Beini Wang
Beini Wang is an international student from Singapore who graduated from Raffles Institution. While waiting for college to begin, she has taken the opportunity to tutor students in schools across the country (including the very high school she attended), in disciplines as different as Chinese Language and Math Olympiad. At Columbia Engineering, Beini plans to major in Mechanical Engineering, and will not hesitate to SEAS (seize) any opportunity to reflect on the philosophical underpinnings and moral implications in her research.
Throughout her high school career, Beini has devoted much extracurricular time to explore her interests in scientific research. She fell in love with research while testing the vaccine delivery efficiency of nanocomposite materials on fish, as she came to realise the palpable effects her project could have on Singapore’s burgeoning decorative fish export market. Working tirelessly after school during semester time and full-time during summer, the team, led by Beini, qualified as a Regional Finalist at the Google Science Fair.
Beini was also a long-time intern at Singapore’s national defense research and development agency, DSO National Laboratories. While there, she was not only part of a team which researched the viability of a high-energy, long-range wireless energy transfer system, but more notably, designed and implemented a novel system of geolocating aircraft using ADS-B signals to serve as check-and-balance against other sources of aircraft location information. This latter project, conceived in the aftermath of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 tragedy, was awarded a Merit at the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair; Beini then went on to present her poster at the International Student Science Fair, while her paper was published at the International Researchers Club Conference on Science, Engineering and Technology (IRC-SET). At Columbia, Beini is excited to explore the wide scope of biomechanics research available as well as the abundance of opportunities to participate in aerospace research and engineering projects, but is most appreciative of the vast possibilities of what being a mechanical engineer can entail.
Besides scientific research, Beini also manifested her passion for STEM while she was part of Math, Science and Environmental Club. Beini helmed numerous initiatives to empower girls in the wider community (ranging from elementary-schoolers to high-schoolers) to pursue STEM opportunities, managed the club budget to support a wide array of club activities, and piqued her peers’ interest in various advanced Math and Physics topics with her easy-to-understand lectures. Her passion for STEM and her dedication to serving the club were well-recognized – she was elected to the Executive Committee in every election cycle (culminating in the position of Vice-Chairperson), and was awarded accolades including the Raffles Colors Award for Outstanding Performance and Outstanding Leadership, as well as the national Edusave Award for Achievement, Good Leadership and Service (EAGLES).
Outside of STEM, Beini engages with her other interests with equal fervor. Beini was a frequent actor on her school’s musical scene, performing as an actor-vocalist during various celebratory events as well as in Raffles’ Broadway production (a student-initiated fundraiser), and playing the school anthem on the piano during assemblies. She was also an epeeist on the varsity team, within which she twice qualified to be a part of the delegation which attained the ADivision Girls’ Champion Title. Besides clinching an individual Silver in Raffles Invites, a team Silver and an individual Bronze in the National Novices Fencing Championships, as well as being ranked nationally in epee, she also fenced on Raffles’ sabre team, which attained a Bronze medal during the Ngee Ann Invites. For her contributions, Beini was awarded the Singapore Schools Sports Council Colors Award.
In her free time, Beini may be spotted at various places on the island – sparring at her fencing club, going on food adventures with friends, arranging/composing music in an arbitrary café, or simply refreshing her feed excessively for the latest news on global affairs while silently jamming to Hamilton aboard public transport.