have the right mindset — mental toughness, perseverance, and tenacity — the skill set is easier to acquire.”
After returning to the UW, Tran’s engineering studies began to come easily to her. She took a semiconductor physics course at UW ECE that became an inflection point. Tran said she found it fascinating, and as she called it, “the magic of semiconductors” landed her an internship at IBM, setting the stage for her future career.
A leader in DRAM technology
[caption id="attachment_39796" align="alignright" width="413"] Micron’s HBM4 is a third-generation, high-bandwidth memory cube, an example of Micron’s industry products enabled by DRAM technology. This product is designed to accelerate next- generation AI platforms by providing higher speeds, increased capacity, and better power efficiency.[/caption]
Tran’s first job after graduation was at Motorola in Austin, Texas, working on process technology for microprocessors and static random access memory, or SRAM, as a device engineer. After three and a half years at Motorola, her curiosity and desire to explore the world led her to Siemens, where she joined the company’s International Technology Transfer Management team. Tran played a key role in the ProMOS semiconductor manufacturing fab startup — a joint venture between Siemens and Mosel Vitelic — transferring DRAM technology from research and development to manufacturing.
“To me, the best part is more about enjoying the journey — the friends you meet and the deep bonds you form, how you get there and how you grow and learn along the way,” she said. “It’s also about taking stock of the path you are on, your efforts, your resilience, and the people who helped you or inspired you.”
From 1996 to 2008, Tran worked in the United States, Europe, and Asia, leading innovative and entrepreneurial projects. In 1997, she was part of the WaferTech startup team, a company now known as TSMC Washington in Camas, Washington. Two years later, she returned to Siemens, which spun off Infineon in Richmond, Virginia. At Infineon, which later spun off to Qimonda for the Memory sector, Tran advanced to the Technical Ladder Program as Principal Engineer and Overall Integration Leader. In 2004, she relocated to the company’s memory research and development headquarters in Dresden, Germany, to lead DRAM technology node development.
[caption id="attachment_39756" align="alignleft" width="337"] A silicon wafer containing hundreds of microchips produced by Micron.[/caption]
In 2008, Tran joined Micron, where she thrived and rose through the ranks—leading DRAM module development programs that included advanced capacitor, metallization, and through-silicon-via (TSV) process integration—before assuming the role of DRAM Process Integration node lead for several technology generations. Tran later oversaw teams across the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan. Her technical contributions and leadership have been pivotal to Micron’s DRAM technology development, helping the company achieve industry leadership in DRAM technology.
Tran is a steadfast innovator. Her inventions and patent disclosures have advanced semiconductor fabrication techniques, enabling more efficient and reliable memory devices. Her work has addressed critical challenges in miniaturization and performance optimization for modern electronics, including low-capacitance interconnect structures, advanced planarization techniques, and vertically integrated DRAM architectures. Collectively, her innovations have pushed the boundaries of semiconductor scaling, enabling smaller, faster, and more power-efficient consumer electronics.
“To continue scaling DRAM technology, we must keep pushing the limits of physics. That means being creative and innovative—finding new ways to enable the next generation of memory. It also requires making tough, sometimes risky decisions: setting the right strategy, balancing incremental improvements with disruptive changes, and ensuring robust risk mitigations to cover all bases.”
[caption id="attachment_39799" align="aligncenter" width="1201"] Tran was the recipient of the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s 2023 Women of Influence award. She is pictured here at the award celebration with Micron’s CEO and executives.[/caption]
Tran is also a fearless leader who knows how to motivate her team and stand up for them when needed. When she joined Micron, the company was behind its competitors in DRAM development. Tran rose through the ranks, assuming more leadership roles and responsibilities. Before long, she was leading the company’s DRAM Process Integration organization in Technology Development. Micron went from fast follower to industry leader within a few DRAM generations. Tran believes that a winning mindset was key to her team’s success, just as it had been for her as a UW undergraduate.
“Yesterday’s best is not good enough for tomorrow. So, you must be maniacal, and drive with a ‘what is possible’ mindset instead of just doing what you can to get by,” she said. “I always say, ‘go big or go home.’ Sometimes we bet wrong, but if you mitigate the risk, you will still come out on top — that is part of strategic and technical leadership.”
A lifelong learner
[caption id="attachment_39789" align="alignright" width="334"] Tran was the honored guest speaker for UW ECE’s 2025 Graduation Celebration, and she serves on the UW ECE Advisory Board. Her nephew was in the 2025 graduating class, and three generations of Tran’s family attended the ceremony. Photo by Tara Brown.[/caption]
Tran was invited to be the honored guest speaker for the UW ECE 2025 Graduation Ceremony. At the event, she noted that her nephew was in the graduating class, and she was visibly moved when speaking about her family. Three generations of Tran’s family attended the ceremony. All six of her siblings graduated from the UW, as did three nieces and her nephew. In total, they are, according to Tran, “10 proud Huskies!”. Through talent, determination, and the support of family, friends, and colleagues, this former Vietnamese refugee and her family, which now includes doctors, engineers, a researcher, and an economist are making significant contributions to America and society.
“I felt deeply humbled and grateful to be invited as the honored speaker. To me, it is a testament to the University’s values, reflected in the speaker profiles UW ECE chooses to showcase,” she said. “For me, it was a true homecoming, and it just filled my heart with tremendous pride and joy.”
Tran is focused on giving back to the next generation through mentorship at both the UW and Micron. She has served on the UW ECE Advisory Board for several years, bringing industry experience, insights, and connections to maximize opportunities for students and faculty. She is working with UW ECE to set up semiconductor fabrication facility site visits and is coordinating with Micron’s design and products team to provide more opportunities for students in the UW ECE Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or ENGINE, capstone program. At Micron, Tran has been the executive sponsor for the Women Leadership network, or MWLN, for several tenures and an active mentor for multiple programs, including MWLN, the Technical Leadership Program, Micron Young Professionals, and the Global Mentorship Program for external university students. She is a popular mentor with a long wait list of mentees.
“I felt deeply humbled and grateful to be invited as the honored speaker. To me, it is a testament to the University’s values, reflected in the speaker profiles UW ECE chooses to showcase. For me, it was a true homecoming, and it just filled my heart with tremendous pride and joy.” — Thy Tran
In October 2025, Tran delivered the closing keynote — Dream Big. Live Large. Give Back. — at the Society of Women Engineers’ WE25 conference in New Orleans, leaving thousands of attendees deeply moved. Tran received a standing ovation and sparked a wave of LinkedIn posts celebrating the power and authenticity of her story. Her message went beyond inspiration, igniting meaningful conversations about courage, leadership, and the limitless possibilities ahead.
And she continues to be a lifelong learner.
[caption id="attachment_39813" align="alignleft" width="567"] (left) Tran on the day of achieving the rank of second-degree black belt in karate while at the UW. (right) Tran’s oil-on-canvas study — an homage to French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, painted during her art school days.[/caption]
Over the years, Tran has studied painting and printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University, rare books at the University of Virginia, and explored other martial arts, including Kung Fu and Taekwondo, even while working as a full-time engineer. Her passion for knowledge and new experiences continues today. Recently, she was accepted into UC Berkeley’s full-time master’s degree program in information and data science, with an emphasis in artificial intelligence (AI). Tran says Micron and her own organization within the company have ambitious AI roadmaps with numerous initiatives underway. She felt that if she understood data science and AI at a deeper level, she could more effectively lead and coach her team. She also said that it is simply exhilarating to learn new things.
“I don’t do things only because they are necessary to advance. I choose the hard things because they stretch me — technically, intellectually — and because in the long run, they broaden my knowledge and perspective,” she reflected. “I can hang with engineers and artists, literary geeks, food and wine enthusiasts, political junkies, and world travelers. Being well-rounded doesn’t just enrich my life, but also others’ — it helps me connect with others with diverse backgrounds to form meaningful and lasting friendships. Most people go through life anchored in a single version of themselves. Every challenge we embrace, every curiosity we follow, uncovers another layer of who we are and who we might become.”
Epilogue: The many versions of a life well-lived
Thy Tran’s journey is a testament to the power of resilience, curiosity, and the courage to embrace possibility. From a refugee camp in Thailand to the global stage of semiconductor innovation, she has lived out answers to the question: What does it mean to live a rich, fulfilling life? From Tran’s experience, it means embracing opportunity, lifting others as you rise, and never ceasing to learn and grow. Her story is not just about achievement — it is about transformation, about the many versions of ourselves waiting to be discovered, and about the beauty of building bridges across cultures and generations.
[caption id="attachment_39812" align="aligncenter" width="1205"] Tran with three generations of her extended family, attending her brother Phuc’s wedding in Jamaica in 2014.[/caption]
See more photos of Thy Tran in this year's issue of The Integrator magazine.
[post_title] => A fearless leader and a lifelong learner
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[post_content] => By Wayne Gillam / UW ECE News
[caption id="attachment_39673" align="alignright" width="575"] Professor Lih-Yuan Lin was recently elected to the NAI 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her influential contributions to nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (UW ECE) congratulates Professor Lih-Yuan Lin, who has been elected into the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her outstanding work and lasting impact in nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology. Lin is one of only 10 UW faculty members to ever receive this honor. She will be formally inducted as an NAI Fellow and presented with a medal by a senior official of the United States Patent and Trademark Office at the NAI 15th Annual Conference on June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.
“We are immensely proud of Lih-Yuan and all she has achieved,” said UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins. “Her research and teaching are exemplary, and her many inventions are in a wide span of academic disciplines. She is deeply committed to her students and works with them to bring research into practical, real-world applications.”
The NAI Fellowship, established in 2012, honors inventors whose work has made exceptional contributions to the nation’s innovation ecosystem, economic development, and society. Today, it is widely regarded as the highest professional distinction for academic inventors. The 2025 Class of Fellows includes 169 distinguished academic and institutional inventors from 127 universities, government agencies, and research institutions across 40 states and 16 international organizations. Collectively, NAI Fellows hold over 86,000 U.S. patents, have developed 20,000 licensed technologies, and according to a recent NAI press release, have contributed to innovations generating an estimated $38 trillion in revenue and 1.4 million jobs.
“I believe the future of our research lies in creating technologies that directly improve quality of life,” Lin said. “From enabling faster, more sustainable communication networks to developing advanced sensing systems for healthcare, my goal is to ensure these innovations serve society and address global challenges.” — UW ECE Professor Lih-Yuan Lin
[caption id="attachment_39661" align="alignright" width="475"] A scanning electron microscope image of a MEMS micro-mirror for optical switches and interconnects. The 800-micron mirror, designed by Lin and her team, was part of her optical switching technology for fiber networks. This pioneering work enabled large capacity data networks to reduce cost and power consumption while paving the way for modern MEMS-based optical circuit switches. Photo courtesy of Professor Lih-Yuan Lin.[/caption]
“Inventions come from inspirations. I am very fortunate to have worked with people who inspired me throughout my career, and I am deeply honored to be elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors,” Lin said. “This recognition reflects the collaborative efforts of my students and colleagues over the years. Innovation is about turning ideas into solutions that make a real difference, and I am excited to continue pushing the boundaries of research to address future challenges.”
Lin joined UW ECE in 2003 and is currently the Department’s Associate Chair for Research. She directs the UW Photonics Lab and is a faculty member of the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand, and the Institute for Nano-engineered Systems. She is also an affiliate faculty member of the Clean Energy Institute. In addition to holding 41 granted patents, she has over 100 journal publications, over 180 conference papers, and five book chapters to her name. Her work has been cited nearly 10,000 times. Lin’s research projects at the UW have included nanophotonic devices using solution-processed materials, optoelectronics driven by artificial intelligence, nanostructure-enhanced laser tweezers, biophotonics, and optical micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).
Lin received her doctoral degree in electrical engineering in 1996 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After graduating, she worked at AT&T Labs-Research from 1996 to 2000 as a senior technical staff member on micromachined technologies for optical switching and lightwave communication systems. Then, prior to joining UW ECE, she worked at Tellium, Inc. from 2000 to 2002 as a director of optical technologies. At Tellium, she co-led the company’s research and development effort on high-port-count MEMS optical crossconnects. Over the years, she built a strong reputation for innovation, invention, and connecting her research with industrial and entrepreneurial applications.
In addition to becoming an NAI Fellow, Lin has been recognized by many other awards and honors, including receiving an MIT Technology Review Award in 2003, and becoming an Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) Fellow in 2010, an Optica Fellow in 2020, and an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow in 2024.
Pioneering innovations in MEMS, optoelectronics, and photonics
[caption id="attachment_39663" align="alignright" width="475"] A schematic and photograph (inset) of a perovskite vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser — one example of Lin’s work in nanophotonic devices. This laser uses distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) and all-inorganic cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3) perovskite quantum dots, which have emerged as highly promising solution-processed materials for the next generation of light-emitting applications. Photo courtesy of Professor Lih-Yuan Lin.[/caption]
Lin’s career is marked by groundbreaking contributions that span multiple fields, including MEMS technology, solution-processed optoelectronics, and nanophotonics. And she started inventing early in her academic career. As a graduate student at UCLA, Lin invented the first MEMS-based Fresnel lens, a breakthrough that made headlines in photonic technology circles.
At AT&T Labs-Research, she demonstrated the first MEMS optical cross-connect for high-capacity fiber networks, sparking an industry-wide effort involving major corporations and startup companies. She subsequently created several more inventions at AT&T, resulting in 23 patents that were of high commercial value to the company. She was later recruited by Tellium, Inc. to commercialize related technologies.
The MIT Technology Review Award Lin received in 2003 recognized her invention of MEMS optical switching technology and the resulting contributions to optical fiber networks. She was the first person to propose, patent, and implement MEMS-based optical switches to enable large capacity data networks with reduced cost and power consumption. This pioneering work laid the foundation for modern MEMS-based optical circuit switches.
At UW ECE, Lin has continued to push boundaries, leading research on solution-processed optoelectronic materials and semiconductor quantum dots for photonic devices and systems while continuing research on optical MEMS. She has also developed these technologies for biomedical applications such as neurostimulators and biomedical imaging. For example, from 2009 to 2012, she was the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health bioengineering research grant to develop next generation fiber-optic endoscopes and molecular contrast agents for early cancer detection. In this work, she led a team of five interdisciplinary investigators, and under her leadership and vision, the five-year grant led to 20 impactful publications.
In recent years, Lin’s research group has focused on metal halide perovskites for advanced optoelectronic applications, including displays and lighting, lasers, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors, solar cells, and computer memory. Her team’s work has produced seven U.S. patents and highly cited papers, including one with over 1,000 citations.
Turning research into real-world impact
[caption id="attachment_39664" align="alignright" width="475"] Fluorescent images of patterned color-converter materials made from quantum dots and perovskite for micro-display applications. The white scale bar is 200 microns wide. Lin and her team fabricated multicolor patterns with red, green, and blue pixels on a single substrate, a technique applicable to high-resolution displays used in televisions, monitors, smartphones, augmented and virtual reality, wearable tech, and more. Photo courtesy of Professor Lih-Yuan Lin.[/caption]
Lin’s approach to research goes beyond discovery. She is committed to translating inventions into commercial products and empowering her students to become leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship. Many of her former students now hold leadership roles in industry, and some have co-founded successful startups, including LumiSands and Vuemen, both of which originated from her lab. LumiSands develops environmentally friendly silicon quantum dots for lighting and bio-labeling, while Vuemen is advancing low-cost micro-LED manufacturing solutions. These ventures received support through UW CoMotion’s Innovation Gap Fund program and earned an NSF Partnership for Innovation award as well as an NSF Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase 1 award.
Throughout her career, Lin has pioneered technologies, such as micro-electromechanical optical switches, efficient solar cells based on quantum dots, and optical tweezers for biological sampling. She has contributed to optogenetics, the light-based control of biological cells, using quantum dots as a light source. She has explored the use of quantum dots as optical waveguides as well as applications of metal halide perovskites in integrated photonics. And she has followed through on turning her research into real-world impact. Overall, her vision is clear.
“I believe the future of our research lies in creating technologies that directly improve quality of life,” Lin said. “From enabling faster, more sustainable communication networks to developing advanced sensing systems for healthcare, my goal is to ensure these innovations serve society and address global challenges.”
Learn more about UW ECE Professor Lih-Yuan Lin on her bio page. To learn more about the NAI, visit their website, read the NAI announcement, and the full list of 2025 NAI Fellows.
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[post_content] => [caption id="attachment_39532" align="alignright" width="600"] UW ECE and Applied Mathematics Professor Nathan Kutz has been named to the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, a distinction that celebrates researchers whose work has shaped their fields. Photo by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
UW ECE is proud to announce that Professor Nathan Kutz was recently named to the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, a distinction that celebrates researchers whose work has shaped their fields. Kutz is one of 56 UW faculty and researchers recognized.
Kutz is a Boeing Professor in AI & Data-Driven Engineering and holds a joint appointment between UW ECE and the UW Department of Applied Mathematics. He is an expert in machine learning, data science, dynamical systems, scientific computing, and control systems. His research applies computational and mathematical methods across engineering, as well as the physical and biological sciences.
In addition to this recognition from Clarivate, Kutz has earned numerous prestigious honors throughout his career. He is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and previously served as chair of the UW Department of Applied Mathematics from 2007 to 2015.
“I’m honored by this recognition,” Kutz said. “It reflects the creativity and dedication of the students and collaborators I’ve had the privilege to work with.”
The Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list identifies scholars who demonstrated significant and broad influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. This annual list names researchers whose work ranks among the top 1% of citations for their field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index.
The 2025 list includes 7,131 awards from more than 1,300 institutions in 60 countries and regions. According to Clarivate, these individuals represent a small fraction of the global research community yet contribute disproportionately to advancing knowledge and driving innovation. The rankings are determined using data and analysis from bibliometric experts and data scientists at Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information.
Kutz is part of a distinguished group of UW ECE faculty who have earned major awards and are recognized as highly cited researchers in their fields. To learn more about the accomplishments of UW ECE faculty, visit our Faculty Highlights webpage.
[post_title] => Professor Nathan Kutz named to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list
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[post_content] => Read the latest issue of The Integrator, UW ECE's annual magazine highlighting faculty and student research, alumni news, and more!
Read previous issues of The Integrator here.
[post_title] => The Integrator 2025–2026
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