Wang receives 2025 Google PhD Fellowship
Ruiqi Wang recognized for innovation in AI to advance human health
Ruiqi Wang, a doctoral student in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Google PhD Fellowship in Health Research. He is the first McKelvey Engineering student to receive this highly competitive honor.
Wang’s project uses state-of-the-art transformers and vision-language models to detect human actions and identify cognitive errors in smart homes for people with cognitive impairments. The project builds on an interdisciplinary collaboration, known as Smart Kitchen, between the Department of Computer Science & Engineering and the Program in Occupational Therapy at WashU Medicine.
“I am incredibly proud of Ruiqi. His academic excellence and innovative research at the intersection of AI and health embody the spirit of the AI for Health Institute,” said Chenyang Lu, Fullgraf Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, director of the AI for Health Institute and Wang’s doctoral adviser. “I’m confident this fellowship will empower him to make even greater contributions to both computer science and public health.”
Wang’s research lies at the intersection of machine learning systems, embedded systems, computer vision and human action recognition, with a focus on impactful real-world applications for smart environments and health care. He is a member of the AI for Health Institute. Wang earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute.
Google PhD Fellowships directly support students as they pursue their doctoral degree for up to two years, as well as connect them to a Google research mentor. The program was created to recognize outstanding graduate students doing exceptional and innovative research in areas relevant to computer science and related fields.
