On October 29, NYU Shanghai hosted the first talk of the newly-launched Distinguished Women in Computing Speaker Series. The series, initiated by the Computer Science, Data Science & Engineering (CSDSE) Division and co-hosted by the Provost’s Office, is open to the entire university community as well as the general public. Each semester, CSDSE plans to invite several distinguished women in academia and industry to share their experiences and insights.
Provost Bei Wu introduced the inaugural event as a powerful tool to motivate young researchers. “The series celebrates women who are transforming the field of computing, leaders whose vision and research not only advance science and technology but also inspire the next generation of innovators,” she said.
According to one of the organizers, Professor of Practice Xu Lihua, the idea of launching this series grew out of careful observation of both the industry and students’ needs.
“In the CS and AI fields, women are making tremendous contributions and driving cutting-edge innovation,” Xu said. “However, they remain less visible. We’ve also learned from our students, especially female students, that many of them wonder what kind of career path they can pursue. Having tangible role models who stand on stage and share their journeys can help them visualize a future they can truly achieve.”
There’s much for students to gain from the experiences of the speakers, she added. “Our goal is to cultivate a campus culture where every student, regardless of gender or background, feels empowered to pursue excellence in STEM and to see themselves achieving at the same level as the distinguished women scholars we spotlight.”
The first invited speaker of the series was Professor Zhang Ya from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who spoke on redefining intelligent healthcare. Her lecture explored how advances in multimodal knowledge-driven and agentic AI systems are transforming the future of intelligent, transparent, and trustworthy healthcare.
“Currently, the boundaries between disciplines are becoming less clear,” Zhang said in the question and answer session that followed her talk. “There’s a lot of interdisciplinary work happening, and even new interdisciplinary majors are emerging.” She noted that in AI, more researchers are moving into interdisciplinary intersections, and encouraged students to explore those areas as well.
The talks are also intended to help students connect their classroom learning with real-world applications, especially in fast-evolving fields like AI, where interdisciplinary collaboration is increasingly essential. The hope is that students will gain greater confidence in their academic and career paths. Highlighting the work of accomplished women in computing will inspire students to develop a clearer sense of direction and a stronger belief in their potential.
This semester’s lineup features speakers from local institutions in Shanghai, including Professor Huang Xuanjing from Fudan University, who will speak in December on “The Brains Behind the AI: Turbocharging LLMs for Scientific Discovery.” In the future, the organizers plan to expand to national and international speakers as well.
Beyond inspiring students, the organizers aim for the series to foster a more collaborative and interdisciplinary academic environment, and to promote new opportunities for research partnerships. In the long term, initiatives like this will contribute to NYU Shanghai’s vision of creating a hub for innovation, a place where scholars and students from around the world can exchange ideas and push the boundaries of discovery.