Alberto Tam Yong
The official 2026 Badge Project page signs the documentation with Alberto Tam Yong and identifies him as the 2026 IEEE Rising Stars Conference Badge Design Lead.
SourceIEEE Rising Stars 2026 · United States · 2026
IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Conference Badge Project
Bare-PCB attendee badge and five advanced prototypes
IEEE Rising Stars' official post-event Badge Project page says every 2026 attendee received a bare PCB with no components, while only about five manually assembled advanced badges were prototyped. A separate pre-event SEAL-Embedded source snapshot documents a Raspberry Pi Pico W BLE networking-badge development track, but neither source identifies it as one of those five units. The record therefore keeps the all-attendee bare-PCB and limited-prototype claims separate and does not treat a public development branch as a universal working badge.
SeriesIEEE Rising Stars
LocationLuxor Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
CountryUnited States
People
Authors & Credits
PCBWay
The official Badge Project page thanks PCBWay for sponsoring the printed circuit boards for the 2025 and 2026 conference badges. This is a PCB sponsorship credit, not a design, manufacturing, or image-reuse attribution.
SourceSEAL-Embedded
The repository's July 2026 README self-identifies its work as the 2026 IEEE Rising Stars Networking Badge. This records public source publication only; the official event documentation does not confirm SEAL as the event badge team, prototype builder, firmware author for a physical unit, or image-rights holder.
SourceWhy It Mattered
It preserves a carefully documented conference hardware artifact without conflating an unpopulated all-attendee PCB with the small, fully populated advanced-prototype run. It also preserves a useful pre-event BLE source trail while making its unverified physical-prototype link explicit instead of carrying a development target, later redesign, or 2025 configuration into the finished 2026 record.
Hardware
The official 2026 page says all attendees received bare PCBs with no components. It separately describes about five manually assembled advanced badges with displays and all components populated. The design was aimed at automated assembly; the author warns that manual builds involve surface-mount parts, exposed-pad components, and 0.5 mm fine-pitch work, and reports using solder paste, a stencil, a reflow oven, manual pick-and-place, and post-assembly rework on the populated prototypes. A December 2025 SEAL-Embedded development snapshot names a Raspberry Pi Pico W BLE target; a later July 2026 repository README says that project had moved to ESP32-WROOM-32 after testing. The official Badge Project page does not link either configuration to a physical prototype, so neither is presented as the final 2026 event hardware. The page links a schematic PDF and BOM, but its visible draft does not identify a final component inventory, board revision, power system, controller, display model, or universal finished configuration.
Software & Apps
The official 2026 page leaves code publication as a TODO and says CircuitPython was used for a prototype. Separately, an immutable December 13, 2025 SEAL-Embedded repository snapshot describes an IEEE Rising Stars Conference networking-badge target using Raspberry Pi Pico W BLE and includes MicroPython `aioble` advertising-and-scanning source. A July 2026 README labels a newer ESP32 version a 2026 iteration, but neither the organizer page nor the repository assigns either source revision to one of the five advanced prototypes. No organizer-linked, event-unit-matched 2026 firmware release, binary, flashing guide, source licence, application inventory, or proof that bare attendee boards carried software was recovered.
Lore
IEEE Rising Stars is an engineering-and-technology conference for students and young professionals. Its January 2-4, 2026 Luxor Las Vegas edition tried to move from a 2025 hand-assembled badge effort toward automated advanced-badge assembly, but the official post-event account says the fully assembled goal was not achieved for all attendees. The 2025 background remains context only, not a specification for this 2026 project.
Lifecycle
Add-ons & Upgrades
assembly documentation
official design note
Advanced manual-assembly workflow
The project page describes an automated-assembly-oriented design and manual population using solder paste, a stencil, reflow, manual pick-and-place, and post-assembly rework, with exposed-pad and 0.5 mm fine-pitch assembly constraints.
Source
conference badge format
official post-event report
All-attendee bare PCB allocation
The official Badge Project page says every 2026 attendee received a bare PCB with no components.
Source
limited prototype batch
official post-event report
Approximately five hand-assembled advanced prototypes
The organizer's post-event account says only about five manually assembled advanced badges were prototyped after the planned automated-assembly path did not result in a fully assembled badge for every attendee.
Source
pre-event public firmware-development source
pre-event source snapshot; event deployment unverified
SEAL BLE interest-matching development source
A December 13 SEAL-Embedded snapshot frames a Raspberry Pi Pico W BLE interest-matching project as an IEEE Rising Stars Conference badge and includes `aioble` advertising/scanning code. A later repository README describes an ESP32 redesign, not an event-unit release.
SourceOperational history
Issues & Camp Impact
2025-to-2026 badge boundary
note
The 2026 page describes the 2025 basic and advanced badge runs as background before explaining that the 2026 effort targeted a new advanced design. It does not establish that 2025 hardware, parts, firmware, cost, units, or features carried into the 2026 bare-PCB attendee artifacts or the five advanced prototypes.
The record uses the historical account for lineage context only and does not transfer prior-year specifications into the 2026 entry.
- Confidence
- official historical context
- Status
- distinct years and allocation models documented
- Timeframe
- 2025-2026 source review
- Source note
- IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project page and its linked 2025 background.
SEAL development-source linkage boundary
note
SEAL-Embedded's immutable December 13, 2025 snapshot describes an IEEE Rising Stars Conference Raspberry Pi Pico W BLE networking-badge development track, while its July 2026 README describes a newer ESP32-WROOM-32 iteration. The official 2026 Badge Project page neither names SEAL nor links the repository, and it identifies only approximately five advanced prototypes without their hardware or firmware configurations.
The public source is available as a separately scoped development trail, but this record does not assign its Pico W code, later ESP32 code, BLE behavior, components, or authorship to a specific physical 2026 prototype or all-attendee bare PCB.
- Confidence
- self-described public project source plus unlinked organizer record
- Status
- pre-event source exists; physical-prototype assignment unverified
- Timeframe
- December 2025-July 2026 source review
- Source note
- SEAL-Embedded Conference-Badge commits 565a05c1a1349623cbc244925c0e38599ed1f709 and 5c1caea03cd18def8ac66bf23b8e7c5581addcaa; IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project page.
attendee allocation and configuration boundary
note
The official page explicitly says all attendees received bare PCBs with no components and that only about five advanced badges were manually assembled. It does not publish an attendee count, recipient list, exact prototype count, handoff record, populated-board inventory, substitute-kit record, or proof that every participant received or operated a finished electronic device.
The catalogue keeps the universal bare PCB and limited populated-prototype claims separate instead of presenting the five advanced units as the standard attendee badge.
- Confidence
- official post-event report
- Status
- bare-PCB attendee allocation and limited advanced prototypes documented
- Timeframe
- 2026 post-event review
- Source note
- IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project page.
firmware and technical archive gap
note
The official page links a schematic PDF and BOM but leaves design description and code publication as TODO items, while only noting that CircuitPython was used for a prototype. A separately published SEAL-Embedded development archive is retained in this record, but it is not linked from the organizer page or assigned to the 2026 prototypes. No organizer-linked, event-unit-matched firmware release, binary, flashing process, software license, full component inventory, board revision, power specification, manufacturing package, test plan, or errata archive was recovered.
The dossier distinguishes an accessible development-source trail from a complete reproducible event-unit release.
- Confidence
- official project page
- Status
- schematic/BOM links visible; organizer-linked code publication remains incomplete
- Timeframe
- 2026 post-event source review
- Source note
- IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project page and SEAL-Embedded immutable repository snapshots.
manual assembly complexity caveat
note
The Badge Project page says the design was optimized for automated assembly and warns that manual population involves surface-mount, exposed-pad, and 0.5 mm fine-pitch work. It reports solder-paste, stencil, reflow, manual pick-and-place, and rework use, while warning prospective builders of a high chance the design might not work without suitable skills and tools.
The catalogue preserves the primary assembly warning without presenting the project as beginner-friendly, reliably hand-buildable, safe to assemble, or proven across a finished production run.
- Confidence
- official badge-design note
- Status
- advanced manual builds described as challenging
- Timeframe
- 2026 post-event design documentation
- Source note
- IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project page.
missing rights-cleared image
note
No IEEE Rising Stars 2026 badge image is published locally because the official Badge Project page's rendered badge and assembly media do not pair a selected photo or raster with a reusable license or explicit permission basis, attribution, source URL, and processing record.
The record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying official page images, schematic screenshots, social posts, conference media, or generated approximations.
- Confidence
- policy decision
- Status
- open
- Timeframe
- current catalogue build
- Source note
- badge.gallery image policy; IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project page.
Resources
IEEE Rising Stars 2026
official conference page · Official conference page for the IEEE engineering-and-technology event's student/young-professional, technical-talk, workshop, competition, and networking context.
IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project
official badge documentation · Primary post-event conference source for the 2026 badge project's bare-PCB attendee allocation, approximately five manually assembled advanced prototypes, assembly guidance, schematic/BOM links, CircuitPython prototype note, PCBWay support, and named badge-design lead.
IEEE Rising Stars 2026 registration
official event and venue page · Official registration source for the completed January 2-4, 2026 dates and Luxor Las Vegas location.
SEAL 2026 networking-badge documentation
public post-event project documentation · Immutable July 27, 2026 repository README that self-identifies a newer ESP32-WROOM-32 networking-badge iteration as 2026 work and describes its BLE design. It is retained for source-history context, not as proof of the January event units, final hardware, deployment, or organizer endorsement.
SEAL pre-event IEEE Rising Stars source snapshot
public pre-event firmware-development snapshot · Immutable December 13, 2025 SEAL-Embedded snapshot. Its README calls the work an IEEE Rising Stars Conference networking badge using Raspberry Pi Pico W BLE, and its tree contains `aioble` advertising/scanning source. The official Badge Project page does not identify this repository or link it to a physical 2026 prototype.
Sources
IEEE Rising Stars Conference: IEEE Rising Stars 2026
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary organizer source for the conference's engineering-and-technology scope for students and young professionals, technical talks, workshops, competitions, and Las Vegas setting.
IEEE Rising Stars Conference: IEEE Rising Stars 2026 registration
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary organizer source for the January 2-4, 2026 dates and Luxor Las Vegas venue.
IEEE Rising Stars Conference / Alberto Tam Yong: Badge Project
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary post-event source stating that all attendees received bare PCBs with no components, about five manually assembled advanced badges were prototyped, and full automated assembly was not achieved. It also documents the manual-assembly constraints, linked schematic/BOM, CircuitPython prototype note, PCBWay sponsorship, and Badge Design Lead credit.
SEAL-Embedded: SEAL Conference-Badge pre-event source snapshot
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Immutable December 13, 2025 source snapshot, published before the January conference. Its own README frames the work as an IEEE Rising Stars Conference BLE networking badge targeted at Raspberry Pi Pico W, and the repository contains MicroPython `aioble` source. It is primary development evidence but is not organizer-linked and does not establish that it ran on any of the approximately five advanced 2026 prototypes.
SEAL-Embedded: SEAL 2026 IEEE Rising Stars networking-badge README
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · July 27, 2026 project documentation that calls an ESP32-WROOM-32 version the 2026 IEEE Rising Stars Networking Badge and says it followed testing of an earlier Pico W path. Its later date and lack of organizer linkage prevent it from identifying event-delivered hardware or firmware.