Dr. Feng Presents His Gratitude toward His Advisor with a Customized Music Box (Taiwan)

Dr. Chen-Hsiang Feng, Founder of Muro Box

The Special Mission of Muro Box (Music Box)

I’m Dr. Feng, the inventor of Muro Box.

In the mid-October, my cohort told me that our advisor, Wendi, would attend the alumni gathering of University of Rochester (UofR). Although I have left the US for years, most of my lab mates are still in the Bay Area.

I wished that I could be there with them when reading their group discussion about how to drive there, and everyone was looking forward to this gathering.

The Front Metal Plate showing the school badge of the University of Rochester, and the Motto "Meliora"
The Front Metal Plate showing the school badge of the University of Rochester, and the Motto "Meliora", which is a Latin adjective meaning "better". It is translated by UofR as "ever better" or "always better".

Customized Metal Plate Engraving to Thank My Advisor at the University of Rochester

Then, I came up with an alternative way to join their gathering.

I made a proposal that we send a Muro Box to our advisor. I engraved our university’s logo and our lab’s abbreviation “WCNG” (Wireless Communication and Networking Group) on the metal plate of the Muro Box.

My cohort agreed unanimously on the proposed idea.

The Impact from My Advisor is Getting Deeper After Graducation

My appreciation toward the advisor gets deeper after graduating from the UofR for a long time. Although my dissertation research topic is “Sensor Networks”, which is related to the IoT network part of the Muro Box, it is not the main point that impacted me the most. The greatest impact came from the research method and working attitude.

During my study, I did not realize it yet. Compared with my previous advisor in my master’s degree in Taiwan, who is very proud of his ability to generate papers efficiently like a machine, Wendi will stop me from using useless math formulas just to make the dissertation look complicated. She hopes that we should strive to solve real problems, instead of making up a problem in order to publish papers.

She was friendly in daily life, but she was very strict in each word of my dissertation writing. Whenever I felt frustrated after endless failed experiment results, Wendi taught me “never give up” with her actions. As a student, I did not really realize its importance. I did not have a clear goal in my life at that time, all I wanted was to graduate sooner.

智慧音乐盒(八音盒)Muro Box创办人冯振祥(中)与蔡筱晨(右)
Dr. Chen-Hsiang Feng graduated from University of Rochester in Spring 2013. His advisor is Wendi Heinzelman (on the left in the photo).
Wendi is holding Muro Box in alumni gathering of University of Rochester (UofR)
Wendi Heinzelman, Professor and Dean of Hajim School at the University of Rochester

The Important Work Attitude Learned from My Advisor

But now, when developing my own product, I realized the value of my advisor’s working attitude: (1) stay away from those who talking big but did nothing at all, (2) use research methods to explore the core of problems, (3) and be a craftsman who keeps refining the artwork piece by piece (i.e., never sacrifice the quality of our papers/products).

This Unique Muro Box Ties Our Student-Teacher Relationship after Graduation

I’m confident that Muro Box can live up to my advisor’s expectation, so I presented this music box to represent the close bond between my advisor and my memories of my doctoral study. It will always remind me of Wendi’s significant mentorship.

Dr. Chen-Hsiang Feng

2022/10/22

WCNG Lab Group Picture with Muro Box
Wendi and my lab mates met on Oct. 19, 2022 at Menlo Park, CA.