During February 2026, Lingkai Dong contributed to the IBM/velox repository by implementing an Arm NEON SIMD optimization for the toBitMask() function within the hash table path. This work focused on accelerating boolean mask computations on ARM platforms by integrating NEON-accelerated logic into the existing C++ codebase and optimizing the VectorHasher component for improved throughput. Lingkai’s approach leveraged advanced SIMD programming and performance optimization techniques, resulting in measurable gains for ARM-based workloads. The changes were thoroughly documented and reviewed, demonstrating a deep understanding of both low-level hardware capabilities and high-level software integration within a complex, production-grade C++ project.