On 23 November, the Chinese Academy of Engineering announced the election of its foreign members for the year 2023. This list includes 16 new foreign members, including Professor Connie Chang-Hasnain from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

Professor Chang-Hasnain currently holds the position of the X.Q. Deng Presidential Chair Professor at CUHK-Shenzhen, where she spearheads the development of the University's microelectronics disciplines. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Inventors Hall of Fame of the United States, and a Fellow of the IEEE, IEE, and the Optica Society of America (now known as Optica). Professor Chang-Hasnain obtained her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987. She has served as the Vice Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and the John R. Whinnery Chair Professor Emerita of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and the co-director of Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute. In 2021, Professor Chang-Hasnain transitioned full-time to Shenzhen to establish Berxel Photonics. Collaborating with the team of Academician Shaohua Yu at the Pengcheng Laboratory, she has been instrumental in foundational research on photonic integrated chips. Her efforts have significantly accelerated the integration of industry-academia-research, resulting in the creation of a high-end chip design and verification platform, and tackling key technological challenges within the industry. She joined CUHK-Shenzhen in 2023.

Professor Chang's pioneering contributions to the physics, design, materials, and applications of Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) have solidified their dominant role in multi-mode fibre optics, optical coherence tomography, and 3D sensing applications. Her exceptional work has been recognised internationally with numerous awards, including the IEEE David Sarnoff Award, the Okawa Prize from Japan, the Welker Award from the International Conference on Semiconductor Compounds, and the UNESCO Medal for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Development.

Professor Chang has served as a global academic leader, leading and promoting the establishment and development of multiple international conferences and journals. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Lightwave Technology, a flagship journal of IEEE and Optica from 2007 to 2012, and a member and chairman of important committees and international conference organizing groups. She was also the President of Optica.