Explorer Categories: Union of Alumni

CRISPR-based gene therapies represent a potentially transformative treatment modality for patients suffering from diseases with underlying genetic etiologies. However, utilizing this knowledge to improve human health requires both scientific innovation and industrial translation of these ideas into treatments. As a PhD candidate in the Doudna lab, I have strived to not only develop a solid scientific foundation, but to learn about the development landscape for novel treatment modalities. From a high school research internship to my current position as a PhD candidate, I have grown into a strong and confident scientist. After graduating, my career aspirations are to become an industry leader in developing intracellular biologics. I believe that the technical and professional skills I gain from my graduate research will provide me a foundation for a successful career in early-stage industrial development of cutting edge biotherapeutics.

I am a four year studying EECS and Statistics at UC Berkeley. I am interested in the applications of machine learning related to speech and have been doing undergraduate research with the Berkeley Speech Group for two semesters where I primarily work on mapping articulatory representations of speech captured from different devices to speech. Outside of my research interests, I am involved with CS education at Berkeley, having staffed for classes such as CS 170 and EE 126. I have also helped run the Going Down the EECS Stack Decal, a student-run course designed to better introduce students to various fields within EECS.

I am a fourth year undergraduate student in the EECS department at UC Berkeley, and will be researching DC-AC control techniques for a multilevel inverter in residential use cases. I have always loved to build and create, and have refined that into a passion for electrical engineering during my university experience. I am excited about facilitating the transition to renewable and clean energy through research and extracurricular activities. To this extent, I spend my free time developing a high-voltage battery pack for an electric racecar which competes in the yearly FSAE competition.

I am an Argentinian PhD candidate with a background in mathematics, physics, and data science. My research lies in the intersection of novel data science methods and physics, with emphasis in glacier modelling and scientific software development. I am fortunate to be advised by Fernando Pérez (UC Berkeley, Project Jupyter) and Jonathan Taylor (Stanford).

I am a fourth-year EECS PhD candidate advised by Professor Somayeh Sojoudi. My current research broadly spans safety, interpretability, and robustness in machine learning. I double majored in CS and Mathematics as an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, and I like to use interesting mathematical tools in my research work today. I enjoy playing chess, guitar, and soccer in my free time.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, I’m a PhD student in theoretical cosmology studying statistical methods to search for axion cosmic strings using light from the distant universe. I’ve also been a key developer of the scientific critical thinking course, Sense and Sensibility and Science, which is now being taught in universities and high schools around the world. As a classically trained musician, I play the piano and the clarinet. As a tenor, I have sung in operas and am a member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. In my spare time, I contribute to mathlib, a library of computer formalised mathematical proofs, and write Wikipedia articles in English and Chinese. Outside of nerdy pursuits, I enjoy travelling and hiking in nature. I’m excited to meet and learn from people from different disciplines and different countries.

Amanda was born, raised, and educated in Austin, Texas. She went to The University of Texas at Austin (UT), where she earned a BA in Plan II Honors and a BS in Biomedical Engineering. At UT, her work focused on exploring the relationship between motivation and stress in engineering undergraduate students. She also helped develop and validate targeted drug delivery systems.

A PhD candidate in the UCSF-UC Berkeley Joint PhD Program in Bioengineering, Amanda is now wrapping up her work in Professor Dan Fletcher’s lab at UC Berkeley. Her research is at the intersection of CRISPR-Cas and viruses: she is engineering new viral-based vectors to deliver gene editing tools and developing CRISPR-Cas-based assays to detect viruses.

When not in lab, Amanda can be found in her garden, observing the beauty of nature and deciding what to plant next.

I’m a third year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley studying computer science with an interest in leveraging technology to address climate change challenges. I’m currently working in the Girotto lab where I run hydrological models to determine how restoring beaver populations could increase the water storage capacity of the Sierra Nevada mountains. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, playing tennis, and playing guitar.

Kelly is a 6th year PhD candidate in the Pilawa Power Electronics Research Group at UC Berkeley. She studies power converter design for grid-tied applications. Her circuit designs boost efficiency, enable volume reduction, and improve EMI performance. Her areas of interest include electric vehicle charging, solar inverters, and micro-grid applications. She has held power electronic internships at Tesla, Apple, and Texas Instruments.