A year ago, Fengxu Li says, the idea of talking to a stranger on Zoom about himself would have simply felt too nerve-wracking and intimidating.
He had only arrived in the United States in fall 2023. Shy by nature, he wasn’t confident in his English and was still emerging from a gloomy period.
Amazingly, amid his despondency, he’d decided to take advantage of an opportunity to transfer to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from Sichuan University in his native China—despite never having previously visited the United States.
It’s worked out better than he could have hoped.
“It has been the most amazing time of my life,” says Li, an industrial engineering student who is also majoring in computer science and math. “I’m getting all kinds of support I need to succeed.”
In addition to flourishing in the classroom and enjoying Madison as a city, Li has gotten involved in research as part of Industrial and Systems Engineering Assistant Professor Yonatan Mintz’s lab.
When Li first met with Mintz, the latter gave his new student a difficult theorem to work on, figuring it would take up the better part of a semester. Within a month, Li proved the theorem, which relates to an algorithm that’s useful for behavioral interventions. The two are planning to write up the result in a journal paper.
“The guy is a super hard worker, super motivated, one of the more brilliant people I’ve worked with,” says Mintz, who also taught Li in a PhD-level dynamic programming course in the fall 2024 semester. “He’s been learning on his own; he’s been doing stuff that I wouldn’t have been able to do until like my second year of PhD. Really complicated, dense, theoretical material.”
In Mintz’s lab, Li has continued to work on algorithms behind messaging apps that could influence safe driving, as well as physical activity vs. sedentary behavior. It’s valuable, practical experience that will inform his future career plans, whether in academic research or in industry.
Nearly a quarter of undergraduate engineering students have completed independent study research experiences for credit over the past five years. Plenty more undergrads work or volunteer in labs.
In 2023, the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering created an honors in research option for students interested in adding a tangible credential from their extra hours in the lab. Li began the program in the spring 2025 semester.
He’s eager to continue exploring new territory, both in his academic studies, his research and his personal life.
“I’m doing great,” he says. “I’m becoming more proud of myself. It’s just kind of a positive cycle.”
Top photo caption: Assistant Professor Yonatan Mintz and undergraduate student Fengxu Li. Photo by: Tom Ziemer