Tech entrepreneur and family make transformational pledge to Samueli School of Engineering

Irvine, Calif., Dec. 17, 2025 - The University of California, Irvine's Samueli School of Engineering has received a significant philanthropic pledge from technology entrepreneur Hoang Nhu, CEO and founder of NousLogic Telehealth, and his sister Thuc Trinh Thi Nhu M.D. '93, co-founder with Hoang of Eye-AI Inc., to support the highest priorities of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

The gift will establish the Nhu Family Endowed Fund, a permanent source of flexible support for the department. The endowment will empower department leadership to pursue high-impact priorities, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation and breakthroughs that benefit society. In recognition of this commitment, the unit will be named the Hoang Nhu Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

"This is an exciting moment for the Samueli School of Engineering," said Magnus Egerstedt, the Stacey Nicholas Dean of Engineering. "We want to ensure that what happens in our labs and classrooms has real-world impact. The Nhu family's generosity directly supports our ability to move ideas from lab to market - where innovations can improve lives here in Orange County and beyond."

The Nhu Family Endowed Fund will strengthen an already rising department that serves nearly 1,700 students and is internationally recognized for advances spanning artificial intelligence, robotics, wireless communications, embedded systems, circuits and devices, bioelectronics, computer architecture, and more.

With more than 30 years in the tech industry and experience at companies including Broadcom, where he worked with Henry Samueli, and Hewlett-Packard, Hoang Nhu has established a reputation for translating emerging technologies into market-ready solutions that advance the public good. His company, NousLogic Telehealth, has pioneered an AI-enabled remote patient-monitoring platform that combines a real-time, continuous vital-sign-tracking wearable sensor with smart medication dispensing for closed-loop medication adherence management.

A member of the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering Leadership Council, Hoang Nhu holds multiple patents in video, audio and communications digital signal processing as well as system-on-chip design. His Eye-AI venture - co-founded with his sister and two additional partners, including an ophthalmologist and an AI scientist who both graduated from UC Irvine - has helped democratize screening methods for diabetic retinopathy and improve patient outcomes. These AI- and retinal-imaging-based techniques also show promising potential for detecting a wide range of other disease indicators, including cardiovascular, neurological and Alzheimer's-related conditions.

Thuc Trinh Thi Nhu earned an M.D. at UC Irvine's School of Medicine in 1993 and completed a medical residency in ophthalmology at UCI Medical Center in Orange. Currently, she serves as an assistant clinical professor in ophthalmology.

The Nhu family's story extends even further. Fifty years ago, they fled the fall of Saigon and ultimately settled in the United States. "We are bestowing this gift at a meaningful time, on the anniversary of beginning our new life, and in celebration of achieving our American dream," Hoang Nhu said. "We want to now create new opportunities for the next generation."

The naming gift also comes at a pivotal time for the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, which has significantly risen in national rankings over the past decade. With this new endowment - and its potential to inspire additional philanthropic support - the department is positioned to become a game-changing center of engineering innovation on regional and global scales.

The funds will enable an AI-everywhere approach in which artificial intelligence becomes a fundamental, often invisible, technology integrated into nearly every aspect of daily life. At the Samueli School, the use of AI models to foster more interdisciplinary science and engineering research collaborations will transform areas such as medical technologies and resilient autonomous systems in the emerging physical AI market.

"Hoang understands how innovations take shape and how they reach the world," Egerstedt said. "Our partnership with the Nhu family will allow the Samueli School to push boundaries, train future leaders and accelerate discoveries that address society's greatest challenges."

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation's top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus studio with a Comrex IP audio codec to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at https://news.uci.edu/media-resources.