Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership

Category: capstone

capstone

The value of the MEng capstone experience, as told by MEng alumni advisors

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This year, four Berkeley MEng alumni advisors have partnered up with current Berkeley MEng candidates on their two-semester capstone. Working closely with students, they have been providing industry insight and guidance from first-hand experience. Here, the capstone advisors recount their experience and the process it took them to reach there.

Celeste Castillo, MEng’ 22 (ME)

Advising 2022–23 Project: Thermpack, Contrast Therapy Device

What is your capstone project as an advisor about?

The student capstone project I am advising has the goal of building a contrast therapy device. I am currently working full-time on this project alongside the students’ capstone team. My motivation for this project comes from my passion for dance and movement. After a hamstring injury in 2019, I learned about contrast therapy, which is the alternating of heating and cooling on the skin (typically done with electric heating blankets and ice packs). It was an important part of my healing process but also very cumbersome to do at home. I realized there could be a better way, and as a student in 2021, my capstone team and I began the customer discovery and prototyping process for a contrast therapy device. I am grateful for the students who joined the team this following year and are providing such valuable help to continue this project.

How has your experience as an alumni advisor been?

I find it to be such a rewarding, collaborative endeavor. I learn so much from the students and feel motivated by their creativity and excitement for the project. Having graduated recently, it helps to be aware of the capstone experience from the student’s perspective and use this experience to better support the students. I can assist with any concerns regarding classes, professors, and life at UC Berkeley and provide any necessary advice.

Do you have any advice for your capstone team?

“One of the best parts about the Berkeley MEng program is the community — take time to know and learn about your amazing peers!”

Also, your last semester goes by fast. There’s a lot to do and it can be overwhelming. At the beginning of the semester, I recommend reflecting and setting one or two personal goals — take time to understand what is most valuable for you to take advantage of at Berkeley during these final months.

Connect with Celeste.

Janelle Lines, MEng’ 20 (EECS)

Advising 2022–23 Project: Neuralines Analytics

What’s your background?

I grew up in San Diego, California. I have always been interested in mathematics and science. I first heard about machine learning and artificial intelligence during my time as an undergraduate student at UC San Diego, where I was studying Bioengineering and Physics. After graduating from UCSD, I pursued a software engineering position with an emphasis on artificial intelligence applications at the company Instrumentation Laboratory. In 2019, I attended UC Berkeley to complete my Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). Upon graduation, I started a machine learning consulting company, Neuralines Analytics. Through this company, I lead machine learning projects for my clients and I also sponsor/advise UC Berkeley MEng capstone projects.

How has your experience as an alumni advisor been?

I find advising MEng capstone projects to be very rewarding. After going through the program myself and advising two projects from separate years, I feel that I know what to expect from the capstone process, and can adequately help the students with any of their concerns. I also find it exciting to watch how the projects evolve over the course of the year. By the time May comes around, the students have put significant work into their projects and it is thrilling to watch them present their results.

What are you currently working on?

I graduated from MEng EECS in 2020 and started a machine learning consulting company (Neuralines Analytics LLC) shortly after. Through my company, I lead machine learning projects for my clients and have advised two UC Berkeley MEng capstone projects. I am currently advising an MEng team on a project involving the development of autonomously operated unmanned aerial vehicles using machine learning.

What is your capstone project as an advisor about?

We are designing an autonomously controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to locate regions of poor air quality. We are accomplishing this in simulation using an air quality sensor on board our UAV in combination with a gradient-descent based algorithm to fly the UAV towards local regions of poor air quality. We are also working on developing a computer vision-based algorithm to locate regions of poor air quality. By the end of the academic year, we plan to build a physical drone controlled by an ensemble of these two methods: gradient-based techniques and computer vision-based techniques.

Do you have any advice for your capstone team?

Make the most of the academic year! The year goes by quickly, so work as hard as you can and enjoy every moment. Also, make as many connections and friendships as possible while you are surrounded by other intelligent students.

Connect with Janelle.

Scott Ziegler, MEng’ 22 (ME)

Advising 2022–23 Project: Space Kinetic

What’s your background?

I grew up in Michigan, and some of my earliest memories involve spending time with my dad in his machine shop. Growing up around that culture of innovation and iteration set me on my path toward engineering, and I studied mechanical engineering and math at Western Michigan University. In college, I received my first patent for developing a novel sensor system at Rolls-Royce Aerospace, and I started a 3D-printing company called Ziggtech.

After finishing my undergraduate program, I worked for several years as a Design Engineer at Eaton. Working for a big company like Eaton was instrumental in my development as an engineer, but I always knew that I wanted to return to the entrepreneurial path. I initially conceived Space Kinetic’s core technology in April 2021 and took this idea to UC Berkeley’s MEng program later that year. During my graduate program, I helped direct a student-led capstone project to further develop the technology. Since I graduated in May 2022, I’ve led Space Kinetic’s development full-time.

How has your experience as an alumni advisor been?

In one word: rewarding! As someone who was right there less than a year ago, it has been incredible to see these MEng students immerse themselves in all the innovative, challenging problems that they’re working to solve. Watching these engineers apply lessons from the classroom to real-world technical problems really highlights the power of the program.

What are you currently working on?

During my time in the Berkeley MEng program, I co-founded Space Kinetic, an early-stage startup developing a new kind of space logistics technology. Since I graduated, we’ve expanded our team, refined our business model, and built commercial and institutional partnerships that will be invaluable as we continue to develop our technology. Over the past few months, we’ve added a former CFO of NASA to our advisory board, secured a two-year partnership with Los Alamos National Lab, and developed teaming agreements and joint proposals with a host of commercial players.

I’m personally serving as Space Kinetic’s CEO, where I’m straddling the business and engineering worlds — and laser-focused on our product strategy. My co-founder and Space Kinetic’s Chief Strategy Officer, Ryan Sullivan, is a Berkeley Haas alum.

What is your capstone project as an advisor about?

Our capstone teams are designing containers for different kinds of payloads that will ultimately be transported through our in-space supply lines. Not only are they working on solving hard technical problems, but they are also interfacing with different commercial stakeholders in the value chain to reflect their priorities as they develop and refine their designs.

Do you have any advice for your capstone team?

Space Kinetic is fortunate to work so closely with two teams of motivated, intelligent, and curious engineers. As we enter the new year, I hope they continue to question the status quo and bring their original ideas and perspectives to our project!

Connect with Scott.

Vu Vuong, MEng’ 22 (ME)

Advising 2022–23 Project: Stealth Startup

What’s your background?

I was born in Vietnam and grew up in San Francisco, California. From a young age, I’ve had a knack for science and have been fascinated by many scientific feats that humanity has achieved in our short time on this planet. As I got older, I wanted to work on something that is tough and if solved, can push mankind to new heights. I co-founded Space Kinetic during my time at UC Berkeley and led its growth from a two-founder startup to a well-funded, well-recognized, and government-backed startup. I departed from Space Kinetic in August and currently, I’m building a new company to solve another exciting space challenge.

How has your experience as an alumni advisor been?

As a first-generation, low-income student, I’ve always been an advocate for educational & professional mentorships as they have helped guide me through challenging periods and open doors for opportunities. This has been a tremendously rewarding journey. I’m glad to be able to give back to my capstone team and also to learn and grow as an advisor.

What are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m building this Stealth Start-up to offer advanced robotic services for both frontier space and earth applications.

What is your capstone project as an advisor about?

We are developing a next generation lunar autonomous vehicle (aka a rover) to help our customers get access to and operate in regions of interest. The development of this rover addresses a set of scalability and capability challenges that will unlock a future where humans can sustainably live, work, and thrive in extreme environments.

Do you have any advice for your capstone team?

Put high emphasis on building real relationships and friendships. Stay hungry, stay open-minded, and don’t be afraid of pursuing something completely out of the ordinary.

Connect with Vu.

Edited by Mary Tran

MEng Capstone Alumni Advisors was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Industry Office Hours with Beam Solutions: A conversation with three data scientists

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Edited by Anna Liang

Kevin Feng, MEng ’18 (IEOR), Tennison Yu, and Liying Li from Beam Solutions sit down to talk to us about their unique career paths in data and where they think the industry is headed in the near future.

Kevin Feng, Head of Data Science

You pivoted from a background in oil and gas to data science. How did the MEng program help you pivot in your career?

“The MEng program provides a lot of opportunity to gain different technical and business skills. I came from a consulting background, so I was more focused on taking as many technical courses as possible, but the boot camps, business courses, and advising sessions are very helpful as well. I really liked that the program is flexible enough for you to take the courses that best help you achieve your personal career goals, whether they be in different engineering departments, MBA courses, etc- as well as providing great networking and job searching opportunities.

How do you think data science will evolve in the near future?

Like everyone, I’m definitely looking forward to cutting edge advancements in data science — autonomous vehicles, AI robots, Amazon Alexa finally telling me the temperature on the first try instead of playing “Temperature” by Sean Paul on Spotify. In Alexa’s defense, it’s a solid 2005 throwback. More seriously, I’m also really excited about the increased adoption of data science on the not-so-cutting-edge (dull-edge?) of the spectrum. Management consultants and analysts that previously worked in Excel are already starting to pick up Python and ML packages for more robust analysis. As everyone becomes more familiar with big data and AI capabilities, I think there will be huge strides in both data-driven analysis and data ethics.

What advice do you have for the next generation of data scientists? What skills should they focus on learning in grad school?

A couple years ago I probably would’ve said that technical skills and tools are the most important things to focus on, but the rise of easy-access data science courses and open source tools has changed the landscape. Technical data skills are becoming less of a differentiator and more of a baseline requirement (especially for entry-level positions). It’s critical for data scientists to have some level of interpersonal skills and business understanding to know how/what they can do to leverage their skills into real value. It’s easy to underestimate soft skills, but the reality is that building those skills is the same as building technical skills. You need to practice interviewing, networking, doing case studies, etc. (all which are abundant in opportunity at Berkeley) to get better at those things. I would advise taking advantage of those opportunities and viewing them as just as valuable as your core courses. If you can write an AI language bot from scratch and also talk like one, skip some classes and join a club.

Now, more than ever, it’s critical for data scientists to have some level of interpersonal skills and business understanding to know how/what they can do to leverage their skills into real value.

You have a fun data science related Instagram account! What inspired these visualizations?

I like joking around and data science, so my Instagram is for joking around with data science. Public data is available everywhere. Sometimes you’ll think ‘hm, Joe Rogan seems to mention chimpanzees a lot during his podcast’ and visualize the data and realize that Joe Rogan’s podcast is exclusively the word chimpanzee surrounded by different verbs and adjectives.”

Tennison Yu, Data Scientist

What interests you and/or your company in working with MEng students?

“MEng students are some of the most well equipped to handle the modern challenges faced in industry. We have worked closely with IEOR students in particular and they have displayed a deep knowledge base, a willingness to learn and be creative whilst maintaining a high standard of professionalism, focus, and light-heartedness.

What is your vision for data science in next 5–10 years?

Data science is still a rapidly evolving field. With computing and access expected to grow at an exponential rate, I’m expecting growth in all 3 Vs of data science: velocity, volume, and variety. Advancements in both hardware and software will be a cornerstone of handling this expansion. We are already seeing it with new graphic and accelerator chips tailor made for new forms of neural network algorithms.

What advice do you have for the next generation of engineers? What skills should they focus on learning in grad school?

The next generation of engineers need to be riding the wave when it comes to new technology. They need to know the best practices when it comes to working with super big data both from a hardware and software perspective. Equally important is to know how to communicate data and the ethics behind different analyses. As more and more personal data becomes available or can be inferred, it is important to keep in mind a data set’s origins and its inherent biases.”

Liying Li, Data Scientist

What inspired you to study data science?

“I studied Economics and Finance when I was a bachelor student. After I acquired my Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, I felt that what I learned about Economics and Finance was not something very concrete, so I decided to get into a more technical area — Data Science. This major is a great pivot for people like me with a non-technical background who want to get into the technology industry. The learning and working environment in the Bay Area is also great for people who want to pursue their technical dreams.

Data Science covers everything about data. It gives me the possibility to explore different industries and different roles in data. In my first role as a data scientist, I perform a combination of tasks ranging from a data engineer to a data scientist to a data analyst, and I can deal with data in a wide range of companies and institutions. The potential of my role itself attracts me most.

Where do you see the industry heading?

As I mentioned above, where there is data, there is data science. This industry is an emerging industry with the development of modern information technology. I would believe that data science would cover more fields and contributes more to traditional industries. In those cases, people with various and compound background would become necessary and would be better data scientists. They can apply their industry knowledge to reality with the tool of data science, while data science would help to solve the problems that they couldn’t resolve only with industry knowledge or experience.

What excites you about being a woman in data science?

As a new graduate without working experience, I didn’t think much about how my gender affects my professional data scientist as a data scientist. Recently, I finished reading Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In and realized there are still many obstacles professionally for women. I realize that as a professional woman, I could and I should pursue more possibilities and seize the opportunities presented to me. At this point, a data scientist is not only a job title for me, but it also makes me feel that I have taken more responsibilities and become more motivated to go further in this role.”

Connect with Kevin, Tennison, and Liying.

Industry Office Hours with Beam Solutions: A conversation with three data scientists was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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