William L. Hwang
Chief Executive Officer

William L. Hwang (Billy) founded United InnoWorks Academy (InnoWorks), a non-profit educational 501(c)(3) organization in 2003 to nurture underprivileged middle-school students in the exciting world of science and engineering and is in his third-year running InnoWorks. For his dedication to community service, he is the recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in 2006 for excellence of character and outstanding commitment to humanitarian service, and the William J. Griffith University Service Award.

At Duke, he has participated in the Community Service Center’s “Into the City” Program. He served as a volunteer volleyball counselor for the Washington School of Chinese Language and Culture (WSCLC) for four years. At Montgomery Blair High School (MBHS), Billy was a tutor in LunchBunch and was awarded the President’s Student Service Award, Maryland State Department of Education Certificate of Meritorious Service, McDonald's Asian Pacific American Community Service Award, and the WMACS Scholarship for Cultural Awareness and Community Service Excellence.

Billy’s parents are very dedicated volunteers in the community, and Billy began assisting them when he was two years old. When he could help independently, he volunteered at homeless shelters such as Shepard’s Table, and played violin and piano to brighten the days of residents at senior assisted-living centers.

Billy recognized that everyone has something to contribute. Therefore, last year, he started a “tutoring exchange” program where a student weak in one subject can get help from another student who is stronger in that area; but the first student can also provide tutoring to others who may need assistance in subjects he or she excels in. Everyone teaches, everyone learns.

Billy believes education is a key for everyone’s future, so he began a tradition in high school to raise money by making and selling flowers handmade with Chinese knot-weaving on Valentine’s Day to help build schools, libraries and support students in impoverished areas of the world. He received letters with pictures of whole villages dressed up in their best clothes to celebrate the christening of a one-room, one-bookshelf library that Billy and his friends helped to build. The grateful thank-you letters motivated him to do even more.

An Angier B. Duke Scholar at Duke University, Billy graduated in May 2006 with degrees in Biomedical Engineering, Physics, and Electrical & Computer Engineering, and a minor in Chemistry. A Rhodes Scholar, Goldwater Scholar and Duke University President’s Research Fellow, Billy was recently selected to the USA Today 2006 All-USA College Academic First Team. He has been invited as a Student Delegate to the 2006 International Achievement Summit and served as Chief Student Marshal in the Pratt School of Engineering graduation ceremonies in 2005. His research interests include early cancer detection biosensors, digital microfluidic biochips, stem-cell communication, swarm intelligence, fluid dynamics, articular cartilage injuries, and applications of cognitive neuroscience to education. His work has received awards and grants from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Navy, and the Washington Academy of Sciences (WAS). In 2006, he received the Leonardo da Vinci Award, the Howard G. Clark Biomedical Engineering Research Award and the Walter J. Seeley Scholastic Award for diligence in the pursuit of an engineering education and the spirit of academic excellence, presented to the student with the highest scholastic average in all subjects.

William served as the editor of four InnoWorks books and has authored more than a dozen journal and conference papers since 2001 including the first student paper ever published on the WAS website. Outside of academia, Billy was the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Eruditio , the Duke Undergraduate Humanities Journal and Associate Editor of Vertices , the Duke Undergraduate Journal of Science and Technology. He plays for the Duke Men’s Volleyball Team that won the 2004 NIRSA Intercollegiate Division IAA National Championship, and was a first violinist in the Duke Symphony Orchestra in his freshman year. He served the Vice President of the Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society, NC Gamma Chapter. He holds membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Eta Sigma, Biomedical Engineering Society, Society of Physics Students, Sigma Pi Sigma. He was an Organic Chemistry session teacher for the Duke Science-Advancement Skills Program (SASP).

In his free-time, Billy enjoys spending time with family and friends, singing, playing unconventional sports, and coming up with new smoothie recipes.