UW ECE alumnus Alvin Wang Graylin (BSEE ‘93) will be honored guest speaker for the Department’s 2024 Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 5, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is proud to welcome UW ECE alumnus Alvin Wang Graylin (BSEE ‘93) as honored guest speaker for our 2024 Graduation Ceremony. Graylin is the Global VP of Corporate Development for HTC, a world leader in the design and production of virtual reality and augmented reality platforms. He is also co-author of a new, visionary book, “Our Next Reality: How the AI-powered Metaverse Will Reshape the World,” which seeks to answer some of the most pressing questions about how the confluence of AI and immersive technologies stands to reshape our world in profound ways. This year’s Graduation Ceremony will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 5, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event will be presided over by UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins.
In Graylin’s role at HTC, he serves as co-head of the ViveX VR Accelerator, which is the company’s global program for investing in startups at the intersection of virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and 5G technologies. He is also vice-chairman of the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance in China and president of the Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance, which brings investment opportunities to its member corporations and venture capitalists.
“We are thrilled to have Alvin as guest speaker for our Graduation Ceremony,” Klavins said. “He is an expert in AI and immersive technologies, with a deep knowledge of the industry and a global perspective. His corporate leadership and entrepreneurial ventures have impacted the world, and I know he will have much to share with our graduates about what the future holds.”
Graylin is an influential technology pioneer, executive, entrepreneur, and thought leader who got his professional start in the semiconductor industry, working for companies such as IBM and Intel after graduating from UW ECE. He has well over 30 years’ experience creating, developing, and delivering products based on AI and extended reality, or XR, which encompasses virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality environments. His career is international in scope, spanning the U.S., China, and Taiwan, and it includes leadership roles at companies in all three countries.
His entrepreneurial and leadership experience is extensive. He has founded four venture-backed startups in areas ranging from AI-based natural language search to big-data AI analytics across China and the U.S. As an investor, he has been involved in funding over 100 startups. He is a much sought-after speaker, who is frequently featured at leading international conferences and in the media on topics relating to AI, XR, entrepreneurship, and for his insights on the Chinese market.
Graylin is also on the Science and Ethics Council and a board member at the Virtual World Society, which provides guidance for the responsible development and adoption of emerging technologies. The Virtual World Society was founded by Tom Furness, who is a Professor Emeritus in the industrial and systems engineering department at the UW and was a UW ECE adjunct professor during his tenure at the University. Graylin built his foundation in virtual reality research when he was an undergraduate student working with Furness in the Human Interface Technology Lab.
In addition to his bachelor’s degree from UW ECE, Graylin holds a master’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering from MIT, where he specialized in AI, and a master‘s degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management with an emphasis in entrepreneurship, marketing, and business operations. His international perspective has been informed over a lifetime by his education, career, and personal experience. Graylin was born in China during the Cultural Revolution, and his family emigrated to the U.S. in 1980 as the country’s reform period started. He was educated and spent his formative years in the Seattle area, but his professional development led him back to China and Taiwan. He recently returned to the U.S. after almost 20 years of working and living in China. He is now based once again in Seattle, Washington, living closer to family and his two daughters, both of whom are UW graduates.
To learn more about Alvin Wang Graylin, read “UW ECE alumnus Alvin Graylin envisions our next reality.”