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The Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) has honored Weina Li with its Career Achievement Award. Li is a materials scientist whose pursuit of her Ph.D. led to her doctoral research at the University of Connecticut’s Institute of Materials Science (IMS) and a career that now spans more than two decades of impact across aerospace, energy, and manufacturing.

Li serves as a technical fellow in materials and chemistry at Carrier—and is the first woman to hold the title of fellow at the company. In that role, she guides research and development strategy, strengthens engineering practices, and invests in developing early‑career talent. She has reinforced her commitment to her alma mater by serving as a member of the IMS External Advisory Board, where she helps steer academic/industry partnerships and workforce development.

Launching her career from the IMS laboratories under the advisement of IMS Director Steven L. Suib, Li built expertise in nanomaterials and translated that foundation into technologies that reach the marketplace. She helped secure $1.2 million in public funding to design lightweight, lower‑impact materials for aerospace, coordinating efforts among corporate teams, universities, and suppliers. In the energy sector, she has advanced flow‑battery systems through government-supported programs and commercial deployments, work that supports decarbonization goals and grid resilience.

Before being named a fellow, Li led suppression chemistry programs at Carrier, managing a global network of collaborators. The program improved coordination, sharpened execution, and reduced costs in suppression‑agent manufacturing while accelerating more sustainable product lines. A consistent theme across her roles is aligning research milestones with customer needs and business outcomes.

In additions to holding 14 U.S. patents, Li has served as a mentor to many aspiring engineers with an emphasis on preparing women and youth for success in the STEM field. Within Carrier, she champions cultural awareness and inclusivity that strengthen belonging. In the community, she volunteers in schools and language programs, encouraging young people to value cultural diversity and to explore STEM.

Weina Li’s career reflects the qualities SASE highlights with its Career Achievement Award: sustained technical leadership, successful cross‑sector collaboration, and a deep commitment to opening doors for others. For UConn, her trajectory—from campus research to external advisory board service and industry leadership—illustrates how the University’s research enterprise and partnerships prepare scholars to deliver tangible impact.

Update estate planning documents and beneficiaries

The end of the year is a good time to make sure your estate planning documents still reflect your wishes. You might have created them years ago, and the people you appointed to make medical or financial decisions for you may no longer be the right fit, Eckels says. If your children are adults now, for example, it might make sense for them to step into those roles.

Schedule an appointment with an estate planning attorney if you need to update (or create) a will or trust, name a power of attorney to make financial decisions for you if you can’t, and update (or create) a health care directive or living will that spells out what sort of end-of-life medical care you do or don’t want. 

Beneficiary designations deserve the same attention. Make sure the person or people you want to inherit your financial accounts or collect on your life insurance policy are still the ones named as your beneficiaries by logging in to your accounts or reaching out to your account administrator. “Those are easy things to update,” Eckels says.

Otherwise, your assets might end up in the wrong hands. Eckels recalls one client who, after remarrying, discovered that his ex-wife was still listed as the beneficiary on his $500,000 IRA.

Boost your itemized tax deductions

If you itemize deductions on your federal tax return, there are a couple of moves you can make before the end of 2025 to take advantage of changes to the tax rules.

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), signed into law on July 4, increased the maximum amount of state and local taxes you can claim as an itemized deduction to $40,000, up from $10,000 in 2024. One way to take advantage of this higher limit is by paying 2026 property taxes in December 2025 if you wouldn’t otherwise reach the $40,000 cap, says Jacob Martin, a financial planner with Keeler & Nadler Family Wealth in Dublin, Ohio.

You could also reap tax savings by making charitable donations you’ve planned for 2026 now. This could increase your chances of being able to deduct the full dollar amount of your contributions due to another OBBB change.

“Starting next year, there is a 0.5 percent adjusted gross income [AGI] floor on charitable giving before you can deduct those gifts,” Martin says. That means if your AGI is $100,000 in 2026, for example, you’ll be able to deduct only contributions that exceed $500.

Consider a Roth conversion

If you’re retired but not yet collecting Social Security benefits, you may be in the sweet spot for a Roth conversion, Baucum says.

“Those years when income is temporarily low are a prime window for converting traditional IRA dollars into a Roth IRA at a lower tax rate,” she says. That’s because you’ll have to pay income taxes on the amount you convert. But you can reduce your lifetime tax burden, she says, considering that Roth withdrawals, unlike traditional IRA withdrawals, are tax-free.

If you aren’t 65 and haven’t enrolled in Medicare yet, be aware that a Roth conversion could impact your future Medicare premiums. The premium for Medicare Part B — which covers doctor visits, diagnostic screenings and other outpatient care — is based on your income, and high-income adults can be swollen by a surcharge called the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA).

“Keep tabs on IRMAA when doing your Roth conversions because how much taxable income you have now may impact your Medicare premiums two years from now,” says Bill Shafransky, a senior wealth adviser with Moneco Advisors in New Canaan, Connecticut. “It could be a rude awakening, especially if you haven’t planned out that far.”