UC Irvine Provides the Right Recipe for Success – Lucas (Kaixiang) Zhuang
Choosing UC Irvine was a no-brainer for Lucas (Kaixiang) Zhuang. It checked every academic box, offering strong programs in computer science and business information management. A dual major proved the synergistic sweet-spot for Zhuang’s high-tech aspirations. It landed him a spot in Carnegie Mellon’s master’s program for software engineering, an offer from Google and the foundation he needed to launch his own AI startup.
“Having two dedicated schools for the two majors I wanted to pursue was helpful,” Zhuang says.
“UCI was the only university I applied to that had both.”
Each school also comes with unique research opportunities for high-performing students. The business school’s Student Managed Investment Fund offers hands-on portfolio management experience by giving qualified students $50,000 to invest and access to Bloomberg terminals to perform real-time market analysis. The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences connects students with industry experts and top-tier professors to develop their own research.
Those experiences were key to Zhuang co-founding an AI and robotics startup. “We produce training data to enhance robotics manipulation.” Until now, robotics trained lower and upper bodies separately. Zhuang’s startup aims to integrate the whole body and sell that application.
But the university isn’t the only factor contributing to Zhuang’s success. He credits Irvine itself. “It’s the environment. Irvine is friendly, collaborative, convenient and beautiful. It’s also extremely safe. That’s how I’m able to dedicate myself to my work.”
– Originally published by Irvine Standard