On July 3, the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI) proudly announced the winners of the 5th Michael E. Auer Young Scientist Award. The prestigious honors go to Dr. Bing Yan, lecturer in the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and Dr. Zhiyuan Wen, research assistant professor in the Department of Computing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Biographies of the winners:
Dr. Bing Yan
Academic background: Dr. Yan received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU), China. She then went on to achieve a dual Ph.D. degree—one in control theory and control engineering from NWPU and another in electrical engineering from the University of Adelaide, Australia. Following her doctoral studies, she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Adelaide before joining the faculty. She currently serves as a lecturer and has been awarded the highly competitive Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellowship by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
Contribution to IETI: She has consistently and actively supported the academic conferences organized by the institute.
Award citation: Awarded in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of secure and resilient coordination of heterogeneous autonomous systems in complex and dynamic environments.
Nomination details: Nominated by a primary recommender who is a Distinguished Fellow of IETI (international academician), and co-recommended by two other prominent scholars — an IETI Distinguished Fellow (international academician) and editors-in-chief of reputable SCI journal (international academician).
Dr. Zhiyuan Wen
Academic background: Dr. Wen received his bachelor's degree in information security from Sun Yat-sen University and his Ph.D. in computer science from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. During his doctoral program, he conducted research as a visiting student at Tsinghua University and gained valuable industry experience through internships at Huawei and WeChat. After graduating, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he subsequently stayed on to serve as a research assistant professor.
Contribution to IETI: He has consistently and actively supported the academic conferences organized by the institute.
Award citation: Awarded in recognition of his significant research achievements in the fields of AI-empowered education, knowledge work, and human-centric application systems.
Nomination details: Nominated by a primary recommender who is a Distinguished Fellow of IETI (international academician), and co-recommended by a well-known university professor.
The IETI Secretariat extends its warmest congratulations to both recipients! Each winner will receive a medal sponsored by Professor Michael E. Auer, president of IETI.
About the sponsor:
Prof. Dr. Michael E. Auer, born in Weimar, Germany, in 1948, received his Ph.D. in computer science from the Technical University Dresden (TU Dresden), Germany, in 1975. He is a renowned expert in computer applications, artificial intelligence, and engineering education.
His distinguished academic leadership career includes roles as the vice rector of Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria; president of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES); and secretary general & president of the International Society for Engineering Pedagogy (IGIP).
Currently, Professor Auer serves as the lifelong honorary president of IGIP, founding president of the International Association of Online Engineering (IAOE), president and co-founder of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI), and president of the Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (IDSAI). He is also an elected IETI Fellow. Notably, he co-founded the IGIP International Conference on Engineering Pedagogy (established in 1972), which is celebrating its 55th edition in 2026 under his leadership as conference chair. He generously sponsors and established the IETI Michael E. Auer Young Scientist Award.
About the award:
The Michael E. Auer Young Scientist Award represents the highest honor bestowed by IETI upon early-career researchers. It aims to recognize young scholars who have made outstanding innovative achievements in engineering, technology, and related interdisciplinary fields, and who demonstrate exceptional potential for international development.
Past winners have hailed from world-renowned universities and research institutions, including the University of Sydney (Australia), Zhejiang University (China), McGill University (Canada), and the Romanian Academy. Many past winners have become the academic backbones of their respective institutions, publishing significant research in top-tier international journals such as Nature. Furthermore, several recipients have achieved further career advancements following this recognition, stepping into pivotal academic management roles such as vice president for research at major universities. This underscores the award’s profound impact and vital role in acknowledging and fostering the growth of top-tier young scientific talent globally.