by Ziyao Wang and Helena Zhang On November 1, TYCon NYC brought the community together for a pumpkin painting event at 35 Hudson Yards. It was a fun way to celebrate the fall season and take a little break from the usual workweek routine. Everyone had the chance to decorate their own pumpkins, with plenty of room for creativity. It was lovely to see all the different designs come to life, each with its own personality. The activity also gave attendees a chance to chat, meet new people, and enjoy some time together in a relaxed setting. The afternoon was filled with laughter and good company, making it a sweet way to kick off November. Thank you to everyone who came out and made the event so enjoyable. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next NYC gathering around Chinese New Year! Big thanks to the Joyce He for providing the nice venue for our social!

By Amy Zhang On October 10th, members of the TYCon Seattle gathered at Downtown Bellevue Park for a picnic and their latest local Gen2 meetup. The event aimed to bring together new members in the Seattle area, helping them build connections, share experiences, and grow a stronger local community. Despite forecasts of rain, the weather cleared up just in time for a beautiful, sunny afternoon outdoors. With Molly tea provided for every attendee, the group kicked off the gathering with icebreakers that helped everyone get to know one another. Members shared where they were from, their backgrounds, and what brought them to the Seattle area. Beyond making new friends, attendees exchanged ideas for future Gen2 events and discussed ways to keep the community active and connected. The gathering also created opportunities for members to support one another professionally, with established professionals offering UW students networking advice, career guidance, and help with referrals. The picnic was a wonderful opportunity for new Seattle members to meet face-to-face, build meaningful connections, and begin shaping the future of the local Gen2 community. With new friendships formed, ideas exchanged, and professional connections made, the event laid a strong foundation for future gatherings. Please be sure to stay tuned for more events in Seattle and across North America!

by Baoya Fan On October 17, the Arizona chapter of TYCon hosted its first-ever city meetup! The evening's weather was perfect, with a cool breeze that welcomed both experienced and new “pickleballers” for intense and playful matches. Attendees, featuring both Gen Is and Gen IIs, were scattered across four pickleball courts, split into a beginner village and a competitor zone. Despite only four Gen IIs in attendance, many met and learned to play pickleball for the first time. Gen Is bonded over their life in Arizona, while Gen IIs engaged in brief conversations and friendly rallies. For nearly two hours, Gen I and Gen II players rotated on and off the courts, pairing together for singles and doubles matches. The evening was filled with laughter, lively conversations, and lots of running. This was the perfect meetup to get some exercise in after a long week of school and set a great precedent for future meetups in Arizona!

On Sunday, October 11, TYCon members joined the Silicon Valley Tsinghua Alumni Association (SVTAA) for its annual barbecue in Fremont. Alongside more than 300 alumni, over 20 TYCon members came together to enjoy a wonderful afternoon of food, conversation, and community. Members had the opportunity to catch up with one another and exchange ideas on a range of topics, from navigating life in the Bay Area and exploring opportunities in tech to building startups and pursuing professional opportunities in China. During the event, one of TYCon’s Bay Area Regional Leads, Jialin Chen, delivered a brief speech to introduce TYCon and encourage greater participation from Gen IIs across the region. As one of TYCon’s most active communities, the Bay Area continues to play an important role in strengthening our network and creating opportunities for members to connect, collaborate, and grow. We hope to build on the momentum from this event and continue expanding our presence throughout the region. TYCon is incredibly grateful to SVTAA for its generous support, including providing 30 complimentary tickets, a dedicated table for our members, and an opportunity to speak at the event. We sincerely appreciate SVTAA’s investment in the next generation of the Tsinghua community and look forward to continuing our partnership to foster stronger connections between alumni and Gen IIs across the Bay Area!

By Raymond Yao On October 10, members of Tsinghua Youth Connect (TYCon) gathered at The Grove in Los Angeles for a great meal and an opportunity to connect with fellow Gen IIs in the area. Over dinner, members shared their experiences navigating life in LA, from the challenges of commuting and finding places to live to the ongoing recruitment season in both tech and finance. The meetup also provided a chance to learn more about the professional opportunities and resources TYCon offers to help members grow and connect. Marking our second-ever meetup in LA and our sixth meetup across Southern California, this event reflects TYCon’s continued growth and commitment to building a stronger Gen II community. As our network expands and more members get involved, we look forward to hosting even more engaging events with greater opportunities for members to connect, learn, and grow together. Beyond SoCal, TYCon now has a presence in over 10 regions across the United States, each hosting similar meetups to bring Gen IIs together and strengthen our nationwide community!

What Is Tsinghua Gen II Building? In Silicon Valley, Five Startup Teams Offered One Answer Five teams, and five approaches to bringing technology into the real world. A startup competition built by Tsinghua’s first and second generations together raised a larger question: Who is this second generation of the Tsinghua community becoming? When people hear “Tsinghua Gen II,” the most immediate association is often an identity inherited through their parents. But that inheritance is only a starting point. Raised across different cities and cultures in North America and beyond, Gen II is building careers, communities, and networks of its own. That raises another question: What can this second generation create together? On September 12, at TSVC headquarters in Los Altos, California, TYCon offered one concrete answer through its inaugural Pitch Competition. From a Shared Identity to Real Action At the TSVC × TYCon Pitch Competition, five finalist teams took the stage. Approximately 40 Tsinghua alumni, Gen II, founders, investors, and industry guests gathered in person, with three judges assessing each team. The event was also livestreamed online. The competition brought weeks of startup selection and coaching onto the stage. Each team delivered a five-minute pitch followed by five minutes of judge Q&A. Behind the stage, a six-person organizing team arrived in the Bay Area from Boston, Houston, Chicago, New York, Shenzhen, and beyond. Maggie Qian, Alexander He, Megan Zhang, Raymond Yao, Anthony Jin, and Jett Wang took responsibility for different parts of the event—from selecting startups and inviting judges to coordinating presentations, welcoming guests, collecting scores, managing the venue, and documenting the day. A shared identity brought the organizers together. A shared goal gave them something concrete to build. Five Minutes on Stage, Weeks in the Making The competition began well before event day. As Program Director, Maggie led the process from initial planning and startup recruitment through finalist selection, then worked individually with each of the five teams on their pitches. The coaching centered on essential questions: Whose problem is the team solving? How does the product work? What conclusions can the existing evidence support? How does the business model work? And what is the single most important thing the audience should remember after five minutes? From narrative structure and data selection to deck presentation and Q&A preparation, Maggie worked with each team to clarify its logic while preserving the founders’ own judgment and voice. The pitches on stage reflected both the teams’ existing work and weeks of refinement leading up to the competition. Five Teams, Five Approaches to Real-World Innovation The five finalists represented rehabilitation medicine, trusted relationship networks, interactive entertainment, synthetic biology, and disability care. Each was at a different stage of maturity, with a different business model and different critical questions to answer. But they shared one characteristic: putting AI into specific contexts, where it must confront real users and real constraints. Speech2Reach | Helping Patients Regain Control of Their Hands Through Voice Speech2Reach presented a voice-controlled glove designed for stroke rehabilitation. The product combines speech recognition, language models, and mechanical components to translate spoken commands into finger flexion, extension, and grasping movements. The team hopes to help patients with limited upper-limb mobility—particularly those also affected by aphasia—perform rehabilitation exercises and everyday movements more naturally. The team has established contact with nine stroke-related organizations. HiRey | Building a Trusted Relationship Network for Personal AI If everyone eventually has a personal AI agent, how will that agent know who genuinely knows whom? And with a person’s consent, how can it make a trusted introduction? HiRey aims to turn real-world meetings, relationship verification, and personal content records into a trust network that personal AI can use. The project has accumulated 323 public media records and 39 interview profiles, beginning with an early community of founders, experts, and independent professionals in San Francisco. Palimpsest | Letting Players Truly Participate in How Stories Unfold Palimpsest’s product, Love at Dusk, brings generative AI into narrative gaming. Players can type their own responses directly, while NPCs respond based on character, setting, and story memory, allowing players’ own words to influence relationships and story progression. During a five-day test, the project attracted 257 active testers, with another 30 users joining the early-access waitlist. Satori Life Tech | Using AI to Discover Ingredients and Algae to Produce Them Satori Life Tech focuses on the high research, development, and manufacturing costs associated with skincare and anti-aging ingredients. The team proposes an end-to-end platform in which AI identifies potential targets and active compounds, while engineered algae produces the ingredients. The project has accumulated 18 research manuscripts, with more than 10 patent applications underway. Through white-label products and R&D services, the team hopes to create an integrated pathway from new ingredient discovery through biomanufacturing. Florence | Connecting the Complex Processes of Disability Care Florence addresses the administrative burden many families affected by disability face over the long term. Medical records, school documents, government programs, insurance, legal services, and rehabilitation resources are fragmented across different institutions, forcing families to repeatedly organize and transfer information. Through AI intake, patient profiles, and case-management workflows, Florence helps families and service providers organize documentation and move applications forward. Within two months, the project began working with more than 50 pilot families and 10 enterprise design partners, with another three pilots awaiting HIPAA readiness and verbal expressions of partnership from three U.S. state governments. Together, the five teams demonstrated the breadth of expertise within the TYCon community—from high school students to working professionals, and across industries with very different applications of emerging technology. Putting the Ideas to the Test Each team had five minutes to pitch, followed by five minutes of judge Q&A and a two-minute scoring and transition period. The competition brought together three judges from TSVC, Silicon Valley Bank, and the robotics industry. Chun Xia represented TSVC, while Li Song represented Silicon Valley Bank. Their questions focused on customer needs, product differentiation, business models, go-to-market strategy, existing validation, and execution. Founders had to move quickly from presenting their vision to addressing practical questions: Who will pay? How much can the existing evidence support? What is the moat beyond the technology itself? What is the most important milestone for the next stage? For young founders, being seriously questioned can be as valuable as being seriously heard. The discussion gave teams new questions to consider, assumptions to test, and connections to draw on as they continue building. Two Generations, Building Together The event brought together Tsinghua alumni with decades of experience and Gen II raised across North America, alongside young founders, investors, and industry partners. Gen I brought experience, judgment, and paths already traveled. Gen II brought new perspectives, questions, and ideas of its own. Throughout the competition, the two generations participated not simply as mentors and mentees, but as contributors to the same undertaking. Some served as judges, some selected and coached teams, some organized the event, and others stood on stage presenting their work. That exchange continued after the final pitch. As the judges entered closed-door deliberations, TYCon President Megan hosted a Fireside Chat with Lihang, President of the Silicon Valley Tsinghua Alumni Association, and Jett of TSVC and TYCon. Drawing on their own experiences, they expanded the conversation beyond the five startups on stage to a broader question: In an innovation ecosystem like Silicon Valley, how can the Tsinghua community support young people while allowing experience, resources, and new ideas to flow more naturally between generations? This is also the role TYCon hopes to play. Bringing together the children of Tsinghua alumni is the starting point; the larger opportunity is to create spaces where generations can actively build together. Through that exchange, experience and networks can move between generations while Gen II contributes its own ideas, judgment, and capacity to build. Florence Takes First Place Following independent scoring and closed-door deliberation, Florence was named the winner of the TSVC × TYCon Pitch Competition. Florence applies technology to an area with clearly defined needs and significant room for further development across the service ecosystem. In its pitch, the team presented the complex processes facing families affected by disability, how its product works, its existing pilot progress, and its plans for the next stage. Speech2Reach, HiRey, Palimpsest, and Satori Life Tech each brought strong ideas and energy to the stage, showcasing distinct strengths across technology, product development, and market opportunity. Together, the five teams reflected a range of approaches to building and applying new ideas. Tsinghua Gen II Will Ultimately Be Defined by Its Own Actions A Pitch Competition is only one expression of this community, but it offers a window into what “Tsinghua Gen II” can come to mean. Raised across different cities, languages, and cultures, we inherited a connection to Tsinghua without being defined solely by it. The generation before us built the memories, experience, and networks that made this starting point possible. What we do with that inheritance is now increasingly ours to determine. What problems do we choose to care about? Who do we choose to build with? How do we use the connections we inherited? And what responsibility are we willing to take for creating something together? TYCon hopes to create space for those questions to be answered through action—not by defining what Tsinghua Gen II should become, but by giving more young people opportunities to build, contribute, and be recognized for what they bring. Over time, “Tsinghua Gen II” will take on meaning through the people who carry it forward—not simply through what we inherit, but through what we choose to build from it. From Tsinghua in our name to Tsinghua in our actions.

by Grace Li The TYCon DMV community joined the Tsinghua University Alumni Mid-Autumn Festival as a side event this month. As the event coincided with the start of the school year, only one Gen2 participant had RSVP’d in advance. However, we were happy to meet another Gen2 attendee who came with a parent, as well as several younger Gen2s who joined their families at the event. The gathering also brought together many younger Gen1 alumni, including graduate students and young professionals. Throughout the event, participants had a great time meeting new people, catching up, and chatting informally about life, school, careers, and networking opportunities. The Mid-Autumn Festival itself was jointly organized by the alumni associations of four universities. The program included an awards ceremony recognizing the results of tournaments held among the alumni associations over the past year, followed by a friendly tug-of-war competition between the four schools. All of the Gen2 participants joined the Tsinghua team, together with many younger Gen1 alumni—and the Tsinghua team won! Overall, the event offered a fun and relaxed setting for participants to connect through friendly competition, networking, and great food sponsored by a restaurant owned by a Tsinghua alumnus. We were also able to welcome several new members into the TYCon DMV group and look forward to having even more participants join our next event in October.

By Sophie Huang TYCon Boston chapter hosted an intimate social event at Blank Street in Harvard Square, gathering six Gen IIs together in a mix of locally-based college students and young professionals. Over the course of the one-hour meetup, attendees conversed over their favorite coffee and matcha drinks, discussing academics, future plans, and recent fun experiences. This meetup sets a strong precedent for more events to come in the Boston region! Please stay tuned for our next event in late October!

By Anthony Jin and Jialin Chen After hosting a very successful TYCon Inaugural Pitch Competition in partnership with TSVC, the Exec Team decided to stick around in the Bay Area the following day and enjoy a relaxed brunch with some of the other Gen IIs living in the area. It was a great opportunity to build on the momentum from the pitch competition while also spending some quality time together outside of a formal event. Around 14 Gen IIs and two alumni came out to Hobee’s for a classic New American-style brunch, where everyone got to catch up, grab some food, and get to know each other a little better. With many Gen IIs having recently moved to the Bay Area for work, events like this are especially valuable. For some, it was a chance to meet other young professionals in the area for the first time, while others were able to reconnect with familiar faces and strengthen existing relationships. Having a strong professional and social support system is one of TYCon’s biggest goals, and the Bay Area continues to be a great example of what a connected and active regional community can look like. Beyond just the brunch itself, it was encouraging to see how easily people came together and how much interest there was in continuing to organize events locally. We hope to keep this energy going and bring even more Gen IIs together throughout the year. The future is bright for TYCon in the Bay Area, and we’re excited to carry this momentum all the way into TYConvention 2027! We are also currently looking for a Regional Lead based in the South Bay to help organize more local events. If you’re a young working professional who enjoys meeting new people, building relationships, and helping grow the TYCon community, we’d love to have you join us! Please fill out the form below to learn more and get involved:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc0DFscP9TGHN4x-Q6FRrLxhu1-zTMsxczzgOmZ-rvg2uH0ww/viewform?usp=header

By Susan Zhao and Jett Wang TYCon recently hosted a bowling meetup for more than 20 Gen II students and young professionals from across the New York and New Jersey area. The group included college students as well as professionals working in technology, finance, consulting, and other fields. The event was a casual chance for people to meet each other over bowling, pizza, and drinks. Attendees shared their interests, backgrounds, and experiences, and several connections came naturally out of the conversations. For example, when one university student mentioned that they were looking for a job, another attendee offered to help with referrals. Small moments like this showed how a strong local network can create opportunities for people to support one another. The meetup also showed that the New York Gen II community could be both social and professionally valuable. After the event, TYCon created a dedicated New York Gen II WeChat group so attendees could stay in touch and continue building connections outside of future events. The event also included a special visitor from SVAA, helping connect the growing New York Gen II group with the broader Tsinghua alumni community. Moving forward, TYCon is looking to build the New York community more intentionally by strengthening ties with the local Tsinghua alumni association, expanding the Gen II network, and creating more opportunities for different generations of alumni to connect. The goal is to create a lasting regional community where people can turn the connections they make at events into friendships, professional relationships, and stronger ties across the Tsinghua community. In addition to NYC, TYCon hosts events like these to bring together the children of Tsinghua Alumni across North America! Tsinghua Youth Connect (TYCon) is a non-profit organization and the 42nd member of NAFTHAA (North American Federation of Tsinghua Alumni Associations). If you want to stay updated on our events, please check our website and fill out the membership form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjVSvYp90oc-y16q0EA3L_K71deigQQGUy_ajya54FP6PEhQ/viewform Big thanks to Susan Zhao and Jett Wang for hosting this event!

By Amy Zhang The Newcastle Beach Park BBQ was the first official Tsinghua Youth Connect (TYCon) Gen II meetup in the Seattle region. We joined forces with Gen I alumni for a casual afternoon of food, games, and conversation. With plenty of barbecued skewers and ribs, the event gave everyone a chance to relax and get to know each other. Seven official Gen II members attended, along with Gen I alumni, and we had some great conversations and introductions throughout the event. People connected across generations while playing games like tug-of-war and board games, which made it easy for everyone to get involved and meet new people. The BBQ was a great first step in bringing the Seattle Gen II community together and creating connections with the broader Tsinghua alumni community in the area. Very grateful for our new Seattle Regional Lead Amy Zhang for helping spread the word of TYCon to the greater Seattle Region and helping the region start developing! In addition to Seattle, TYCon hosts events like these to bring together the children of Tsinghua Alumni across North America! Tsinghua Youth Connect (TYCon) is a non-profit organization and the 42nd member of NAFTHAA (North American Federation of Tsinghua Alumni Associations). If you want to stay updated on our events, please check our website and fill out the membership form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjVSvYp90oc-y16q0EA3L_K71deigQQGUy_ajya54FP6PEhQ/viewform

By Shelby Xu From July 31 to August 2, TYCon joined the 2026 North America Federation of Tsinghua Alumni Associations (NAFTHAA) Annual Conference and Leadership Summit in the Washington, D.C. area. For many of our Executive and Core Team members, it was the first time meeting in person after working together online. Over the course of three days, we attended leadership sessions, connected with Tsinghua alumni from across North America, introduced TYCon to alumni associations, and wrapped up the weekend with a visit to the China Folk House in West Virginia. More than anything, the weekend reminded us how much stronger a team becomes when everyone is finally in the same room. We spend so much of the year communicating through Slack, Google Meets, and late-night planning sessions that it's easy to forget how valuable it is to simply spend time together. Being able to brainstorm in person, share meals, and get to know one another outside of work made the weekend especially meaningful and brought our team even closer together. Throughout the summit, we had the opportunity to hear from an inspiring group of speakers who shared their experiences in leadership, entrepreneurship, networking, and personal growth. Mandy Song opened the weekend by sharing her personal leadership journey, reflecting on the challenges she faced and the lessons she learned along the way. Through her experiences, she emphasized the importance of good judgment, staying committed to your vision, bringing others along on the journey, believing in the potential of those around you, and leading with optimism and a strong heart. We also heard from Dr. Chun Xia, who explored how artificial intelligence is transforming industries and innovation; Ning Wang, who discussed how AI is reshaping career pathways and what those changes mean for the next generation of professionals; Sheena Yap Chan, who encouraged us to build confidence in ourselves and embrace our own leadership journeys; and Dr. Cynthia Cai, who shared practical advice on networking and building meaningful professional relationships. Many of these conversations naturally carried into our own Executive Team discussions. We talked about what it means to build a community that lasts and how TYCon can continue creating meaningful opportunities for Gen II across North America. Rather than simply organizing events, we want to foster lasting friendships, strengthen regional communities, expand mentorship and professional development opportunities, and continue building bridges between Gen I and Gen II. One of the highlights of the weekend was visiting the China Folk House in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Originally built in Yunnan Province and carefully reconstructed in the United States, the house stands as a symbol of people-to-people exchange and the preservation of cultural heritage. Learning about its journey reminded us that culture is something to be shared, experienced, and passed on. The visit itself reflected that spirit of hospitality. On a rainy afternoon, we were welcomed with warm tea before touring the house and learning about its architecture, history, and reconstruction. We then gathered for a homemade lunch featuring noodles, chicken, tofu, and pork before exploring the gardens together. We ended our visit by trying traditional activities like mahjong and woodblock printing, making the experience both educational and memorable. As an organization dedicated to connecting Gen I and Gen II, the visit reinforced the importance of building bridges across generations and creating spaces where those connections can continue to grow. The summit also concluded with each Gen II attendee receiving a copy of The Tao of Self-Confidence by Sheena Yap Chan and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. They were a fitting way to end a weekend centered on leadership, confidence, networking, and building meaningful connections, and we're looking forward to reading them. We left Washington feeling inspired by the people we met, the conversations we had, and the ideas we brought home. We're grateful to NAFTHAA and the many alumni who welcomed us, shared their experiences, and encouraged our team throughout the weekend. As TYCon continues to grow, we're excited to carry these lessons forward and continue building a community where Gen I and Gen II can learn from one another, strengthen lasting friendships, and preserve the connections that make the Tsinghua community so special.