L. Chen – ΤΒΠ Graduate Fellowship

Excerpt from the RMCOE News article “Two Engineering Students Earn Prestigious Tau Beta Pi Graduate Fellowships”

CE senior Lily Chen has been awarded a highly competitive graduate fellowship from Tau Beta Pi, the world’s largest engineering society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the U.S.

Chen is among the 31 engineering students selected globally from a pool of 453 applicants for the distinction, which recognizes exceptional scholarship, leadership, service, and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession. Fellowship recipients receive a $10,000 stipend supplement to support their advanced study. UCSB chemical engineering senior Anika Jena was also selected for the honor. 

Chen, who will also serve as the student speaker at the college’s commencement ceremony, said that receiving the Tau Beta Pi fellowship is especially meaningful because it reflects how far she has come since first choosing engineering.

“I grew up looking up to my parents, who have both built successful careers in business, and for a long time I assumed I would follow a similar path,” Chen said. “However, I ultimately pivoted to engineering when applying to college because I loved problem-solving and wanted to develop the ability to think critically about complex systems.”

When she first arrived at UCSB, Chen said that she barely understood what computer engineering entailed. Then, she became involved in undergraduate research, working in the labs of electrical and computer engineering professors Mahnoosh Alizadeh and Jason Marden, applying data-driven modeling and optimal control to industrial refrigeration systems. Now, she is close to submitting her first first-author research paper in optimal control of industrial processes.

“To me, this fellowship is a testament not only to my academic growth, but also to the support, mentorship, and community that made that growth possible,” said Chen, who served as president of the Tau Beta Pi CA Sigma Chapter, worked as a campus tour guide, and led the solar team for Engineers Without Borders. “My peers, professors, and mentors at UCSB helped empower me to become someone I could not have imagined becoming when I first started. I am deeply grateful to represent UCSB Engineering and the Tau Beta Pi CA Sigma Chapter through this national honor.”

Chen will remain at UCSB next fall to continue her graduate studies through the BS/MS program in electrical and computer engineering, with a focus on controls and machine learning. She said that she chose to continue at the university because of the mentorship, the research community, and the technical foundation she has found here, especially in control systems, optimization, and data-driven decision-making.

“What motivates me most is the potential for controls and machine learning to improve not only emerging technologies, but also traditional industries that are essential to everyday life and have enormous opportunities for gains in efficiency, reliability, and sustainability,” Chen said.

She said that UCSB has also helped her to develop as a scholar by surrounding her with mentors who pushed her to think more critically, investigate more deeply, and communicate technical ideas clearly.

“I have learned that good research is not just about getting results,” Chen said. “It is about understanding the problem, telling a cohesive story with data, and contributing something meaningful to the field.”

Tau Beta Pi was formed in 1885, and membership into the honor society represents the highest honor to be obtained by an engineering student and is awarded on the basis of high scholarship and exemplary character. This year’s awards bring the total number of fellowships granted to 1,892 since the program’s inception in 1929, totaling more than $9.2 million in stipends.

RMCOE News “Two Engineering Students Earn Prestigious Tau Beta Pi Graduate Fellowships