Curriculum Vitae

Yiying Zhang

Education

Princeton University | B.S.E. in Electrical and Computer Engineering | GPA: 3.53

Expected Graduation May 2027

Minors/Certificates: Near Eastern Studies, Arabic Language, History and Practice of Diplomacy

King Salman Global Academy | Islamic Finance and Arabic Program | Riyadh, KSA

Sept 2025 – May 2026

0.8% acceptance rate; program fully funded by the Saudi Ministry of Culture. Scored CEFR B2 (upper-intermediate) language proficiency. One-year leave of absence from Princeton.

Tsinghua University Schwarzman Scholars | M.S. in Global Affairs | Beijing, China

Sept 2027 – June 2028

Al Rashid Trading and Construction Co. | Civil Engineering Intern | Riyadh, KSA

May 2026 – August 2026

Constructing the electrical system of King Salman Park in Riyadh, the $25 billion world’s largest urban park.
Assisting the chief site engineer; managing sub-contractors working on structural and electrical installation.

Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation (iCET) | Analyst Intern | Beijing, China

June 2025 – Sep 2025

Modeled the commercial viability of UCO collection systems and presented cost-benefit analyses to the founder.
Modeled carbon reduction trajectories and cost-benefit analyses for sustainable aviation fuel alternatives, presenting findings to the executive director for inclusion in upcoming white papers.
Authored 3 memos on international SAF policy changes and effects post-OBBB for Chinese civil aviation.

Center for China and Globalization | Global Outreach Intern | Beijing, China

May 2025 – June 2025

Ran stage operations, logistics, and broadcasting for the biggest annual Chinese think tank forum.

Rapido | Strategy and Marketing Intern | Bengaluru, India

June 2024 – August 2024

Developed 2 ride-share platform marketing campaigns reaching 1M+ drivers; achieved an 8% increase in ride volume and improved cost-efficiency by 15% over one month.
Collaborated with the CEO and VP of Ops to synthesize gig-economy research into data-driven strategies.

Haiwen & Partners | M&A and Intl. Trade Law Associate Intern | Beijing, China

December 2023 – January 2024

Performed technical and legal due diligence for an AR/VR startup acquisition, translating complex engineering specs into market analysis for senior partners.
Participated in negotiation for a major UK-China agro joint venture and advised partners on engineering details.
Served as local guide and translator for the managing partner and team during two weeks of negotiations in Morocco (2026).

NoTraffic | Traffic Systems Engineer Intern | Tucson, Arizona

June 2023 – August 2023

Invented new ultrasonic sensor de-icing technology; solution deployed in 500+ units globally.
Spearheaded building an industry-standard testing chamber in-house; $100k in long-term cost savings.

Curbon.ai | Co-founder & CTO

December 2023 – September 2026

Building a patent-pending AI Life Cycle Assessment engine to calculate fashion industry pollution and offsets.
Secured $100k+ in non-dilutive grants (H&M, New Jersey EDF, National Science Foundation, VentureWell).

Princeton Entrepreneurship Club | President (June 2024 – May 2025) · Head of Incubator & VC Department (September 2022 – May 2024)

2022 – 2025

Led Princeton’s largest student organization (550+ members); managed a $500k annual budget and 20+ corporate sponsors including OpenAI and Capital One. Speakers included Sam Altman and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.
Co-founded Princeton’s first startup incubator; 10+ startups raised $20M in total capital.
Signed a partnership agreement with Red Sea Global ($20B PIF project) on entrepreneurship collaboration.
Co-founded 5Terra and the Princeton-China Forum, featuring 30+ speakers across 6 panels.