The Yau Award Student Who Lost the Competition and Raised $10 Million

My account has been getting suspended on and off, so while I still can post — here is something that has had me stunned for the past twenty days.

It started the previous year. A top-tier tutoring agency referred a student to me and asked whether I could personally coach them through the S.-T. Yau Science Award — full project guidance, topic selection, everything. The project felt underpowered, so the question was how to strengthen it.

I read through the student's work and spent the whole time staring in disbelief.

As for what the project actually was — it had already trended nationally and attracted significant controversy. My involvement matched what Tsinghua University later stated publicly: I advised only on mechanical structure and pathfinding algorithms. I had no involvement in the hardware side.

The student was subsequently subjected to online harassment. The agency that referred them made no public statement on the student's behalf — citing the Yau Award's rule that students may not receive commercial tutoring, they stayed silent. Growing up on Jin Yong novels, I found this cowardly. Our collaboration ended after that.

The student did not win a major prize — only an honorable mention. For what that student had built, and for the work I had put in, it felt like an insult. When the student returned, they told me the chief judge of the computer science track had said it to their face: "You won't win anything significant — this project doesn't feel like yours."

The student was dejected. They said they'd be back the following year. I thought of the Houston Rockets.

If you want to come back and grind through this same competition next year, I'll find every way to talk you out of it. The world is bigger than this. Go do something that matters.

Then, a few days ago, the student called out of nowhere. After the obligatory Chinese small talk, they got to the point.

"I received $10 million in investment earlier this year."

"I'm working on a brain-computer interface combined with a wheelchair system — people with disabilities or limited mobility can use it to go wherever they want."

"I've set up companies in Hangzhou and Changsha. If you have time, come take a look — maybe we can work together."

"Sure. I'm going to go do my homework now. Bye!"