Yan Jiangyue: From an “otaku” to a “computer geek”

Yan Jiangyue

Admitted by the University of Edinburgh

From the four offers sent by the University of Edinburgh, University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne and University of Manchester, Yan Jiangyue finally chose the high performance computing specialty of the University of Edinburgh. Although he is a computer student, a cross-disciplinary paper on computer and biology was selected as the best paper in an international conference, deeply impressing people around him. This achievement shall be attributed to the course requirements of Wenzhou-Kean University. Biology is a required course for the computer engineering department since his freshman year.

In the first semester as a sophomore, a biology professor gave students a challenge: “How do external factors such as environment and disease exert an influence on species breeding?” – can it be computed with a program? Yan Jiangyue saw a chance to answer this research question. He never gave up in the face of disappointment and failure. Eventually he successfully established a mathematical model: “Predicting the scale change of a biologic population under various conditions.” He wrote a relevant paper: “An algorithm model of population growth, Hardy-Weinberg Law and its application”.

Yan Jiangyue attended the Second International Conference on Computer and Communication held in Chengdu in 2016 and presented his paper. Nearly 30 people presented papers in the competition for best paper in the group of “Computer Science and Engineering”. He was the only undergraduate student, while the others are all postgraduates and doctoral students from Tsinghua University and Peking University and other famous international universities. During the presentation, the students must explain their research question and methodology in English. It was not that hard for Yan Jiangyue, because he always did that in Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU). WKU encourages students to create original scientific research, and all students submit their scientific research project, deliver a speech, and answer questions in English in front of the teachers and students. Finally, his paper received an award for best paper in the computer science and engineering group.

Yan Jiangyue is very clear about his love for computer science, and he also wants to see the end-product of technology with his own eyes. However, as a computer science student, if he wanted to continue his study in an overseas university graduate program, he needed to pass the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exams before matriculation. It was especially difficult for Yan Jiangyue, as his English language skill is relatively weak. In his second semester of his junior year, despite his scientific research tasks and additional schoolwork, he insisted to recite words every day and complete a set of IELTS practice examination paper every two days. With the encouragement from the teachers and senior students of the English Learning Center, he eventually received a valuable score for the IELTS exam.