Ann Wu, ECE ‘17
“UIUC's engineering community was invaluable. I found support in my classmates as we worked through the engineering curriculum together; I found inspiration through peers that were forging their own paths through interesting research or personal/club projects; and I found new perspectives through mentors that were my academic research advisors and upperclassmen. All of these positive influences led to my first job as a chip designer at Apple and my subsequent professional journey. I am currently the co-founder and CEO of Silimate, the AI co-pilot for chip designers. Prior to Silimate, I designed multiple generations of consumer chips at Apple, helped manage AI chip programs at Meta, and developed product strategy and execution at Celestial AI.
My advice to students is to walk your own path, and when there's a will there's a way. If there is a particular topic you are interested in, go find and contribute to a relevant, cool open-source project. If there's a research advisor you want to work with, even if it feels beyond your current abilities, go ask them for an undergraduate research position– and if they say no, ask them what you can do to ramp up. Be creative!”