Friends remember recently deceased Liao

Cheng Liao GS was so enthusiastic about his work in computer science that when a problem arose in a program, he could not wait one minute to fix it.

"I would sometimes ask him about some piece of software that wasn't quite doing what it was supposed to do," said computer science professor Jaswinder Singh, who worked with Liao at firstRain — an Internet start-up specializing in infrastructure technology for wireless Internet.

"Soon, he'd be sitting at my desk, pulling up windows and hacking the code right there," Singh said. "It showed me his passion and his enthusiasm. It didn't occur to him to go back to his desk."

Singh was one of many friends and colleagues to share fond memories of the sixth-year graduate student this weekend. Liao, 27, died Jan. 2 in his Plainsboro apartment of complications from a flu-like illness.

Liao was well-respected not only for his outstanding technical achievements, but also for his cheerful disposition, said electrical engineering professor Margaret Martonosi, one of Liao's advisers.

"He was just a very cheerful, friendly person who also happened to be a smart, sharp person as well," she said. "He was excited about life."

Singh recalled Liao's enthusiasm for his field and his ability to make friends quickly and to bring together people from different backgrounds.

"The thing that really comes to mind about Cheng was that he was a very spirited and enthusiastic person who really loved what he was doing and it really showed about him," Singh said.

Minwen Ji GS, who also is working toward a Ph.D. in computer science, said Liao was like a little brother to all of his friends.

"He was a very smart and outgoing person," she recalled. "He had a sweet personality."

Dongming Jiang '00, one of Liao's closest friends, voiced similar sentiments.

"He was a very smart, very diligent student and also he was very warm-hearted," Jiang said. "He was always willing to help."

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Jiang, who commuted with Liao every day to work at firstRain in New York City, said their conversations ranged from "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons" to history and classical music.

"He loved stories from China," she said, recalling one of his favorites, a love story in which the lovers turn into butterflies so they can be together forever.

"He was trying very hard to pursue a sort of freedom, to give him wings to fly freely in the world," she said. "He regarded knowledge as one of the powers to explore the world and life better."