SACRAMENTO – On April 8, 2021, the California Association of Regulatory Investigators and Inspectors (CARII) formally awarded a $2,000 scholarship to Anson Lau, the son of CARII Member Kallie Yuen Chink Fung, a Department of Motor Vehicles Inspector.  Lau received his award by mail but joined the CARII Board of Directors via Zoom for a formal presentation and acceptance.

“He had rave reviews from his professors and stellar grades,” said CARII Vice President Amanda Martinez. “He is definitely a worthy applicant.”

Lau is currently a sophomore in Robotics Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz and is working toward inventing t devices to assist underprivileged and disabled individuals.  He is currently a part of the “Get Virtual” program.

“The class focus is on helping businesses (communities) during this pandemic to create websites, and social media accounts and an online presence that allows consumers online access and to better serve customers and their communities during the lockdown/quarantine and through the Pandemic,” said Lau.

Lau told CARII Directors he recently joined “a program at UC Sant Cruz created by NASA called UC Mission Concept Academy or Elf Space which is designed to help students learn to create proposals that include budgets and 3-D modeling to present a complete Mission Project.”

“He is a very deserving individual with a high GPA and will be going on to work on his Masters, with aspirations in space exploration,” said CARII President Tom Ineichen.  “We are very proud to support this aspiring young man and very excited to see him excel. He is now our second multi-recipient that has excelled to great academic achievements.”

Lau’s ambitions are “to obtain my masters in Computer Engineering and enroll/complete the Space X project, a NASA Program. I have always wanted to be part of space exploration.”

“We are glad to be investing in our future with you, and we’re hoping we can assist you in reaching your goals,” said CARII Director Mario Salas.

“The sky is the limit, or maybe for you, space is the limit.” CARII Director Dwaylon Calhoun encouragingly said.

“I want to encourage you to apply again next year, because someone like you, I would not have a problem awarding a scholarship a third time,” said CARII Director Mike Coyne.

Lau respectfully thanked the CARII Board and expressed it was an honor to receive the scholarship.

“Go out there NOW! Get a start on your dreams. Don’t wait on trying to get into Space X, there may be programs and scholarships,” said CARII Treasurer Ron Headliee.   “I can tell you when I was young, I didn’t follow through on my goals and I regret it. I waited till I was in my 40’s and became a pilot and it was too late because of health issues. If your shooting for the moon, go for it and don’t wait.”