2025-2026 Asian American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY) Award and Conference to Convene AI Leaders, STEM Visionaries, and Youth Mentors in Silicon Valley
Flagship National Event at Santa Clara Convention Center Features Keynotes by AI Pioneers, High School-to-Career Mentorship Panel, National AIGC Awards, Award Raffle, and Black-Tie Gala Honoring Top Tech Leaders
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Executive Committee of the 2025–2026 Asian American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY) Award and Conference, hosted by the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE/USA-SF Chapter), today announced the official program schedule for its premier national gathering, taking place on September 18–19, 2026, in Silicon Valley. Building upon the recent announcement of this year's honorees—including Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Mr. Lip-Bu Tan (CEO, Intel Corporation) and Distinguished Leadership in Science and Technology Award recipient Dr. Arun Majumdar (Dean of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability)—the 2026 AAEOY Conference will gather corporate executives, visionary founders, academic leaders, and rising stars for two days of technical exploration, leadership development, and networking.
Conference & Celebration Highlights
Friday, September 18 (San Jose, CA) — Pre-Award Welcome Dinner
The event commences with an invitation-only Pre-Award Welcome Dinner honoring the 2025–2026 award recipients, corporate sponsors, and national alliance leaders.
Saturday, September 19 (Santa Clara Convention Center) — Public Conferences & Gala
Beginning at 12:00 PM in the Mission Ballroom, public registration opens alongside sponsor exhibitions, followed by two parallel technical and leadership tracks from 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM:
- Track 1: Engineering the AI-Native Future — How AI Is Transforming Technology, Business, and Innovation. This track explores the journey from young engineer to executive at AI startups and corporations.
Features a keynote address by Jeremiah Owyang (General Partner, Blitzscaling Ventures), a featured fireside chat with Bernard Harguindeguy (Executive Venture Fund), a technical talk by Leo Tchourakov (Principal Engineer, Factory AI), and an AI startup leadership panel featuring founders from AGIGA AI and Captify. - Track 2: The Engineering Lifecycle — Empowering the Next Generation in the AI Era. (Special Focus for Students & Families pursuing engineering, science, and research fields.)
Features keynote addresses by Dr. Arun Majumdar (Dean, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability) and Mr. Johnny Ho (Co-founder & CSO, Perplexity AI). Track 2 is designed to inspire young minds and guide families:- Featured Youth Mentorship Panel — "The Rising Stars: Homecoming of Past CIE/USA-SF Scholarship Awardees": A key highlight for middle and high school students and parents, bringing together six former CIE/USA-SF scholarship recipients currently thriving at Microsoft, Netflix, Pinterest, UCLA, UCSD, Harvard, UIUC, WashU and Georgia Tech, to share their firsthand experiences on navigating the journey from high school to top universities and competitive tech careers.
- National Recognition — 2026 AAEOY National AIGC Video Challenge: Showcasing national awards for student creators in the "Engineering Changes the World" generative AI storytelling competition.
- Exclusive Afternoon Raffle: Join us in the afternoon for a chance to win grand prizes, including a round-trip premium economy ticket from SFO to Taipei (courtesy of China Airlines), an Apple iPhone and Watch, and award dinner banquet tickets.
- Saturday Evening — Award Ceremony Banquet
Guests will join the Award Ceremony Banquet to honor 2025–2026 AAEOY awardees from leading organizations, including Western Digital, Bosch, Seagate, Ambarella, Gilead, Nvidia, Lumotive, Synopsys, Samsung Electronics, Sandia National Laboratories, AT&T, Boeing, LG Electronics, Fujitsu Research, and Perplexity AI.
Executive Commentary
"Since its inception in 2002 as part of National Engineers Week, AAEOY has honored more than 300 trailblazers, including Nobel Laureates, cabinet members, and corporate titans," said Dr. Tony Liu, Executive Committee Chair for the 2025–2026 AAEOY Award and Conference. "As we gather in Silicon Valley, our program not only celebrates these incredible honorees but also provides an unprecedented platform to inspire youth, guide families, and empower the next generation of engineering leaders."
Registration & Event Details
Public registration for the Saturday, Sep. 19 AAEOY program is officially open. Middle and high school students, parents, young and veteran professionals are encouraged to attend. To view the complete agenda, speaker line-up, and reserve tickets, please visit www.aaeoy.org or aaeoy2026.eventbrite.com.
About CIE/USA & AAEOY
The Chinese Institute of Engineers USA (CIE-USA), founded in 1917, is a non-profit professional organization promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), leadership development, and professional advancement. The Asian American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY) Award and Conference is its flagship national program recognizing outstanding Asian American professionals across industry, academia, and public service.
Media Contact:
AAEOY Public Relations Committee
2025–2026 AAEOY Award and Conference
Phone: 510-497-1788
Email: public_relation@aaeoy.org
Website: www.aaeoy.org
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