Fung Fellowship Experience

Fung Fellows came together for Fungsgiving, an event centered on community building and cross-cohort engagement. The gathering provided a warm and welcoming space for Fellows to connect, share experiences, creating a festive atmosphere and fostering community!

Shaan Puri — entrepreneur, investor, founder, and host of the podcast My First Million, shared his entrepreneurial journey with Fung Fellows. He offered insights on navigating uncertainty, identifying high-impact opportunities, embracing calculated risks, and staying adaptable. Shaan inspired Fellows to think big, act boldly, and approach challenges with confidence.

Aaron Goldstein, a licensed architect, architectural historian, and founder of the East Bay Urban Tank House Map, joined Fellows as a guest speaker to share his research on historic water tanks in the East Bay. This once-essential infrastructure was used to pump groundwater into neighborhoods throughout the region but has largely faded from the landscape, with many remaining tanks repurposed into storage spaces or creative living areas. Fellows explored how infrastructure shapes communities and gained hands-on experience using CAD software for mapping and infrastructure design.

Aaron Wilson, CTO, Managing Partner, and Co-Founder of ScaleSec, brought his deep expertise in cloud security to a conversation with Fung Fellows on safeguarding health data. He shared lessons from his work with top global organizations, helping Fellows understand how architecture, automation, and strategy play a role in building secure and accessible systems.

Fellows explored hands-on prototyping with guest speaker Celia Elmasu, a product designer experienced in a wide range of product categories, including housewares, consumer electronics, and packaging. Drawing on her global design training, from Paris to Silicon Valley, Celia shared her passion for user-centered design and guided Fellows through approaches to rapid prototyping, concept development, and translating ideas from sketch to production.

Fellows in the Conservation track launched their Fall Design Challenge in partnership with a community-led coalition, Reclaim Our Power, focusing on community-driven solutions for a clean, just, and publicly-managed energy future in California. Over the next 12 weeks, Fellows will engage in research, mapping, and storytelling to design public-facing tools that educate and inspire action around environmental justice and energy equity.

Fung Fellows in the Health + Innovation track launched their design challenge with Autumn Boylan, Deputy Director at the California Department of Health Care Services. Fellows were introduced to four priority areas for addressing the youth mental health crisis in California: healthcare settings, digital environments, schools and colleges, and homes and communities. This specific Fall design challenge invites Fellows to focus on the digital environment, designing innovative digital tools, software, hardware, or both, and crafting thoughtful go-to-market strategies to support youth mental health across the state.

Julia Sizek, PhD, Research Associate at the University of Oregon’s Ecosystem Workforce Program, joined Fellows in the Conservation track to share best practices for conducting interviews. Drawing from her field experience, she emphasized neutrality by avoiding leading questions to reduce bias and allow interviewees to share their perspectives authentically. She also shared tips on reaching out beyond familiar circles, using humor, and approaching interviews with warmth and calm to build trust and gather deeper insights.

Fellows welcomed guest speaker Thomas Goetz — journalist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Building H, a nonprofit exploring how companies impact public health. Thomas shared insights on the health effects of consumer products and introduced the H Index, a new tool used to evaluate how companies influence population health. Drawing from his background in data storytelling, research, and digital health innovation, Thomas helped Fellows think critically about corporate responsibility and the role of design in driving healthier outcomes.

We kicked off the 2024–25 fellowship experience with our annual Fall Boot Camp, welcoming the 8th cohort of Fung Fellows! The day was filled with collaborative workshops, team activities, and program intros that helped Fellows start building connections and prepare for an impactful year ahead in the Health and Conservation tracks.

To close out the academic year, 12 teams from the Fung Fellowship presented their final design solutions at the Fung Institute End of Year Showcase alongside Berkeley Master of Engineering students. With over 300 guests in attendance, the event showcased student-led innovations addressing real-world challenges in health equity, environmental sustainability, and other critical issues driving social change.

As part of the Fellowship’s commitment to real-world applicability and interactive learning, Fung Fellows in the Conservation track participated in individual presentations focused on current news stories related to the course’s overall themes. Fellows brought forth a diverse array of topics, reflecting on their personal interests, experiences, and concerns within the realm of environmental conservation. Offering insights into their hopes and expectations for the future, fellows expressed optimism, envisioning positive change spurred by heightened awareness and collective action, while also acknowledging and highlighting the urgent need for transformative solutions for tough environmental challenges.

Hosted in collaboration with the Berkeley Career Engagement Center and presented by our very own Fung Fellow alum and BCE Peer Advisor, Salvador Gomez, this session helped Fellows gain practical tips on building their professional brand and growing their networks. Fellows explored how to navigate informational interviews, build a LinkedIn profile that stands out, and connect meaningfully with professionals in their areas of interest.

Sam Pottinger, Senior Research Data Scientist and Software Engineer at the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and Environment led a presentation on “Tackling the Global Plastic Crisis: Design to enable science to reach policy at the UN.” Sam shared valuable insights with the Conservation track fellows on how the reality of implementing an environmental conservation policy is different from an ideal linear process, and how concepts like the IKEA effect and using online interactive models can be helpful tools to the public and the decision makers.

The Health + Innovation Cohort participated in a CAD prototyping workshop led by GSI Krina Patel, where they delved into the basics of computer-aided design and its uses, such as in medical devices and 3D bioprinting. They utilized OnShape CAD software and paper prototyping to develop a low fidelity physical prototype representation of a user journey for the design challenge. The cohort also learned about CAD manufacturing processes and where they can continue to learn more about CAD!

Thanks to a semester-long partnership with UC Berkeley’s Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC), our Fung Fellows in the Conservation track had the opportunity to engage with an extraordinary sustainability focused career panel. The panel focused on diverse career opportunities within the field of sustainability and featured esteemed professionals, bringing a wealth of experience and insights to the discussion. Octavia Sun, Corporate Sustainability Reporter for Nasdaq ESG, shared her insights into the world of corporate sustainability tracking, having worked with various industries to create and strengthen their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies. Kiana Kazemi, Co-founder and CEO of Beaker, offered valuable perspectives on entrepreneurship in the sustainability field. Carmel Tenebaum, Events Production Manager for Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition), emphasized the significance of integrating sustainability metrics into event planning and execution. SERC’s Taylor Ann Rubly and Chloe Jade Liu also deserve special thanks for organizing and hosting this event!

Camille Weber, a Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), led this firsthand workshop on how best to apply to EPA and other federal career jobs for the Conservation Track. Camille provided invaluable guidance on the application process and also shared an insider’s view on working for the federal government. Kira Wiesinger, an alumna of the Fung Fellowship (cohort 2022-2023), also joined as a guest speaker, sharing her success story of landing a job as an EPA Life Scientist after following Camille’s advice from the workshop last year. This workshop provided fellows insights on potential federal careers in the environmental and conservation sectors.

The Health + Innovation cohort was joined by Veenu Aulakh, Executive Director of the Medical Innovation Collaborative/Advisors; Danielle Bicknell, Founder & CEO of Dab Collab and Financial Feminist, and Startup Advisor; and Andrew Lindbloom, Policy & Partnership Lead at Pear Suite and UC Berkeley School of Public Health, for a discussion on human-centered design and its intersection with policy, equity, and health outcomes. They delved into different multifaceted uses of HCD, including understanding disparities, equity, policy, and stakeholders, alignment with interdisciplinary work, and leveraging design to transcend policy limitations, while working collaboratively and in parallel with one another.

Ella Shwartz, a policymaker, Co-Founder and President of Braided Health, operator, and investor, joined the Health + Innovation cohort as a guest lecturer to share insights on the nuances of Medicaid. Ella shared her valuable insights into the complexities and challenges of Medicaid, emphasizing the slow progress in innovation within Medicaid is due to high costs, scalability issues, and the privatization of the healthcare system. Her expertise provided Fung Fellows with a deeper understanding of Medicaid, particularly in areas such as health equity, financing, and the importance of data sharing and integration.

Dr. Tom, the Chief Medical Officer at Kintsugi, visited the Health + Innovation Cohort to talk about neurology, psychology, voice biomarkers, and neuromotor function. During the session, Dr. Tom discussed how short fragments of speech can aid the diagnosis of depression and anxiety, in addition to its contrasting issues, such as the effects of social media, untreated depression, and often prolonged time required for patient diagnosis. This insightful lecture prompted Fung Fellows to explore the connection between neurological study and the ethical tensions of health design.

Working with Oakland-based Civic Design Studio, Castlemont High School, and other community organizations, the Conservation + Innovation Cohort presented their final Fall semester pitches, addressing the design challenge question “How might we enhance Castlemont High School’s farm and surrounding areas with new, innovative student engagement strategies for teaching about sustainability and other related fields that are part of the required (or desired!) curriculum?” Each Fung Fellow team demonstrated their commitment to accessible, sustainable, and inclusive solutions to a variety of problems by employing iterative human-centered design practices, while some teams also offered prototypes to illustrate their concepts. Utilizing different design practices, engineering and computing skills, and design tools such as journey maps and user personas, the teams pitched solutions that prioritized the needs of diverse stakeholders while ensuring a user-friendly experience.

The Health + Innovation Cohort gathered at Mudd Hall to pitch a 6-minute presentation to wrap up the Fall semester. Ten teams each displayed their design research methods and storytelling to answer the question, “How might we improve youth mental health of well-being now and in the future?” within the topics of Climate Resilience and Youth loneliness, partnering with Hopelab. The Final projects of Fall 2023 consisted of Breathe, Climatlas, Chosen Family, EQuest, Bear Hub, Cal Cooks, U Belong, EmpowerHealth, and SocialSpark. With a semester of learning about and practicing human-centered design, fellows are prepared to tackle design challenges with industry partners in the spring!

Ace Chen, instructor and curriculum lead for the Figma DeCal at UC Berkeley, recently led Figma 101 workshops for both Health and Conservation Fung Fellow cohorts. During the interactive workshop, he provided a crash course on using Figma effectively for various projects. Through a combination of instructional slides and practical exercises, Fung Fellows explored the fundamental mechanics and features of Figma, learning to create working prototypes for their Fall and Spring projects.

Health Track Fellows had the opportunity to tour the Garfield Innovation Center at Kaiser Permanente with Gary Waymire, Director of Innovation Consultancy. Waymire shared insights on applying innovation to facilities, processes, patient care, and technology, highlighting essential tools for effective prototype creation. The Garfield Center is one of several Kaiser Permanente innovation entities and has been a space where they have tested, mocked up and simulated many health care innovation projects.

Health + Innovation track Fung Fellows learned more about the design process through Dr. Rebecca Hope, CEO of YLabs, a research and design organization developing technologies and to amplify youth agency, power, and opportunity. Dr. Hope spoke on the importance of designing for digital equity. In this process, she walked through YLabs’ project on implementing a digital learning and self-care program to improve mental health literacy and awareness in youth, from its starting steps in research to current steps in implementation and evaluation. Through sharing her journey at the intersection of healthcare and design, students were able to not only learn more about design principles and methods, but were able to gain valuable insight in the space.

John Robert Robichaux, the Executive Director of the Fung Institute, discussed the impact of AI on healthcare with the Health + Innovation cohort. He highlighted significant ways that AI currently shapes healthcare, which he referred to as “3 Big Buckets.” This includes maximizing efficiency in the healthcare system to nurture doctor-patient relationships, predictions of pharmaceutical discovery, and integration of health and wellness through everyday activities (ie. fitbit, sensors, gaming eyewear to determine disease). With his inspiring talk, John challenged the Fung Fellows to ponder an important question — what will human-centered AI and ethical healthcare for the next generation look like?

Hands-on experience and connection with nature is always integral in the promotion of biodiversity; to quote the Fung Fellowship’s Conservation + Innovation track, “significant emphasis is placed on finding solutions for living more harmoniously in nature,” which was exactly the goal for the Conservation track’s Field Trip to the Wild in Tilden Park on September 27th! Fung Fellows were first assigned a “Tech Challenge” as a preparation lab for the subsequent field trip during which they split up into teams and set up trail cameras, cleverly designed with camouflage and able to take multiple pictures with customizable speeds/intervals, capture modes, and image/video resolutions to capture any number of wildlife species in the area.

Fung Fellows gathered together for a fun social event at Shires Hall with games, music, and everyone’s favorite, pizza! This marked the inaugural social event of the year and we are looking forward to many more fun gatherings ahead!

Kathy Huang, Daniel Tauber, and Yicheng Sun from IDEO, a global innovation and design company, joined the Health + Innovation track seminar to speak about their experiences in design and facilitate discussion on generative AI in health spaces. Through an engaging activity where students were asked to rank how much they agreed or disagreed with different statements, the panel was able to pave the way for meaningful dialogue surrounding the relationship between social determinants of health and new technologies.

Our all-day Boot Camp featured various skills building activities, intro to the program + FF staff and teaching team, team-based interactions, and professional development opportunities. Additionally, to make it even more special, the presence of our Fung Fellowship alumni added depth and insight to this enriching kick-off experience! We’re absolutely delighted to welcome our 7th Fung Fellow Cohort and excited to explore innovative ideas in Health & Conservation spaces fueled by their diverse talents, perspectives, and passion for making a positive social impact!

This August, a team of Fung Fellows: Kelsey Leet, Anjana Saravanan, Aditya Vunnum, Joelle Siong Sin, and Elena Mujica had the chance to put their design into action with the help of their project partner, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project (PMDP) — a non-profit that aims to protect the sensitive wildlife and critical habitats of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) from the threats of marine debris. The team embarked on a trip to Hawaii to field-test their underwater net removal prototype, which featured a cutting and tensioning tool designed for improved efficiency.

To mark the end of a great school year and celebrate their journey and accomplishments together, Fung Fellows gathered for a joyous end-of-year dinner celebration, organized and led by the Student Leadership Board.

Alumni, friends of Fung, and the cohort of 2023-24 gathered for an in-person Spring Networking Event that included a panel discussion skillfully led by our student facilitators, providing a unique opportunity for our alumni to share valuable insights, explore journey synergies and reflect on their professional experiences. The event extended into the evening with a lively open networking session, enabling alumni and current cohort of Fung Fellows to engage in open discussion, forge new connections and nurture existing relationships.

To make the admissions and recruitment process more reflective of the Fung Fellowship experience, our student Recruitment Board revamped and redesigned the application process and piloted a new interview process and format – Ready, Design, Go. The fellowship is committed to co-design and adapting our processes as the program evolves and students needs and interests change.

The cohort of 2022-23 Fung Fellows came together to participate in the Spring Retreat, where fellows across both Health and Conservation tracks engaged in exciting design challenges, interactive hands-on workshops and fun teaming activities. Through a rotating workshop module, everyone had an opportunity to build Vibrotos and engage in a Figma workshop, which fostered cross-cohort engagement and a rich exchange of unique ideas. Additionally, Fung Fellows ventured into the great outdoors with Cal Adventures, where they learned more teaming skills through playful collaboration. This retreat truly exemplified the essence of the Fung Fellowship, nurturing collaboration, fostering innovation, and co-designing experiences.

In the Fall of 2022 Fellows collaborated with Hopelab to answer, “How might we promote youth mental health and wellbeing in the next digital era?” Tasked with conducting user research interviews and developing a prototype to leverage the power of technology, Fung Fellows eagerly embraced the opportunity to innovate. Driven by their desire to create user-friendly technological solutions, and advance supportive and accessible care in the digital space, the teams demonstrated diverse skills and perspectives, enabling a rich and comprehensive exploration for impact in our changing digital landscape.

Fellows in the Conservation + Innovation track took a field trip to set camera traps with Naturalists of the Tilden Nature Area, part of the East Bay Regional Park District. With their expert help, students hope to capture any number of wildlife species that roam the Tilden area, including the elusive mountain lion. In roughly three weeks’ time, the cameras will be retrieved and the images collected will be analyzed for a mini design challenge project.

Our kick off to the fellowship experience was in person this year featuring human-design workshops, community building, leadership lightening talks, and sessions run by Honors Fellows including Hardware and Software basics as well as Notion. Our new teaching team was introduced and all were ready to start the semester!

The Fung Institute hosted our first End of Year Showcase at Mudd Hall with both the Master of Engineering and Fung Fellowship programs showcasing their projects from the academic year. Fellow teams either shared a poster or interactive tabletop display with an audience of over 600 guests to share in innovation and community.

Fung Fellows gathered together to adventure across the Bay to the Exploratorium in San Francisco to be inspired by creativity, interactive education, and play. With the goals of community building and learning more about prototyping, fellows from all tracks spent the day exploring and brainstorming how they would take what they learned and apply it to their own prototypes.

Driving the Fung Fellowship recruitment and admissions cycle are a group of dedicated current Fung Fellows from the Health, Conservation, and Honors tracks. Fellows review applications holistically, keep the values of the fellowship central, and make key decisions in the admissions process.

Fung Fellows created prototypes, pitches, and videos for their final Design Challenge of the semester. Each track and the Honors cohort held in-person events to present their work to their peers, campus community, and project partners. Fellows in the Conservation track created ‘Engagement Stations’ to share more about their innovations with the audience.

Fung Fellows and Staff from all tracks gathered together in Shires Hall to celebrate the holiday season, share food, and practice gratitude together. We are grateful for the ability to hang together in person and to our extended community!

The EFC West Honors Team traveled to Northern California to the Hoopa Valley Reservation to meet with tribal leaders and the community as they partner together for the year-long design project. During the visit, Honors Fellows conducted interviews, learned more about and listened to the community, and pivoted their project.

Bill Wise, a veteran employee at Pixar, joined the Conservation + Innovation track to discuss his journey from teaching himself computer programs to becoming the character supervisor for the Incredibles. Fung Fellows learned about the risks it took to make seemingly impossible movies come to life and the value of storytelling.

As a part of the project kickoff, Fung Fellows in the Health + Innovation track had the opportunity to hear from Dan Gillette from The Change Lab at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, our partner organization for the second Design Challenge. Fellows learned about the importance of “wrap-around” services in supporting the physical and social health of elderly individuals and of existing services, like the PACE program, that allow elders to age-in-place.

The Health + Innovation track kicked off its first Design Challenge by exploring health misinformation. Two experts⁠—Coye Cheshire from the School of Information and Jessica Durkin from Facebook⁠—were invited into the classroom. Fellows explored the landscape of misinformation, disinformation, and the impacts on personal and community health decision-making.

Fung Fellows are back in lab sections each week deepening their learning from lectures and engaging in small group discussions. Tyus Williams, our Conservation track GSI, hangs with students post conversations exploring the differences between bioaccumulation and biomagnification.

With the Fall 2021 semester upon us, the Fung Fellowship kicked off the program experience in a hybrid boot camp event. Incoming Fung Fellows committed to a two-day event human-design workshops, community building, and preparing for the fall semester. Honors Fellows lead several sessions, setting the foundation for cross-cohort connections.

Marking the half-way point in our semester-long design challenge, all of our project partners were invited into the virtual classroom to hear rapid fire presentations from multiple teams. Project partners and guests provided direct feedback, asked questions, and used Miro to capture key comments for propelling each project forward.

Conservation + Innovation fellows welcomed Patrick Gonzalez, Principal Climate Change Scientist for the National Park Service and Associate Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley focused on human-caused climate change through scientific research to reveal new insights on ecosystem impacts and carbon solutions.

In a continued effort to co-design the fellowship experience, we launched a formal Fung Fellowship Recruitment Board to lead the recruitment and admissions cycle for incoming fellows. This board consists of ten members driving everything from our outreach strategy to our data collection methodology. This is one of many opportunities for fellows to grow their leadership and to leave a lasting impact on the program.

Sharon Negri, Founder and Director of WildFutures, joined the Conservation + Innovation fellows to discuss wildlife tracking. Fung Fellows had an exclusive Q&A session with Sharon as they dove deeper into the direct exploitation of organisms through a case study about California mountain lions.

The Conservation + Innovation track launches a seven-week design challenge to answer the question: “How might we co-create sustainable income opportunities that: (a) decrease human-based pressures on wildlife species; and (b) mitigate biodiversity loss as well as threats to human health and livelihoods?” Eight teams of fellows worked with Wildlife Conservation Network partners to create innovations around the globe from addressing gillnet fishing in Belize to supporting cheetah conservation in Botswana.

There is perhaps no bigger driver of change to natural ecosystems than agriculture. One detrimental practice is the use of waste-sourced materials in fertilizers. Our Conservation + Innovation fellows thus tackled the question, “How might we use technology to help farmers better understand the environmental impacts of fertilizers, and make more eco-friendly fertilizer choices?” in partnership with Save Our Soil, an Earth Island Institute sponsored project. Their multifaceted innovations included mock websites and phone apps, and even one working app prototype aimed to teach the next generation of farmers about environmentally friendly farming practices through interactive games. Our design challenge partner Patricia Martin, Executive Director of Save Our Soil, was impressed, saying, “The work put in by the students was incredible. There are some real possibilities that could help farming practices become greener and our food supply and environment become cleaner!”

Fung Fellows in the Health + Innovation track partnered with Kaiser Permanente and UCSF for their first Design Challenge of Fall 2020 to answer the question: How might we use telehealth to improve equity and access for patients and providers? As COVID-19 has expedited and expanded telehealth services, fellows first worked to synthesize what has already been tried and the lessons learned and then applied their insights for a more equitable future for healthcare, with increased access to quality care as the immediate crisis response to the pandemic subsides.

Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker Eric Daniel Metzgar joined the Conservation + Innovation fellows to discuss his film, The Chances of the World Changing, which exams one individual’s extraordinary attempts to save rare turtle and tortoise species from extinction. Fung Fellows had an exclusive Q&A session with Eric as they dove deeper into navigating complex societal and economic systems, cultural beliefs and values, individual responsibility, and the urgency to save our planet’s species.

This year, the Fung Fellowship Boot Camp was hosted entirely remotely for the very first time. This event is the first opportunity for Health + Innovation and Conservation + Innovation fellows to meet and work with each other. The boot camp served as an exciting look at how the fellowship will continue to develop as a program in an online format and kick off the largest fellowship class yet!

Sonal Kapoor, is spending her summer as a Kleiner Perkins (KP) Design Fellow, where she is interning at Nuna. Nuna is a healthcare tech company that creates software tools to support low-cost and high-quality healthcare to people across the country. Sonal’s work consisted of researching, designing, and testing a dashboard to help track the return on investment (ROI) of a Nuna tool. Most of Sonal’s academic work relates to her major, Economics, so she attributes the Fung Fellowship for introducing her to human-centered design in the public health/healthcare space. She says the program has helped build her confidence as a designer, especially in the area of public health and healthcare, making for a seamless transition to her work at Nuna.

With the support of the SURF Fellowship from UC Berkeley, Kamu Potharaju is working as a research assistant and on her public health honors thesis with Dr. Courtney Lyles from the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations (CVP). Her research will be a part of a larger effort, called MAVEN, to design a community-driven personal health library platform for individuals with diabetes in SF. Kamu plans to study how clinical providers can better integrate knowledge of social determinants of health into their treatment of patients with diabetes. Kamu’s work incorporates skills she learned in the Fung Fellowship, including user-interviews, interactive prototyping, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Our 2020 Honors Team Adapt began the academic year working with the Elder Care Alliance (ECA) to design adaptive apparel for caregivers dressing older adults with mobility challenges. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, it was clear that the ECA caregivers safety had to be revisited. Therefore, the team quickly pivoted to design personal protective equipment (PPE), specifically non-surgical gowns, that were in most critical need. After weeks of researching and prototyping they settled on a simple gown design, recruited over 50 volunteers, and delivered over 200 gowns. Read more about their work here!

It is with deep appreciation that we graduate our 2019-2020 Honors Fellows. We wished we could have been able to gather in person to celebrate them. Resorting to the next best thing, the Honors class was recognized with a letter sent to their homes to be opened together during a virtual graduation. The letter included homemade Fellow-themed BINGO board. After kind words were exchanged, the whole group played BINGO, while simultaneously reminiscing about their FF experience and celebrating each other.

Since February, our Fellows had been working with four project partners – CareMerge, OLLI@Berkeley, SF Tech Council, and Tin Can Associates – to create technologies for improving the lives of older adults.These challenges include intergenerational connections, employment, aging in place, and the role of caregivers. Nine Fellow teams presented their innovations and recommendations to their partners and our community.

Amidst a global pandemic the whole world adjusted to an intensified virtual life. With Fellows spread across the nation and globe due to COVID-19, students got creative when it came to customer engagement and teaming. Using tools such as Mural.io and instagram polls, the Fung Fellows persisted to push their projects forward and connect with team members.

The Fellowship, lead by Director Jennifer Mangold with assistance from 3 Fellows, hosts the first Public Interest Technology Summit on UC Berkeley’s campus. It was here that university program and division directors, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, along with local community and government organizations met with the shared purpose of collaborating on public interest technology (PIT) programming at UC Berkeley, outlining the campus’ landscape, and identifying areas of opportunity for curriculum development and cross-campus collaboration. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the team quickly pivoted to provide an in-person and remote experience.

The program makes an exciting announcement that the 2020-21 class will include two tracks: Health + Innovation and Conservation + Innovation. The new Conservation + Track was launched in partnership with the Rausser College of Natural Resources. The announcement was met with celebration from current and prospective students alike.

To kick off the new semester, both cohorts participated in fellowship retreats. With the goal of getting to know each other better, improving teaming and leadership skills, and to simply unplug, the Honors Fellows went off to Walker Creek Ranch in Petaluma and the Year One students flew through the redwoods at Strawberry Canyon. Both classes came back to campus with a little mud on their knees and a lot more understanding and appreciation for their classmates and team members.

Congratulations to our Year 1 Fellows and Honors Fellows for completing their fall semester presentations! Year 1 Fellows pitched their innovations addressing isolation and loneliness to our project partner, Hopelab, and Honors Fellows presented their mid-term deliverables on their progress in user research.

In partnership with Hopelab, Year 1 Fellows work in teams to tackle the question: “How might we reduce loneliness among college students?” In the following weeks, students engage in extensive customer engagement, understanding, and framing along with idea generation, prototyping, and user-testing.

To grow as leaders and professionals, Honors Fellows design and deliver lab sessions to the first year Fung Fellows throughout the year. Lab Leaders tackle topics ranging from how to win hackathons to design language and design language + implicit bias!

Honors Fellows launched their year long project experience through an evening of networking and partner pitches. The Fung Fellowship invited YMCA, Bitmark, Hopelab, Elder Care Alliance, and OLLI to pitch their project ideas and discuss how Fung Fellows can move the needle in their health + innovation initiatives.

New cohort of Fung Fellows bond in teams as they tackle a design challenge on social connectedness with the Tang Center, engage in cohort and skill building, and design a final pitch video to kick off the Fellowship experience.

Fung Fellow, Sonia Salunke, shares her story on her transformative journey through the first year of the Fellowship. Watch Sonia’s video here and learn more through the eyes of a Fellow!

In the final event of the year, twelve Fung Fellow teams showcased their semester-long projects & innovations to reimagine the future of aging to an audience of over 200 guests. Teams worked directly with four project partners working on innovations ranging from gamification to incentivize community supported caregiving networks to designing engagement stations for patients with dementia. Read the recap!

Fung Fellows visited Hopelab to learn about how Hopelab is utilizing technology and human-centered design to combat loneliness and isolation in the student community. Fellows provided Hopelab professionals with feedback on their concepts, wireframes, branding, and moodboards.

Fung Fellows participated in a variety of activities and workshops aimed at building leadership, communication, and critical thinking skills. Through problem-solving and team collaboration, Fellows built trust, growing as individuals and as a cohort.

Fung Fellows presented their final project pitches to Fellows, Fellowship staff, and a panel of external judges, summarizing their work on the Purple Asparagus platform. Fellows used a multi-media approach while keeping the customer at the center of their innovations.

Sponsored by VentureWell, the Fung Fellowship hosted an impactful workshop focused on the entrepreneurial mindset. Not limited to entrepreneurs, the workshop focused on how to approach challenges, mistakes, and opportunities, while continuously improving your skill set throughout a career.

Purple Asparagus, an organization that educates children and communities about healthy eating for the body and environment, drives the second design challenge with the question: “How might we use technology and the Purple Asparagus program to improve childhood nutrition?”

A new Fung Fellow cohort of 55 students kicked off their Fellowship journey together in a three-day bootcamp, with a focus on creating innovations for Moffitt Library to ultimately improve student wellbeing. Read this design challenge here!

In May 2018, the first Fung Fellow cohort graduated from the program after a two-year journey together. Two of our Fellows were commencement speakers for their colleges including Michelle Sou, pictured, at the Public Health ceremony. Read her inspiring speech here!

The inaugural class of Fung Fellows showcased their year-long, innovation lab projects at an exclusive event at BAMPFA. Harnessing meaningful customer engagement, their innovations leveraged emerging technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, connected devices, and more.

For the first time, the Fung Fellows and Masters of Engineering students presented their projects side by side. Nine Fellowship teams shared their health and wellness innovation to guests from across the Bay. Read more here!

Congratulations to Fung Fellow team, GAIT! GAIT won funding for their health + tech innovation that supports mobility in older adults from the CITRIS Tech for Social Good Program.

Fellows back at UC Berkeley exploring partner organizations and potential projects for the academic year. Fellows form their own teams and work directly with community and industry to bring a project from ideation to product development.

To kick off the second year of the Fellowship, Fellows met for an overnight retreat to reconnect as a cohort and get the design juices flowing for final projects.

Fung Fellows spend two days learning about videography and editing, compelling storytelling techniques, and the unique stories each Fellow holds.

Fellows brought their unique experience and knowledge to each internship site. Three Fellows interned in different departments at Kaiser Permanente. Read more about their work here

In the summer bridging the two years of the Fellowship, Fellows participated in internships across the globe.

Three Fellows presented their innovations to improve sexual health education at the Youth + Tech + Health conference. Read more here

At the end of second semester, Fellows pitched their innovations to reduce social isolation for older adults and veterans to the wider FF community.

Trained in the Design Process, Fellows embrace the iterative process by seeking feedback from peers, experts, and customers throughout the product development.

Fellows participate in a workshop on rapid prototyping using a variety of lo-fi mediums. Here they reimagine a Bart Station designed to optimize the experience for older adults. Learn more here

Sparked from the final FF Design Challenge, two Fellows started their own start-up to build healthier sleeping habits for young children.

During the final event of first semester, Fellows showcased innovations sparked by the following question: ‘How might we use game play to enhance emotional development in kids who have experienced trauma?’

Fellows work closely in interdisciplinary teams in Lab sections each week, focusing on team dynamics, effective communication, and human-centered design.

Two Fung Fellows won the Stanford’s MedX Youth Changemakers Competition and are now developing their product to transform the transition from pediatric care to adult care. Read more details here

Our Community Judges Panel from Alameda County Public Health Department, Tiburcio Vasquez Clinic, and UC Berkeley Wallace Center give constructive feedback on sexual health education innovations as part of a design challenge on teen pregnancy.

Fung Fellows share about the new addition of the Fellowship to the Institute and demonstrate Blue Goji VR technology with guests.

Focusing on youth during semester one, fellows embarked on their first FF Design Challenge by talking with experts in person and virtually about socialization of babies.

Fung Fellows came together for the first time during a week of bootcamp to begin technical learning, storytelling practice, and cohort building.