A digital special section of | Subscribe


Allen Yang

Allen Yang

Executive director | Cal Center for Augmented Cognition | Class of 2006

An Illini love story, Bay Area alumni club edition:

“My wife Crystal was from south of Green Street, in the Accounting Department, and I was from north of Green Street, in the ECE Department,” Allen Yang says from Berkeley, Calif.

“Although we were several years apart when we attended the university, we met each other in the Bay Area via the alumni connection. Our first born is due in this September.”

Despite spending his undergraduate years in his native China, Yang is a three-degree UI alum, earning master’s degrees in electrical engineering (2003) and mathematics (2005), then a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering (2006).

These days, he’s the executive director of Cal's Center for Augmented Cognition.

His advice for future Illini? “I would recommend everyone experience the Thursday Lunch Concert Series at Beckman Institute. It is such a unique experience that brings arts, creativity and beauty in the heart of the engineering campus, and in a setting that is casual for people to enjoy their lunch, coffee break or simply a casual chat with friends.”