PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Wai-Chi Fang

Also known as 方偉騏

Wai-Chi Fang is an electronics engineer and professor whose work links neural networks, integrated circuits and healthcare AI. He earned a B.Sc. in electronics engineering at National Chiao-Tung University in 1978, an M.Sc. at Stony Brook in 1982 and a Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in 1992, and worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1985 to 2007. He proposed a low-power machine-vision system, received NASA Space Act Awards, and coauthored an EEG emotion-recognition accelerator and a CNN for respiratory-disease diagnosis. As of October 2026, he is a Chair Professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University; in 2026, he coauthored a paper on an area-efficient butterfly module for ML-KEM polynomial computations.

Born
1956
Works
248
Citations
1,646
h-index
18
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1978

    An electronics engineering degree

    He earns a B.Sc. in electronics engineering at National Chiao-Tung University's Electronics Engineering Department in 1978.

  2. 1982–1992

    Graduate degrees at SUNY and USC

    He earns an M.Sc. at State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1982 and a Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in 1992.

  3. 1985–2007

    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    He works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1985 to 2007. His research interests include neural networks and intelligent systems. In February 2000, he proposes a low-power, ultrafast machine-vision system on one integrated-circuit chip that uses image-sensor/processor circuits and electronic neural networks.

  4. 2002–2003

    NASA Space Act Awards

    He receives NASA Space Act Awards in 2002 and 2003. His inventions on advanced computing engines and data-compression systems find use in space missions.

  5. 2006

    General chair of IIH-MSP

    He serves as general chair of IIH-MSP in 2006 and joins the conference's steering committee.

  6. 2024

    An edge AI emotion accelerator

    With Jia Yu Li, he proposes an edge AI accelerator using hyperdimensional computing on FPGA and RISC-V for real-time emotion recognition from EEG. The model reaches 79.04% accuracy for valence and 85.95% for arousal.

  7. 2025

    A respiratory diagnosis CNN

    He coauthors a lightweight CNN built around EfficientNet-B0 for respiratory-disease diagnosis in telemedicine; it earns a combined-testing score of 0.7966.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chair Professor at NYCU

    As of October 2026, he is a Chair Professor in NYCU's Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, with an office in the Institute of Electronics. In 2026, he coauthors an area-efficient butterfly module for ML-KEM polynomial computations.

Career

  1. Since 2007National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityChair Professor
  2. 2019–2021Pervasive Artificial Intelligence Research Labs
  3. 1988–2009California Institute of Technology
  4. 1985–2007NASA

Education

  1. 1992University of Southern CaliforniaPh.D.
  2. 1982Stony Brook UniversityM.Sc.
  3. 1978National Chiao Tung UniversityB.Sc. in electronics engineering

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes California Institute of Technology. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  4. 19% of people shaping AI who founded a dated organization have founded two or more, waiting a median of 7 years before a secondIncludes NASA. Across 1,136 people shaping AI who founded or co-founded a dated company, standalone lab or nonprofit, 221 (19%) founded at least two organizations, accounting for 36% of all 1,421 founding events.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Wai-Chi Fang yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Fang, Wai-Chi iee.nycu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Low-Power, Fast Machine Vision System on a Single IC Chip techbriefs.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. IIH-MSP 2006 Steering Committee bit.kuas.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. An Edge AI Accelerator Design Based on HDC Model for Real-time EEG-based Emotion Recognition System with RISC-V FPGA Platform scholar.nycu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. An Effective Lightweight CNN-Based System for Respiratory Disease Diagnosis in Telemedicine scholar.nycu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Fang, Wai-Chi Chair Professor|National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University | Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering dee.nycu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. A High-Performance and Area-Efficient Unified Butterfly Module for ML-KEM Polynomial Computations scholar.nycu.edu.tw. Checked 20 October 2026.