Congratulations to Derek Jiang on acceptance to UCLA in Computer Science

​2021 UCLA computer Science admittee Derek Jiang, is a WCAAD student who has extraordinary abilities and sensibilities that make him remarkable. 

​In his time here studying at WCAAD, he has adapted very quickly pursuing his creative visions to reality. His work is compounded with research, craft and excellent drafting skills. 

​Derek’s work demonstrates a variety of work in design, fine art, and innovation. 

​Derek always does more than what he is asked to do and believes in being as professional, as possible.  His SAT 1550, 1600 PSAT perfect score and 5 Ap’s showcases his involvement and commitment to handle stress and pressure yet, deliver quality work.  Holding a 4.63 GPA, Derek busy schedule lent to create DEREK JIANG TUTORING- motivational tutoring opportunities for others. Derek tutored classmates for the AP Computer Science Test, which uses Java and supported 6 people for a total of 9 hours on concepts such as inheritance and syntax.  Honors and awards are as follows:

​Aside from art, extracurricular activities include: Boy Scout Troop 501 Eagle Scout patrol and quarter master. He has worked to earn $1600.00 in eagle scout projects. As a Spartan Vanguard Officer, he has represented his school in various math competitions and interned in La Canada HS tech council. He collaborated with La Canada High School administration to streamline implementation of technology in the classroom, such as Google Classroom, remote learning software, and online communication platforms- streamlining for school. 

​​Derek has experience working on hardware for FRC robots, including the pneumatic systems, and making aluminum parts resulting in FRC worlds in 2019 (in Houston, an international competition), placing 28th out of around 50 teams. In his Cyber security club as a team programmer, Derek developed an application to help protect students and teachers against phishing attacks. He helped create presentation to inform students and teachers about how to better protect their personal information and electronic communication from online threats. 

​Derek is an advocate of promoting technology and innovation as part of the Hack Club, advocating interest in programming with younger students, providing workshops and intro to basics such as HTML. He has recruited students to the Engineering club FRC team 2429.

​Other contributions include: FTC GOLDEN GEARS TEAM 9881 LA CANADA, CA Programmer ​(August 2019- April 2020 working on programming for FTC robot: Developed image recognition using vuforia and robot autonomous movement, implementing and tuning control algorithms such as the PIDs for the robot’s mecanum drive. Programmed for FTC team 9881 in 2020 using Java and Android studio.

​Art and Design produced here demonstrated the same research and investment. These successes only show a small window into this talented student that will be a true asset for UCLA and the world of tomorrow.

​(By Omar Gallegos, WCAAD Vice Principal and Director of Education)