8 minute read
Dr. Amy Wang
Tiger Mom earns her stripes
Aimee Kalnoskas • Contributing Editor
Amy Wang: world-class technologist with a B.E. from Tsinghua University, an M.S. and Ph.D. from Columbia, and Co-Founder and V.P. of Cogniac, a computer vision A.I. services provider, says she was “tricked” into engineering. This self-described Tiger Mom (to everyone except her 7-year-old daughter, although she disagrees) is known for asking a lot of questions. Appropriately, her Chinese name is Wang Hua Yan – making her initials WHY. So, this was our opportunity to turn the tables on Amy in this interview and ask not only “why”, but what, how, and when. We started by asking how she got into engineering, and that’s where the “trickery” came in.
Not the right thing but for the wrong reason
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a mathematician,” she said. “I wanted to invent some fundamental mathematic theories that help humans to understand the world better. And when the time came to go to college, my parents knew it would be hard to find a job if you were studying math. So, they tricked me into applying for the top university, Tsinghua University in China, for engineering. It’s like MIT in China. And so, I ended up in the engineering school.” Upset and disappointed, Amy decided she would become a mathematician anyway and proceeded to take a lot of math classes. Gradually, she realized she wasn’t very good at math or, at least, quite a few people in her classes were much better than her at the subject. Amy continued, “So I sort of gave up and got my degree in engineering. After college, I came to the states, got my Ph.D. at Columbia in computer
Dr. Amy Wang
Co-Founder and V.P. of Systems • Cogniac
networks, and then joined Symbol Technologies’ R&D department as the first female engineer in a small R&D team. And all this time, I felt like a failure. I was never good enough to be a mathematician and ended up an engineer. But when people would ask me what do you do, I would say, ‘Oh, I’m an engineer. They would reply, ‘Wow, you must be very smart because engineering is so hard.’ But I would tell them no, no, engineering is very easy. I just wasn’t smart enough to be a mathematician.”
The realization that she found engineering easy because she was good at it finally clicked, and that realization changed Amy’s life.
“In my eyes, I became an
engineer because I wasn’t good enough at math,” she said. “But then a cloud lifted, and I realized that I am good at engineering because which is why I find it easy. And now I am a technologist because I love realizing the potential of engineering, electronics, and maths combined.”
Mighty mentor
Amy counts herself lucky to be surrounded by engineers and their families but still points to a mentor who founded Cogniac with her.
“Bill Kish has been a very close friend and inspiration throughout the two decades we have known each other,” she said. “I have worked with brilliant engineers and researchers throughout my life, but Bill is uniquely gifted with great intuitions for navigating complex real-world issues.” When confronted with difficult questions new to him, Amy says that Bill often starts his sentence with “My sense is that…”. Those ‘senses’ led to Ruckus’ miniaturized wireless adapter that “rocked” the WiFi world at CES 2007, and, says Amy, to an even greater A.I. platform at Cogniac that she feels will spearhead the next industrial revolution powered by A.I.
Of her mentor, Amy says, “Over time, I realized that Bill is one of few true ‘first principles thinkers’ who mastered many mental models of the world, with a particular emphasis on building products. I didn’t work with Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. Personally, I think Bill, with a keen sense of user experience and relentless drive to make something great, is a kind, humble version of them combined.
And, she adds with a smile, “And yes, nice geniuses do exist, and it is great to work with them.”
Just ask
Mixing outstanding mentorship and enabling brilliant people to do their best to create and implement new technology fuel Amy’s drive. It’s also a key indicator of her leadership abilities. Her mantra? “Never fall out of love with what you are doing.”
“Even as a leader, you have to enjoy what you do, and, for me, I have always focused first on what I am good at and use that ability and confidence to support my learning in areas where I can improve,” she explains. “There are loads of other traits that are helpful in leadership, including empathy, decisiveness, and ambition, but the self-motivation to succeed and learn will often be a leader’s biggest strength.” “I like to think that my teamwork and motivation to
succeed allows my colleagues and staff to see that if you believe in something hard enough, there are no hurdles that we cannot overcome,” she said. Of course, her team gets asked a lot of questions and expects to find the answers to find success, just like her.
The Tiger Mom at home is also the tiger leader at work. Amy never stops asking questions. It’s second nature for her – and not just because the initials of her Chinese name – Wang Hua Yan – are W-H-Y. It’s also one of her best tips.
“I’m always asking people, ‘Have you done this” Have you done that?’ It’s like a Tiger Mom in China. I’m always speaking up,” she said. “I never feel like, ‘Oh, am I stupid asking that question?’ Just ask the question. That can help a lot even if it is just to see the changes it invokes in people.”
In Amy’s opinion, being the only female in the room and asking questions is not a challenge – it’s a unique opportunity.
“I always think the good thing about being the rare female is that you are very popular,” she said. “Because you are standing out naturally, you can take advantage of that to make yourself more heard, because you are there, you are different, and there are people – not all – who are receptive to that.”
Success through real diversity
There are enough real-life success stories to prove that diversity is a positive thing, whether in teams, departments, engineering labs, or leadership positions. As the co-founder of Cogniac, Amy felt she could probably attract people of diverse backgrounds because they saw diversity in the founders. Diverse backgrounds tend to breed a diverse workforce of people from different cultures, not just in the context of male or female.
“First, I believe that the greater
diversity we have in the technology industry,” she said, “the more we will all benefit - gender, race, nationality, background, etc. They all help us understand the world from a different perspective, which can only make us better. Second, it’s a journey, and there’s no doubt that engineering is currently a male-dominated environment. Throughout my career, I have seen more and more women take leadership roles in engineering, technology, and A.I. More role models (and publications like this) will shine a light on women who are succeeding in the engineering space, and that can only be a good thing. Cogniac is part of the SAP.iO Foundry program based out of New York, for example, which focuses on supporting minority and female founders in technology, so that’s a great initiative to be a part of.”
When asked what women, specifically, bring to the table, Amy’s mind goes back to her mathematical roots. Fifty percent of the U.S. population is female, and are 50 percent of them involved in engineering?
“I need to come up with a theory, a mathematical equation to help quantify what you lose by not involving that 50 percent,” she said. “Its impact is huge in every respect. For example, I tend to ask for different perspectives from multiple people. Females do more of that versus many of my male colleagues, who tend to have solutions immediately. I think that females tend to ask for more opinions. A lot of my female colleagues would check with me and ask, Should I do this? Is this the right thing to do? And I see a pattern. If you check with multiple sources, you make a more informative decision – and that’s a very good habit. Again, I think the impact of including everyone from different backgrounds is huge from many perspectives.”
Despite the relatively low numbers of women in engineering now, Amy sees STEM programs and technology itself opening up more opportunities for women earlier on than in the past and pushing towards a tipping point.
“I think more parents are involved in helping their kids doing STEM program,” she said. “I signed my daughter up for this STEM program, “Innovation for Youth” in Silicon Valley and they are helping girls to understand what engineering is. That’s what the session is all about – around engineering concepts, design, and then implementation. It’s amazing. So, I feel like the world is contributing, making these things happen. Everyone wants to jump in.”
A final roar from this Tiger Mom comes from a principle she always lives by, and one everyone should ask.
“Do I make the world a better place?’
