Dancing between worlds: IAW Alumni Edition
In the inaugural episode of the Imagine A World podcast, Alumni Edition, host Eli Cahan (2019 cohort) sits down with alumni to explore their journeys since graduating from Stanford and how they are making an impact in their personal and professional lives. Eli speaks with Bingyi Wang (2018 cohort), who imagines a world where technology and science transcend borders to bring benefits to everyday people.
Bingyi shares her path from China to New Mexico, where she attended a United World College, and then to Williams College, where she studied physics before later pursuing a PhD in physics at Stanford University. Bingyi discusses her research on curing blindness, her experiences as a Knight-Hennessy scholar, and how being part of the KHS community has shaped her worldview and commitment to global collaboration.
Resources
- Startup that Bingyi co-founded with KH scholar Tyler Chen (2019 cohort): Skywalk
- Article: Electronic photoreceptors restore vision in blind rats to natural-resolution level
- Bingyi's LinkedIn profile
- How Imagine A World began
Guest
Bingyi Wang, from Xuzhou, China, pursued a PhD in physics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. She works on quantum optics and hardware in the Laboratory for Integrated Nano-Quantum Systems, with the long-term goal of contributing to the field of quantum computation. She attended United World College and Williams College, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics. At Williams College, she served as as a researcher on atomic physics studies using laser spectroscopy, a teaching assistant in the physics and Asian studies departments, as a board member on the Minority Coalition and the International Club, and as co-chair of Women and Gender Minorities in Physics and Astronomy. Bingyi plays Zheng, a string instrument, as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, arranged for the Williams Chinese Music Ensemble, and is a classical opera vocalist. She was also a member of Kusika African dance and percussion company.
Imagine A World team
Imagine A World's theme music was composed and recorded by Taylor Goss (2021 cohort). The podcast was originally conceived and led by Briana Mullen (2020 cohort), Taylor Goss, and Willie Thompson (2022 cohort), along with Daniel Gajardo (2020 cohort) and Jordan Conger (2020 cohort).
Knight-Hennessy scholars represent a vast array of cultures, perspectives, and experiences. While we as an organization are committed to elevating their voices, the views expressed are those of the scholars, and not necessarily those of KHS.
Full transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated by machine and lightly edited by humans. They may contain errors.
Bingyi Wang:
I think Knight-Hennessy is not kind of a cherry on top type of experience for me at Stanford, it's such a integrated part of my daily life. And I say that in a few different ways. First, I think I really made a majority of my close friends from Knight-Hennessy, both from my cohort and the cohorts that's later on. You just have such a community of extremely driven, humble and very kind people. One of my best friend is this amazing violinist, but also a killer neuroscientist.
She actually told me what is a neuron before I got into this field of research. And my roommate back then was a bioengineering PhD student, so I think there were just so much subconscious influence I got from Knight-Hennessy. Furthermore, we'll probably touch upon later, I met my first co-founder and started my first company also from Knight-Hennessy community. So I think it's just truly essential in every decision I've made, and I think consciously, subconsciously, it imprinted a very deep mark in my trajectory.
Willie Thompson:
Welcome to the alumni edition of the Imagine A World Podcast from Knight-Hennessy Scholars. We are here to give you a glimpse of Knight-Hennessy Scholars who have graduated and are making a difference in the world through their personal and professional endeavors. In each episode, we talk with KH alumni about the world they imagine and what they're doing to bring it to life. Today on our Inaugural Alumni episode, we'll hear from Bingyi Wang, a member of the 2018 cohort. In this episode, Eli Cahan speaks with Bingyi about her journey to and through Stanford, her research on curing blindness and how Knight-Hennessy shaped her community and world view and so much more.
Eli Cahan:
Hello everybody. My name is Eli Cahan, I'm thrilled to be recording the inaugural episode of Imagine A World: Alumni Edition. I am sitting here with one of my very dear friends and colleagues, Bingyi Wang. Bingyi, thanks for joining us.
Bingyi Wang:
Hi, Eli. I am Bingyi Wang, I'm a member of the 2018 cohort, the very first cohort, and it's my great pleasure to be here and chat about the world that we are imagining. I Imagine A World where technology and science truly transcends all borders and bring benefits to everyday people like you and me.
Eli Cahan:
I love it. What a lofty and very particularly Stanford world to be imagining. Can you tell us a little bit about your journey? How did you end up at Stanford?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, I do think my answer was a little maybe predictable, but I think my journey might paint some additional color to that picture. I was born and raised in China. I went to boarding school relatively young and I came out to New Mexico, the States, when I was 16. I joined a program called United World College, which is a global movement that bring together really young people from all over the world. In my school, we had 200 kids across junior and senior high, representing over 90 countries. And that's really kind of a beginning moment for me to see and experience and Imagine A World beyond what I was brought up in.
And you really both sense the commonalities just in humankind. People have so much in common from that experience, but also, you truly understand why people come from very different places. That was truly transformative, I loved every day at UWC. After that, I pursued a liberal arts degree at Williams College up in Massachusetts. Best four years of my life. I really enjoyed being in a really small and liberal art comprehensive education college. I also got to study abroad in London, again, just expand my footsteps a little bit beyond my comfort zone. After that, I decided to join Stanford as a first cohort Knight-Hennessy Scholar here to pursue a degree in physics.
Eli Cahan:
And what was it about Stanford? You had by that point, traveled the world. You had come from China, you had gone to the great state of New Mexico, you had had the best green chilies that America had to offer. Why did you come to Stanford? What was it about Stanford?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, great question. And if I were to be honest, it's really the Knight-Hennessy Immersion weekend. And I probably could say very similar things among a few of my very close friend I made from Knight-Hennessy. I was picking between a few schools that's geographically quite different, both in the UK and both coasts in the States. The Knight-Hennessy weekend was just such an inspiring two days and I think I met some of my best friends that weekend. And just from that moment, I think the people and culture I already experienced really drew me here. It was also a very fun and experimental sentiment that was in the air because it was the first year of Knight-Hennessy.
No one really knew what that would become. And I think as a first cohort member, we had a very special experience to not only live through it but also shape it. I think that altogether became my main driving force to come to the West coast. The KH team back then was small but very mighty, and they really put together all the really best of the best from all across all schools. And yeah, it was just such a crazy, intense, but also just eye-opening experience to be with the first cohort 51 scholars for one whole year. And that also really changed my trajectory both in research and in life afterwards.
Eli Cahan:
Yeah, and I want to talk about that, certainly some titans of Night Hennessy fame between Jeff Wachtel and Derek Bolton. Some really amazing figures. Can you tell us a little bit about what you're doing now to set the stage for how Knight-Hennessy shaped who you are today?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, absolutely. Right now I am a clinical research engineer at Intuitive Surgical. We are a company that builds robotic surgery systems and devices to serve the soft tissue surgery world. And the goal is to really enhance the patient experience and surgeon experience through advanced technologies.
Eli Cahan:
How does that role build upon the work that you did here at Stanford? Can you share a little bit about your PhD work, and then also how Knight-Hennessy shaped your studies during the time that you were here?
Bingyi Wang:
Definitely. I was a physics major through and through. I came to Stanford still hoping to work in atomic molecular optical physics, or called AMO. So I first joined a lab that works on quantum optics with a goal of building next generation quantum computers. That's a lot closer to my past research and I just really love physics. And Stanford has this really cool program called rotation for all first year PhD students. I think that's pretty unique for PhD programs and they really encourage you to try new things. Even though I was pretty sure I thoroughly enjoyed my lab, my research work in quantum physics, I wanted to try something slightly different. So I really went to the other end of the spectrum.
I saw a poster of Daniel Palanker's talk about retinal prosthesis to cure blindness, and I was instantly drawn to that because I didn't know that was a thing. The type of disease they were tackling is called age-related molecular degeneration and my grandfather has that condition. And about 70% or more of AMD patients don't have treatment that's available to them today. And it is the leading cause of blindness that's acquired later in life across the whole world, so hundreds of millions of patients, we're talking about. I really just wanted to learn a little more about it. I actually missed that talk, so I decided to go to his office.
And Daniel was very dedicated, extremely brilliant, and I was just very convinced that I could have a really good rotation there, not intending to stay. And as life turns out, I ended up spending five years of my PhD life in that particular lab, working on neural interfaces. We built wireless implants for the patients. We put these implants into the back of the eye, or sub-retinally, so under the retina. And patients were able to reconstruct vision through augmented reality glasses. The work has gone through clinical trials in Europe and hopefully will be commercialized very soon by our partners in the commercial world.
Eli Cahan:
And when you say you didn't know that was a thing, you mean you didn't know that curing blindness was a thing?
Bingyi Wang:
I think that's something we definitely all think about, and just like curing cancer, it's definitely kind of a beacon to people who work in this field, but also just generally. And as lifespan expands, I think it's becoming more and more relevant. I think that was very meaningful and purposeful work and I was just so honored that I could be part of that.
Eli Cahan:
Yeah. So you're churning away, doing your PhD work, trying to literally cure blindness. I can speak to the fact that you were churning away because of how many text messages you ignored from me during our time together on campus. I thought these were very appealing invitations, concerts, stand-up comedy, but crickets. You're cranking away, and I'm curious, where did Knight-Hennessy fit into this? Because obviously, you could have cured blindness it seems, in this lab without Knight-Hennessy, so how did the Knight-Hennessy experience supplement what you were doing in your PhD work?
Bingyi Wang:
I think Knight-Hennessy is not kind of a cherry on top type of experience for me at Stanford. It's such an integrated part of my daily life, and I say that from a few different ways. First, I think I really made a majority of my close friends from Knight-Hennessy, both from my cohort and the cohort that's later on. You just have such a community of extremely driven, humble and very kind people. One of my best friend is this amazing violinist, but also a killer neuroscientist. She actually told me what is a neuron before I got into this field of research.
And my roommate back then was a bioengineering PhD student, so I think there was just so much subconscious influence I got from Knight-Hennessy. Furthermore, and we'll probably touch upon later, I met my first co-founder and started my first company also from Knight-Hennessy community. So I think it's just truly essential in every decision I've made, and I think consciously, subconsciously, it imprinted a very deep mark in my trajectory.
Eli Cahan:
How being a scholar in an existential sense, shape your worldview? And how in a concrete sense, did it shape your professional journey?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, that's a deeper question than what I can probably address in a few sentences, but I think on a more meta level, I think being at Knight-Hennessy is almost like recreating my younger experience at United World College, but in a much more professional and in a way, more realistic way. I think people who are drawn to the program are still very mission-driven and have that idealism that I truly respect and identify with. But here, because people are also pursuing a graduate degree, you really see that manifest in their pursuit and in their way of thinking.
So to me, that was extremely inspiring and motivating, knowing that there are such a group of highly achieving, but also just really caring people out there working on meaningful things. I think that really encouraged me to pursue what was truly meaningful to me and I wouldn't think I had the same level of courage or competence to track down a route that was relatively non-conventional and more cross-disciplinary than a regular physics PhD student.
Eli Cahan:
How do you think Knight-Hennessy gave you that courage?
Bingyi Wang:
I think really just observing what my peers are doing. I think I see people juggling multiple hats and really killing it in every different way, and removing the boundary conditions around myself and also knowing what I'm learning and what I'm researching can truly have real world impact. I think that might also be a very Stanford-specific thing because I think we really blend well with the real world and there's such a strong spirit of entrepreneurship, so there are ways to really see things become tangible and really land well. I think that whole sentiment was extremely confident-boosting for me.
Eli Cahan:
In a world of NIH cuts and uncertain academic funding, how do you think about the importance of being able to think about science not only in terms of research studies, but also in terms of translation?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, I think scientific thinking is something I benefit every day from all kinds of work I do. For sure, I'm a researcher and scientist at heart, but there are a lot of types of work that I do or the way I use my brain that's not truly strictly science. But I think having a data-driven and evidence-based mindset and applying scientific rigor to what we do and what we say even goes a really long way. And it is definitely unfortunate to see a lot of funding being cut or a lot more uncertainty has arisen.
I think together, especially at Stanford, we do have some unique sources or approaches to make things work. And I think also today, research and science has gone far beyond academia, but I think academia, again, is the most fundamental fuel to technology and advancements. There are just things we can do in the industry, especially in the startup world, but can be done in a really rigorous and elegant way in academia. So it's definitely crucial-crucial that academic labs continue to function and pipe out very important discoveries.
Eli Cahan:
Do you think that your experience at Stanford and through Knight-Hennessy prepared you for a moment like this where some of the traditional paths maybe aren't as available or for the time being, there may be a period of time where you have to be more creative in terms of how you think through doing impactful science?
Bingyi Wang:
I think my journey has been kind of a collection of such random walks. In a way, I think I'm a little more comfortable with uncertainties or just things that's constantly changing than some others. And I think being at Knight-Hennessy and kind of just seeing what my peers have gone through, again, definitely just give me really good examples that I can follow or learn from. But I think being a startup founder and trying to navigate the world of technology, business or desirability, viability and technological feasibility is a really interesting dance that's constantly evolving and challenges might bring in different ways.
Eli Cahan:
Yeah, so tell me the story about founding your first company with a colleague at Knight-Hennessy.
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, it's actually a KHeystone Project. It came-
Eli Cahan:
What is a KHeystone Project for people who don't know?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, a KHeystone Project is this really cool initiative from Knight-Hennessy that they bring together teams and scholars across disciplinary fields. There's definitely a theme now about that. And I met Tyler, who was a bioengineering student a year below me. He just has such great energy and we just vibed really well. And from his lab, he was working on peripheral neural interface and I was working on more visual and more central nervous system. And we really wanted to build a wearable that can help amputees.
Again, it really stems from this idealism and this passion to bring patients and people in general, technological advancements that can truly change their lives. We actually gone through some classes and courses about startups and business together and got our whole founding team at Stanford. And yeah, the rest is history. We did pivot a lot and now we do something totally different, and I think it's a great idea to invite Tyler onto this podcast and chat more about that.
Eli Cahan:
I would love to invite Tyler when he's not surfing. I'd love to, we'll see if I can track him down. But again, my texts may disappear in transit to him as well. I guess if you were to summarize it, if you had to pick one skill that Knight-Hennessy taught you or one adjective that you associate with your experience at Knight-Hennessy, what would it be?
Bingyi Wang:
That's a great question. I think what jumps out in my head first is actually improv. Every year, I think we brought in Dan and Lisa, two great professors and lecturers from, I want to say School of Art, so they teach us this series of improv and storytelling skills. We treated it back then as a fun lunchtime activity, but later on in life as I was pitching, listening to pitches and just presenting in all kinds of scenarios, it's just such a essential and a core skill that you could hone in and master eventually that really help you get your idea and get more buy-in from people that are main stakeholders.
Eli Cahan:
You told me that earlier today, you were at your job, you were sort of role-playing a surgeon, because in your current work, a big part of what your company does is think about robotic surgery. How do you think those sorts of skills, improv skills benefited you in the work you're doing every day now?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, a little bit about my role, I think as a clinical research engineer, I kind of sit between the clinical world where it's our end users, the surgery team, and mostly the surgeon, and our engineering product development world. And being part of a cross-functional team and trying to translate user need into product features, requirements and vice versa, require a lot of contact switching and being able to communicate in a way that makes sense.
And oftentimes, these two worlds or multiple worlds use different lingua and having a way to tell the story that goes beyond kind of this professional language barrier become very important. I definitely think that's something I continue to use and try to polish every day, but also I think life is just a huge improv. There are just so many moments you have to say, "Yes, and," and move on and try to find ways to make it work, be creative and be optimistic. I think that energy and sentiment also helps me to get by daily tasks.
Eli Cahan:
Yeah, except for this interview which you initially said no to, and then I had to peer pressure you to say, "Yes, and," but I'm glad that now we're doing it, we're fun.
Bingyi Wang:
The little patch there, I have to say, I think I originally said no because I could think of at least 30 plus peers just from my cohort that are way more interesting and more suited to be interviewed. But I think it's good that I can set the stage and everything from here will be-
Eli Cahan:
Yeah, all uphill from here-
Bingyi Wang:
Exactly.
Eli Cahan:
Exactly, yeah. It sounds almost like it's not a me problem, it's a you problem explanation of the world.
Bingyi Wang:
For sure.
Eli Cahan:
But anyway, let's move on. I want to do a little bit of popcorn here. What was your favorite Knight-Hennessy trip that you took?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, that was maybe one tiny regret, is I actually didn't get to go on any global Knight-Hennessy trips with COVID and also with some visa restrictions. I did remember our very first retreat to Asilomar, and that was just a really fun time bonding. And we have something called Impact THON, so it's a hackathon, but really oriented towards impact. So that was just a really fun weekend in Asilomar.
Eli Cahan:
Asilomar, which is conference grounds right next to Monterey Bay.
Bingyi Wang:
That's right, extremely beautiful, fabulous sunset. Yeah, it's awesome.
Eli Cahan:
Yeah, great s'mores, very white, sandy beaches.
Bingyi Wang:
Highly recommend if you haven't been.
Eli Cahan:
Highly recommend. And if we have the opportunity at Knight-Hennessy to meet you, we usually go to Asilomar once a year, so definitely a home away from home for us. Next question, what is your favorite snack in Denning House?
Bingyi Wang:
Yeah, for people who may not know, we have this really great kitchen area upstairs, and that's a very hot spot for people to gather and meet and grab a snack or two. My favorite snack I think, is unfortunately now obsolete. We used to have kombucha on tap.
Eli Cahan:
There's a tradition in Knight-Hennessy that when you graduate, you leave a book in the Denning House Library. What book did you leave and why?
Bingyi Wang:
For our class, we actually brought a book during the first week in orientation, so my contribution to our library was Siddhartha. It's just a very special book in my heart. It was kind of a spiritual awakening book for me. I've read it in Chinese and English. I think I might've brought both copies, but I think the English one, I never really seen it appearing again, so hopefully it's with someone who's also loving this book.
Eli Cahan:
Wow, the case of the disappearing heirloom book. Okay, last question. If you had to pick one squalor from your cohort or from across cohorts to be stranded on desert island with, let's say you're at Asilomar and Asilomar falls into the Pacific Ocean, who would it be and why?
Bingyi Wang:
That's the hardest question you've asked all day. I think I truly made some lifelong friends from Knight-Hennessy experience. I think I will pick this particular scholar, not saying this particular person is my best friend or whatever, so don't get offended, my other friends. But this particular scholar has a very unique combo skill of being practical and being hilarious, and this person is Jason Koo. And for those who has met Jason, you might understand.
I think being stranded on an island or in a wilderness, survival is problem one, so I think Jason is probably quite well-built for that, being an ER resident in Oakland. He's really deep into some hard stuff, so I trust him on being a really good buddy to get a survival game on. But more importantly, Jason is just extremely funny and sarcastic, and I kind of need that little spice when I'm just bored out of my mind on the island.
Eli Cahan:
There it is. You heard it here first on the Imagine A World Podcast. Practical and hilarious is in, good looking and smoky radio voice are out, not in the equation. All right, Bingyi Wang, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, thank you for saying yes. This was such a great conversation, so much insight and just wonderful to relive some of your Knight-Hennessy experiences together. Thank you.
Bingyi Wang:
Thank you so much. It's been so fun being back in Denning House and chat through some of my favorite memories, so I'm really appreciative of this opportunity.
Eli Cahan:
All right, we will have to see if we can get Tyler and Jason on. In the meantime, thank you so much for joining us on Imagine A World: Alumni Edition. We will be back in your speakers in not too long, and thank you for tuning in, see you soon.
Bingyi Wang:
Thanks so much, bye.
Willie Thompson:
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Imagine A World: The Alumni Version, where we hear from inspiring graduates of the Knight-Hennessy community who are making significant contributions in their respective fields, challenging the status quo and pushing the boundaries of what is possible as they imagine the world they want to see. This podcast is sponsored by Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University, a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate fellowship program providing scholars the financial support to pursue graduate studies at Stanford, while helping equip them to be visionary, courageous and collaborative leaders who address complex challenges facing the world. Please follow @knighthennessy and visit our website at kh.stanford.edu to learn more about the program and our community.