NeoSort extends its warmest congratulations to a member of our board, Dr. Xuedong “X.D.” Huang, who has been named a recipient of the 2026 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, presented during a black-tie ceremony in the Great Hall at Ellis Island in New York Harbor on May 16, 2026.
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor ranks among the most distinguished awards in the United States. Established in 1986, it is presented each year to Americans, both native-born and naturalized, whose professional and civic contributions reflect the values of the immigrant experience. The Medal has been formally recognized by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and each year's recipients are entered into the Congressional Record. Dr. Huang joins a 2026 class of 76 honorees drawn from business, science, public service, and the arts.
A pioneer in AI and speech technology
Dr. Huang is Chief Technology Officer of Zoom Communications and one of the foundational figures in modern speech recognition. Before joining Zoom, he spent decades at Microsoft as a Technical Fellow, where he led pioneering research across speech and artificial intelligence and helped build Azure AI. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and his work has shaped technologies now used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
As a member of NeoSort's board, Dr. Huang brings that same depth at the intersection of artificial intelligence and real-world systems to our mission, helping guide the development of the AI and nanotechnology behind our material-identification and sorting platform.
From everyone at NeoSort, congratulations to Dr. Huang on this remarkable and well-deserved honor. We are proud to have his guidance as we work to redefine what is possible in recycling and resource recovery.
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