Dr. David Tse Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature" and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.” David received this honor for his contributions to wireless network information theory.

David, who is originally from Hong Kong, first arrived at MIT in 1989 after finishing his undergraduate years at the University of Waterloo in Canada. It left an impression. At that time LIDS was housed in MIT's Building 35 (See the photo below). "[The building] looked like a mental institution-seemingly a pretty grim place to spend five years. But the intellectual environment turned out to be amazing." That environment included the open, friendly atmosphere still tangible at LIDS today. Since much of the work done at LIDS is theoretical, David says, "Most of us were not in the 'lab.' Rather, we spent time together talking and brainstorming." Meanwhile, professors gave their time generously to students who had questions or wanted to talk over a problem.

Currently, his work is centered on information theory and its applications, including computational biology and machine learning. And, after nearly two decades on Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences faculty, in 2014 he moved a few miles south to Stanford's Department of Electrical Engineering in in search of more interdisciplinary projects.