2022 Electrical and Computer Engineering Award of Excellence: Raini Wu

Every year, six outstanding undergraduate students who made significant contributions to their academic department and the Jacobs School of Engineering community are celebrated with department Awards of Excellence at the Ring Ceremony event for graduating undergraduates.

 The 2022 Electrical and Computer Engineering Award of Excellence was awarded to Raini Wu. Learn more about his background and future plans in this Q&A.

What do you enjoy about electrical and computer engineering, or why did you decide to pursue this field?

I chose to pursue electrical engineering as I wanted to learn more about the fundamental technologies behind the devices that have surrounded me forever. It was really surprising and intriguing to me how few people knew exactly what was going on in ubiquitous electronic things that are everywhere. I wanted to be one of those people.

 Were you involved in any activities/groups/clubs/research labs on campus that were impactful during your time at UC San Diego?

I was primarily involved in HKN and the Wireless Communications Sensing and Networking Group (WCSNG) research group. I joined WCSNG my first quarter here and I joined HKN shortly after, starting in the Winter quarter of my first year. Both WCSNG and HKN consist of amazingly talented people, and it opened my eyes to what was possible throughout my undergraduate career. Having mentors and peers that were just as excited about engineering as I was kept me motivated throughout my undergraduate career. One HKN officer a year older than me actually first inspired me to try and graduate in three years. I had no idea it was possible until he mentioned he was doing it. Coincidentally he was also in my research group and also pursuing the ECE BS/MS program. In WCSNG I pursued research related to wireless virtual reality, intelligent next-generation cellular networks, and distributed computing for spectrum sensing. In HKN I served as Project Chair/Secretary, then HARD Hack Director.

Do you have any advice for current or future engineering students?

1. Don’t let self-doubt stop you from pursuing exciting things. Many of my best experiences here have been the result of just taking moonshots. (For example, trying to join a research group my first week of my first quarter or applying to be an HKN officer as a freshman)

2. Work with people that you can admire. I’ve found that by working with people who can inspire you, it’s much easier to grow into who you want to be.

 Any idea what you'll do next year, or what you hope to accomplish with your degree?

Next year I’ll be continuing here at UC San Diego for my Master’s degree in the ECE department’s BS/MS program, and hopefully completing a thesis with WCSNG and my PI Professor Dinesh Bharadia. I chose to focus on Computer Systems Design in my undergraduate degree, but I’ll be switching to Communication Theory and Systems for my Masters and I’m excited to be jumping into a fairly different variety of EE.

Anything else that's important to know about your time and experience at the Jacobs School?

In some ways it feels like I’ve just started college and it’s already over! As a third year, most (5/9 quarters!) of my experience with the Jacobs School has been through remote learning, but it has still been amazing. I look forward to staying here for my Master’s. Additionally, the ECE department here is fantastic. Both the faculty and administration have been incredibly supportive throughout my undergrad here. It was really surprising to me how painless it’s been to achieve what I wanted to achieve - whether in regards to courses, research programs, or even as a student org leader.