the
issue
mentorship
Page 8
summer 2019
The alumni magazine of the Berkeley Master of Engineering program.
From the Director of MEng Career Development & Alumni Relations:
Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine | 3
Bioengineering: FIFTH Civil engineering: FIRST Computer engineering: FIRST Electrical engineering: SECOND Environmental engineering: FIRST Industrial engineering: FOURTH Materials engineering: SIXTH Mechanical engineering: THIRD Nuclear engineering: FIFTH
funginstitute.berkeley.edu
2 | Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine
Last year the Alumni Magazine focused on the diversity of people, ideas, and achievements within the Fung Institute’s network. This year we focused much of our attention on strengthening relationships and developing new partnerships within our community. As the Fung Institute continues to grow, innovate, and strive for excellence we know that alumni and industry involvement is the backbone of our success. In this edition of the Alumni Magazine we highlight our efforts in that space and share the new and exciting opportunities for partner engagement and connecting the global MEng network. In January, we launched a new networking platform, Fung Institute Connect. Currently there are over 400 alumni on the platform and our goal is to grow our user base every day. The primary objective is to create a place for students, alumni and industry partners to connect, post jobs, and ask career-related questions. The most exciting feature is the ability to search for community members across the globe, in various industries or job functions, and to request flash interviews and mentorship. While this platform is still new, many current students took advantage of connecting to alumni in their field during the job search process and dozens of alumni were able to easily recruit MEng community members into their open positions. This past year we also launched our first Industry Partnership Program that aims to strategically work with a few founding partners, to create a customized program to engage with students and alumni in the FI community. Our first partner is Starkey Hearing Technologies, a medical device firm that manufactures and delivers advanced hearing solutions. Our objective is to be able to host more design challenges, recruiting events, and opportunities for our partners to provide career guidance, support, and mentorship. Look for more information this fall. Another initiative is our newly formed MEng Alumni Association. With the Fung Institute’s support, this is an alumni driven initiative that will look at new ways to strengthen the MEng network such as organizing more meetups and professional development opportunities. Look for more information at the end of the magazine and a chance to take their survey! I hope to see many of you at our annual alumni brunch on Sunday, September 8, 2019 in Berkeley. As always, we want to stay in touch so please share your stories, updates, and accomplishments with us throughout the year, in addition to any ideas you have to to continue building and strengthening the FI community! Sincerely, Julie McShane Director, Career Development & Alumni Relations
table of CONTENTS
@funginstitute
2019 Graduate program rankings
19 Moments of 2019 Page 4-5 Fung Fellowship Updates from the Fung Fellowship Page 6-7 Honoring our MEng Mentors Matt Zebiak, General Motors Page 9 Matthew Sherburne, MSE Page 9 Damien Thioulouse, Asurion Page 9 Douglas Hutchings, Squishy Robotics Page 10 Kevin Feng, Beam Solutions Page 10 Seth Hoedl, Post Road Foundation Page 10 Koushil Sreenath, ME Page 10 MEng Intellectual Contribution Awards Meryll Dindin, MEng '19 (BIOE) Page 12 Liwei Chen, MEng '19 (CEE) Page 13 MEng Alumni Updates Message from the Alumni Board Page 14 Class Notes: Alumni Updates Page 15 Save the Date Page 16 Fung Institute Partnership Program Page 17
Berkeley Engineering is consistently ranked among the top engineering schools by many measures, including U.S. News & World Report, which ranks it as third nationally and seventh globally. Many individual disciplines also maintain top rankings among all engineering programs.
16
4 | Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine
18
14
17
1
3
11
13
19
12
15
4
7
1 MEng Orientation: BIOE, ME, CEE, and NE 2 MEng Orientation: EECS, IEOR, and MSE 3 Capstone Marketplace 4 Alumni Brunch: Matt Zebiak and Nada Alameddine 5 Alumni Brunch: Wayne Delker and Paul Ceralde 6 August Coffee Hour 7 September Coffee Hour 8 October Coffee Hour 9 January Coffee Hour 10 February Coffee Hour 11 May Coffee Hour 12 Bose Design Challenge 13 Alumni Happy Hour at 111 Minna Gallery in SF 14 Nod ‘N Talk wins SXSW 15 2019 Capstone Showcase 16 MEng Graduation Reception 17 Blue Goji at Showcase 18 MEng Graduation 19 MEng Graduation: Meryll Dindin and Davide Asnaghi
5
6
10
2
9
8
moments of 2019
fung fellowship
The latest in health+tech+Impact: journeys in aging and innovation
This year, MEng students and alumni gave back to the Fung Institute’s undergraduate program, the Fung Fellowship for Wellness and Technology Innovations, in the annual Big Give. This past spring, the Fellowship celebrated its third year. Since the program’s inception in August 2016, the Fung Fellowship has engaged undergraduate students from across UC Berkeley’s campus in a sustained health + tech experience, carving a unique space for health innovation and designing for social impact. While the program stays true to its vision, recruiting historically under served students in the tech and innovation sector, co-designing the experience with the students, and integrating industry and community partner projects, it continuously evolves and develops to better suit each new cohort of students. This semester, the curriculum and projects focused on designing for the growing population of older adults in the U.S. Both inside and outside the classroom, Fung Fellows envisioned the future of aging, focusing on customer engagement and both low and high tech solutions. A team of four Fung Fellows along with a retired engineer from Osher Lifelong Learning at Berkeley, competed in the Stanford Longevity Challenge, designing for intergenerational impact competing against over 90 teams from 24 countries and won first place. They developed an intergenerational card game that facilitates open dialogue among family, friends, and new social contacts; building relationships across generations. Their innovation received overwhelming enthusiasm spurring the team to pursue the next steps in product development . Inside the Fellowship classroom, twelve Fung Fellow teams partnered with Alzyouneed, Enfavr, San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living, and the Smith Group on projects ranging from gamification to build community supported care giving networks to designing engagement stations for patients with dementia. Teams worked closely with their partner organization, diving into customer engagement, ideation, and prototyping solutions to test with customers. These projects culminated in a public showcase and pitch competition, inviting our growing community and intergenerational judging panel. The winning teams both partnered with Smith Group in designing a memory care engagement station for adults with alzheimer’s and dementia. Engagement stations must delight their customers, engage all senses, be safe in a memory care facility, and stimulate memories of past experiences or pastimes that continue to give them joy. Team Smithy developed a set of thematic trays of physical objects representing a hobby or experience, all connected to a computer for digital visual stimulus. Picking up different objects activated audio and visual stimulation on the screen, creating interaction and sparking delight. Team Roadie took a different approach, designing a road trip experience that gave users the chance to experience road trips by utilizing Google maps roadside technology and voice activation. While the design process led each team in a different direction, the potential for impact was resounding, sparking widespread excitement for what the Fung Fellows will create next. Follow along at @fungfellows on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine | 7
To learn more about the Fung Fellowship for Wellness & Technology Innovations, visit fungfellows.berkeley.edu. To become a project partner , mentor, or get involved please contact us at fungfellowship@berkeley.edu.
Q: What is your advising philosophy? A: My philosophy on advising the MEng students has evolved to be more hands on with the students. This has been driven by the demands on the students’ time from the program. I have found with a little more guidance, the experience for the students and myself can be much more rewarding. Q: How did the Capstone team advance this technology? A: This project was in collaboration with a company. The scientist from the company met with the students and visited them here on campus. This close collaboration has yielded many new ideas about the project which will be implemented next year. Also the company is going to test grow the materials at their facilities, that the Capstone team developed.
Read more about Damien »
Read more about Dr. Sherburne »
industry...
the guidance provided by a mentor, especially an experienced person in a company or educational institution.
Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine | 9
8 | Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine
Q: What’s unique about Berkeley MEng students compared to students from other universities? A: Learn and adapt quickly as well as demonstrate professionalism in project materials. Q: What is your advising philosophy? A: My philosophy is to give objectives, not tasks. If more guidance is needed, give sub-objectives..
to the
Industry Advisor Feature: Damien Thioulouse, Asurion
for the leadership coaching guidance community training practiCe
Q: What’s unique about Berkeley MEng students compared to students from other universities? A: I’d say what sets Berkeley MEng students apart is not only a willingness, but an eagerness to take on real-world engineering problems with all of their associated baggage. With other students, I may have felt guilty bringing them a problem with such a broad scope, asking them to use data with quality issues, and requiring that they deal with company bureaucracy and an advisor living across the country. However, these students are eager to understand what it’s like to tackle engineering problems in the real world so they can enter the workforce prepared, even if it means dealing with logistical annoyances you’d never see in an academic setting. This is a unique quality that will set these students up to be ahead of the game in industry, and leaders wherever they go.
This year marks the launch of MEng Capstone Mentorship Awards. The awards give MEng students an opportunity to recognize capstone advisors who foster intellectual independence, professional development, and provide project support. We had a chance to check-in with the advisors and and ask them about their most memorable advising moments, their advising philosophy, and their perspective on the MEng program. Their answers provide a treasure-trove of insights about the value of mentorship at each stage of the capstone project.
Faculty Advisor Feature: Matthew Sherburne
Read more about Matt »
thank you
Industry Capstone Feature: Matt Zebiak
from the
classroom
men-tôr-SHip (noun)
Q: What’s unique about Berkeley MEng students compared to students from other universities? A: MEng students are all smart and are incredibly diverse (probably a function of having so many international students) — there are some out there with unique viewpoints and a great work ethic, who want to dive into a particular subject. Some come in with deep skill sets in one area which they want to improve, others come in with no experience in the area that they want to learn about. It can be quite tricky navigating that balance. We didn’t get it right all the time, but it’s a useful dynamic to know about.
Q: What is your advising philosophy? A: I try to spend a lot of time working with my students. I encourage students to work with me to solve problems. I have an open-door policy — students can drop in anytime at my office with questions and don’t have to wait until their weekly meeting. Q: What was the most memorable moment with your team? A: Getting the Cassie robot riding on the Hovershoes on outdoor rough terrain late one evening.
Read more about Prof. Sreenath »
Industry Advisor Feature: Seth Hoedl, Post Road Foundation
Read more about Seth »
Faculty Advisor Feature: Koushil Sreenath, Mechanical Engineering
Read more about Douglas »
Industry Advisor Feature: Kevin Feng, Beam Solutions
Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine | 11
Q: What led you to propose an MEng Capstone project? A: I felt that a Capstone project was a great opportunity to have a talented team of engineers explore a research need within our company. As an alum, I knew that our project would be mutually beneficial in terms of students building critical industry skills and Beam gaining valuable blockchain research insights. Q: You’re an MEng graduate and you had your own Capstone project. How has this informed your approach to advising? A: I think having a first-hand perspective on what drives students and what skills prospective data scientists want/need to develop has helped motivate how we designed the Capstone project and provided mentorship to the team.
Q: How did you go about recruiting your team? A: The Fung program made it very easy — there was an online profile for me to post and a project “fair” in August where I described our project to prospective students. When they applied, I made a point of personally interviewing each student at my office to gauge their interests, skills set and commitment. I also aimed to gather a set of students with skills and interests that would compliment each other. Our project was very cross-disciplinary and I needed students with a variety backgrounds.
10 | Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine
Read more about Kevin »
Industry Advisor Feature: Douglas Hutchings, Squishy Robotics
Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine | 13
liwei chen
Each year, Master of Engineering students nominate their peers and vote for the candidate who has contributed the most to the program in areas of leadership. This year, Liwei Chen, MEng ’19 (CEE), was recognized for that honor for his demonstrated leadership abilities across teams. One nominator shared: “My first impression of Liwei was from my first day of Fall 2019 bootcamp, when he drew on his experiences from industry to give a perspective on one of Dr. Fleming’s questions. As someone who came straight from undergraduate, I continually appreciated Liwei’s ideas as they added valuable insight to our discussions. Since those first two weeks, Liwei and I have become friends and I am constantly amazed at how he contributes to our cohort. While he doesn’t hold a formal leadership role, he is always doing what he can to make others’ lives easier, whether that be through giving life advice, connecting people to resources, or advocating for an often unheard voice. Not only have I learned valuable information from him on what it means to be an effective technical leader, I’ve also learned what it means to be a humble and selfless leader. Liwei earns respect from all who encounter him because he genuinely cares for their well-being. He added so much value to my time, and countless others’ time, in this program. He is very deserving of this recognition.” We asked Liwei some questions about his Berkeley MEng experience. What does it mean to you to receive this award? I am very humbled that my classmates nominated me to receive this award. At Berkeley, I met many strong leaders in the MEng program and was able to expand my personal philosophies based on their diverse experiences. They definitely made my MEng experience unique and worthwhile. What are your post-graduation plans? I will be working at Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, as Production Director providing emergency facilities maintenance and services. What was your favorite class at Berkeley? I really enjoyed Professor Fleming’s classes. In particular, I was impressed by his dedication to keep the case studies current with relevant ethical challenges facing engineering leaders such as the downfall of Theranos. What is your advice to future MEng students? The one year in MEng will go by super quick, so make sure to take advantage of everything the program and Berkeley has to offer whether that means taking extra technical electives, listening to the diverse speakers on campus, or traveling through the Bay Area. But most importantly, spend time with your classmates!
Read more about Meryll »
wins MEng Intellectual Contribution Award (Technical)
“Team-up, share your interests, and make the world a better place.”
meryll dindin
wins MEng Intellectual Contribution Award (leadership)
Each year, Master of Engineering students nominate their peers and vote for the candidate who has contributed the most to the program in technical depth. This year, Meryll Dindin, MEng ’19 (BIOE), was recognized for that honor for his demonstrated leadership abilities across teams. One nominator shared: "I would like to nominate Meryll Dindin for his exquisite craftsmanship in programming, creative and comprehensive grasp of ill-defined questions, and remarkable contribution to the Capstone project. Motivated by the desire to bring value to the society in healthcare industry, he played a pivotal role in transforming millions of data and healthcare questions into applicable data science algorithms that can truly bring technical innovations and scaleable improvements to millions of patient’s with diabetes. Beyond technical strength as an engineering, Dindin possesses strong and concise communication skills which could hardly have obtained in any other traditional engineering. Dindin inspired and supported his teammates intellectually with his passion and relentless seeking for great solutions and insightfulness. He vividly expressed him ideas and solutions through combined text, pictures, videos, from multiple perspectives." We asked Meryll some questions about his Berkeley MEng experience. What does it mean to you to receive this award? I feel recognized by my peers, which is priceless. My peers accompanied me throughout the whole year, knew about the ups and downs, recognized the efforts, and surely understood what it took me to get where I am today. Working with those bright and motivated people made this year unforgettable! Moreover, I have been granted an opportunity to make my parents proud. They came to Berkeley to see me graduate and that was the greatest gift I could give them. I’m so happy! What are your post-graduation plans? Currently, I am fully dedicated to my startup, which I co-founded with two MBAs here in Berkeley (thrive-education.co). I have been thriving in an infinite pool of possibilities and will be pursuing what I believe will have the most impact on the world. In addition to that, I plan to keep my role of freelance consultant/tech advisor because I believe in the importance of idea diversity and network growth. During my time at Berkeley, I pursued two long-lasting hackathons. The first one — IBM Call for Code — deals with natural disaster responses and mitigation. We are now trying to expand the team through recruitment in the MEng. The second one — CMS AI Challenge — is more related to my true conviction, as it consists in defining a real strategy for the US healthcare system using AI. I am thrilled by the team of PhDs and MBAs I am working with. What was your favorite class at Berkeley? That is a tough question and I will cheat by giving two. Technically speaking, my favorite one was about neurosciences and neuroethology, mainly because of Professor Michael Yartsev, who is an awesome teacher. And since UC Berkeley is 75% about entrepreneurship, my second favorite class was the Lean LaunchPad, which taught me what real entrepreneurship means and finally got me out of the building to face it.
“At Berkeley, I met many strong leaders in the MEng program and was able to expand my personal philosophies based on their diverse experiences.”
12 | Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine
Read more about Liwei »
meng alumni board
Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine | 15
class notes
Class of 2014 Po Jui (Ray) Chiu (BIOE / Nanomaterials) Current job title and company: Co-founder / Calyx (formerly BioInspira) Update: Calyx, a materials science company from United States that harnesses biology to provide low cost and highly accurate sensors for real time detection and analysis of air chemicals in industries, was awarded $30K in the InnoVEX Pitch Contest on June 7, 2018. Class of 2015 Karan Patel (ME / Product Design) Current job title and company: Product Manager, Dremel Update: I launched a new 3D printer that doubled my division's revenue. Brian Mick (ME / Advanced Energy) Current job title and company: Manager, Battery Systems / Tesla Update: The annual UC Berkeley Class of 2015 reunion was another success! This year the UC Berkeley crew and friends met up in Whistler, Canada to shred the slopes of North America’s largest resort. Class of 2016 Aaron Banks (BIOE) Current job title and company: Sr. Market Development Specialist- Medtronic Spinal and Biologics Update: Got an incredible job, and my presentation skills sealed the deal. Class of 2017 Tara Armand (BIOE) Current job title and company: Scientist II, Siemens Healthcare Laboratory Fun(g) Fact about you: I play seven musical instruments, and recently picked up tango dance classes. I recently reached a dead lift of 225 lbs. I work at the same company as my Capstone partner from MEng. Update: I am now a Scientist II at Siemens Healthcare Laboratory. My team works with various pharmaceutical companies that are developing therapies for diseases that are currently considered untreatable and I develop cell-based assays that will be used to monitor patient response to these drugs during clinical trials. Class of 2018 Michael Brenndoerfer (EECS) Current job title and company: Senior Consultant at McKinsey and Company, QuantumBlack Fun(g) Fact about you: Still in love with coffee. Update: I moved to Boston (the weather is worse). Bradley Los (BIOE / Biomechanics) Current job title and company: Field Service Engineer II, Thermo Fisher Scientific Fun(g) Fact about you: I recently became a music producer in my free time by learning how to use FL Studio software to create instrumentals for a variety of genres. Update: Received a full-time job offer at Thermo Fisher Scientific as a Field Service Engineer II in December after working at a medical device start-up based in Berkeley, CA, called C. Light Technologies, from August to December. I am currently receiving first-hand experience with the biotechnology industry as I visit biotech labs across the Bay Area to help install and repair qPCR and thermal cycler instruments. I am being treated with much respect even though I am an entry-level engineer, and the hard work I put in at the MEng program at UC Berkeley helped accelerate my ability to adapt to different work environments and the diversity of people in the industry. Sina Dabiri (BIOE) Current job title and company: Research Engineer II at Gladstone Institute. Update: I received a promotion to Research Engineer II. Class of 2019 Meryll Dindin (BIOE) Current job title and company: Co-founder & CTO at Thrive Education Update: This year as a MEng student has been super intense. Part of the awesomeness of this adventure was through the co-founding of a startup aiming at social impact. Using the skills I have acquired so far to provide help to children for them to thrive through their all life is, to me, a highly rewarding situation. Tackling the issue and relative inequalities of learning differences is what motivates me, and we hope giving life to this vision in the coming summer!
We are very excited to see this Alumni Association start up and to see the impact it will have on our alumni network and the MEng program. More communication to come in the near future! Until then, we wish you the best in your endeavors. Go Bears! Cheers, Youhee Choi (youhee_choi@berkeley.edu) Guillaume Drugeot (guillaume.drugeot@berkeley.edu) Justin Hong (justin_hong@berkeley.edu)
a note from the
Hello MEng alumni, Our names are Youhee (IEOR 2018), Guillaume (IEOR 2018), and Justin (BIOE 2017). Over the past year, we have been planning the start of the official Berkeley Master of Engineering Alumni Association and Board, and we would like your help! The Alumni Association has a two-fold vision: Maintain and strengthen relationships between MEng alumni Give back to the MEng program in a way that supports its current and future students. In order to help guide the Alumni Association in the best direction possible, we would appreciate your input on a couple different topics through a 1-minute survey in the link below. Please reach out to us at our Berkeley emails at the bottom of this page with further feedback as well!
MEng Alumni Survey
14 | Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine
Your Berkeley MEng Network
alumni updates
Industry Partnership Program
call for capstone projects!
02
SAVE THE DATE
2019 MEng Alumni Brunch Sunday, September 8, 2019 The Fung Institute will be hosting our 8th Annual MEng New Student & Alumni Brunch on Sunday, September 8th. Please join us for another fun opportunity to connect with MEng alumni, expand your MEng network and for alumni to offer advice to the new class of over 450 students. Check your email for updates on how to register for the event.
Academic Team Projects
Every year, MEng teams partner with industry leaders to pilot new initiatives, improve existing products, and develop data-driven business strategy. If you are interested in proposing a project, contact Alex Beliaev!
contact us Julie McShane Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership jmcshane@berkeley.edu (510) 642-6402
Professional Development & Networking
03
Founding Partners: $15K
01
How to Propose a Project
04
Visibility & Recognition
Student Recruitment
The Fung Institute Industry Partnership Program fosters meaningful industry collaboration as we train the next generation of technical innovators and leaders. Limited to five key partners, this program allows your company to gain unique access to Berkeley Master of Engineering students representing seven engineering disciplines and undergraduates working at the intersection of health + tech. This partnership is exclusive to ensure purposeful and customized engagement. Become a founding Fung Institute partner and gain access to: Student Recruitment: Connect with over 400 Master of Engineering students, 1,500 alumni, and undergraduate student Fellows Develop campus recruitment strategy with UR professionals Host one on-campus information session per year Participate in an on-campus interview day Gain access to FI Connect, an online platform for networking and job postings VISIBILITY & RECOGNITION: Create a unique campus event, e.g. Design Challenge or Hackathon Recognition on website, email campaigns, and social media Speaking opportunity in the Fung Institute Seminar Series Academic Team Projects: Invitation to partner on Master of Engineering Capstone project or undergraduate health + tech projects Receive special recognition at student showcases Professional Development & Networking: Networking with other industry partners Discounted rates on FI executive education program Exclusive invitations to participate in UCB events, e.g. Women in Tech or Aging & Tech Conferences Join annual strategy meeting with FI leadership setting technology and workforce training priorities
Activate your FI Connect Account This will be your continued resource for MEng job postings, events, and platform to search. connect & network with the global MEng alumni community.
Content Caroline Osterman, Ashley Villanueva, Jessie Ying Photography Caroline Osterman, Golnaz Shahmirzadi, Ashley Villanueva copy Editors Alex Beliaev, Megan Braverman, Julie McShane, Caroline Osterman, Dione Rivera Design Ashley Villanueva
Join FI Connect!
Claim your Berkeley.edu account! Berkeley MEng alumni: Secure your free @ berkeley.edu email address. Benefits of joining @cal: Search and contact alums. Use your Cal network. Create your free public profile. Easy way to start or improve your online presence.
don't lose touch!
Claim your email!
stay connected to the cal network
Editorial Team
