Fifth-Grader Named Chief Artist for International Conference

Fifth-grader Adelina Gao recently showcased her art on an international stage through her contributions to the 2026 IEEE/ACM Conference on Connected Health (CHASE), a premier research conference held last month in Pittsburgh.

Combining artistic talent with community leadership, Adelina designed and hand-drew the official theme banner for the event. Her artwork integrated Pittsburgh’s iconic landscape with the conference's central focus on smart and connected healthcare. In addition to her creative contributions, Adelina actively served as a conference volunteer, assisting attendees at the registration desk throughout the event.

Her exceptional work earned widespread praise from global researchers and organizers, leading to her official appointment to the conference's organizing committee as Chief Artist. Following this success, the CHASE steering committee formally requested to reserve her artistic designs for the 2027 conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.