The American Chinese Engineer Association San Francisco Chapter (CIE/USA-SF) held a press conference on September 10th to announce the 2025-2026 Asian American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY) award ceremony and seminar, which will take place in Silicon Valley on September 18-19.
The event will feature free technical and educational seminars, a welcome dinner, and an awards gala. The main activities on September 19 will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
AAEOY is a flagship national event of the American Chinese Engineer Association, recognizing the achievements of Asian American engineers in areas such as technology, leadership, and community service, often referred to as the “Oscars of the engineering industry”. Since its inception in 2002, over 300 professionals in the fields of technology, engineering, and public service have been honored.
This year, there are a total of 17 awardees, including two recipients of special awards: Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel, received the “Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award”, and Dr. Arun Majumdar, Dean of the Doerr Institute for Sustainable Development at Stanford University, received the “Outstanding Science and Technology Leadership Award”.
David Fong, Chair of the AAEOY Nomination Committee, stressed the rigorous selection process all candidates undergo to maintain the award’s standard. Apart from the two distinguished awardees, the remaining 15 winners are categorized into Annual Corporate Executives, Annual Engineers, and Most Promising Annual Engineers.
A unique focus of this year’s conference is the shift from merely recognizing achievements to nurturing the next generation.
Chairman of the AAEOY conference and Board Director of CIE/USA-SF, Tony Liu, emphasized the importance of Asian American engineers in the US tech industry and the need for more representation in senior executive roles, boardrooms, and venture capital fields. Through the experiences of outstanding engineers, he aims to serve as a role model for the next generation and encourage more young people to pursue careers in technology and leadership.
Two seminars will be held on the afternoon of September 19. The “Technology Track” will delve into cutting-edge AI technology, business, and innovation with speakers including professionals like Jeremiah Owyang, Bernard Harguindeguy, and Leo Tchourakov discussing various aspects of technology and venture capital.
The “Education Track” is tailored for high school students and parents, with Dr. Arun Majumdar sharing insights on how students can prepare for the age of AI, and Johnny Ho, Co-founder and CSO of Perplexity AI, sharing his own growth journey.
The conference will also feature six past recipients of the CIE High School Scholarship sharing their experiences transitioning from high school to university and entering the tech industry.
In addition, the conference will unveil the winners of the “2026 AAEOY National AIGC Video Challenge,” where students create videos using AI on the theme “Engineering Changes the World.”
The awards gala on the evening of September 19 will honor recipients from companies and research institutions like Intel, Western Digital, Bosch, Seagate, Ambarella, Gilead, Nvidia, Synopsys, Samsung Electronics, AT&T, Boeing, LG Electronics, Fujitsu Research, and Perplexity AI.
Registration for the September 19 events is open to the public, welcoming high school students, parents, and professionals in the tech industry. For full schedules, awardee profiles, and registration details, visit the AAEOY official website https://aaeoy.org/, the awardees’ page https://aaeoy.org/2026/05/15/awardees-full-profile/, or the Eventbrite registration page aaeoy2026.eventbrite.com.
The American Chinese Engineer Association (CIE), established in 1917 with over a century of history, previously hosted the AAEOY during the 2020-2021 pandemic period in an online format. One of the outstanding awardees of that edition was Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.
2025-2026 Asian American Engineer of the Year Awards and Conference
Date: September 19, 2026 (Saturday)
Location: Santa Clara Convention Center
Free Seminar: Registration and sponsor exhibitions start at 12 p.m.; Seminar from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Awards Gala: Held on the evening of September 19. ◇