By Zhaoyang He, MEng ’23 (EECS)This op-ed is part of a series from E295: Communications for Engineering Leaders. In this course, Master of Engineering students were challenged to communicate a topic they found interesting to a broad audience of technic…
Category: education
education
Margaret Kolb and Mark Bauer accepted into Lecturer Teaching Fellows Program
Margaret Kolb and Mark BauerFung Institute Engineering communication instructors Margaret Kolb and Mark Bauer were accepted into the Lecturer Teaching Fellows Program at UC Berkeley this year. Here, they speak about what it means to be a Lecturer Teach…
Mia Cooper receives 2020 Outstanding GSI Award in Engineering
By Lauren LeungMia Cooper, recipient of the Outstanding GSI Award in Engineering.The Graduate Division and Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Teaching and Resource Center recently presented Mia Cooper with the Outstanding GSI Award in Engineering. The O…
Introducing the Fung Institute Advisory Board
By Lauren Leung
We are pleased to introduce our Fung Institute Advisory Board, composed of nine leaders across sectors in management, education leadership, and technology innovation. Each member of our board brings extensive experience and insight into guiding the strategic initiatives, growth, and future focus of the Institute.
Coleman Fung — Chair / CEO & Cofounder, Blue Goji Corporation

Coleman Fung is the co-founder and CEO of Blue Goji, a start-up developing the new field of Fun Activities as Medicine (FAM). FAM uses incentives, games and related gadgets, activities and activity tracking, biometrics and neural data, as well as wellness and health programs.
Previously, Coleman was the founder and Chief Executive Chairman of OpenLink, a company that developed trading, treasury and risk management solutions for financial, energy, and commodity markets. The company was chosen as the inaugural winner of Risk Management Innovator of the Year by Platts in 2007, and Coleman continues to be its Chairman of the Board.
Coleman also devotes significant amounts of his energy and resources to a number of worthy educational and environmental causes through the Coleman Fung Foundation, from creating the Coleman Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership and the Coleman Fung Risk Management Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, funding a number of university and grade school chairs, developing/supporting creative educational programs for under-served minority kids, sending books and school supplies to Mali through a group of French high school students, funding the development of a nutrient trading protocol, supporting an integrated program to restore the watershed of Chesapeake Bay, to providing financial support to veteran housing and other worthy projects.
Coleman Fung holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley.
Tsu-Jae King Liu — Dean, College of Engineering

Tsu-Jae King Liu is Dean and Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering at UC Berkeley, where she has been a professor in the EECS department since 1996. She is best known for the development of polycrystalline silicon-germanium thin film technology for applications in integrated circuits and microsystems, and for co-developing the three-dimensional “FinFET” transistor design that is used in all leading-edge microprocessor chips today.
She earned her BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Before joining the UC Berkeley faculty. she worked at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center as a Member of Research Staff. Her awards include the DARPA Significant Technical Achievement Award (2000) for development of the FinFET, the IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award (2010) for contributions to nanoscale MOS transistors, memory devices, and MEMs devices, the Semiconductor Industry Association Outstanding Researcher Award (2014), and the Semiconductor Research Corporation Aristotle Award (2016). She has authored or co-authored over 500 publications and holds over 90 patents. Liu is a Fellow of the IEEE, an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Intel Corporation.
Achin Bhowmik — Chief Technology Officer & Executive Vice President of Engineering, Starkey Hearing Technologies

Dr. Achin Bhowmik is the chief technology officer and executive vice president of engineering at Starkey Hearing Technologies, a privately-held medical devices business with 6,000 employees and operations in over 100 countries worldwide. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the company’s technology strategy, product development, and engineering departments, and is leading the drive to redefine medical wearable devices with advanced sensors and artificial intelligence technologies.
Prior to joining Starkey, Achin was vice president and general manager of the Perceptual Computing Group at Intel Corporation. There, he was responsible for the R&D, engineering, operations, and businesses in the areas of 3D sensing and interactive computing, computer vision and artificial intelligence, autonomous robots and drones, and immersive virtual and merged reality devices. Previously, he served as the chief of staff of the Personal Computing Group, Intel’s largest business unit with >$30B annual revenues in 2010.
As an adjunct professor and guest lecturer, Achin advises graduate research and teaches courses on human-computer interactions and perceptual computing technologies at the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; Liquid Crystal Institute of the Kent State University; Kyung Hee University, Seoul; and the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar.
Achin was elected a Fellow of the Society for Information Display (SID). He serves on the board of advisors for the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership at UC Berkeley, the executive board for SID, and the board of directors for OpenCV. He also serves on the board of directors and advisors for several technology startup companies. He received the Industrial Distinguished Leader Award from the Asia-Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association. He has over 200 publications, including two books and 34 issued patents.
Vinod Philip — CEO of Service Power Generation, Siemens Gas and Power

Vinod is the CEO of Service Power Generation at Gas and Power at Siemens and located in Berlin, Germany. He started working for Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1997, later Siemens, and quickly assumed management positions with increasing responsibility, among them Head of Gas Turbine Engineering from 2010–2013 and CEO of the Generator Business Segment from 2013–15.
In his most previous role as Chief Technology Officer in the Power and Gas Division, Vinod was responsible for defining and implementing the technology and innovations roadmap for the Division.
Vinod holds a master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Central Florida and also received a master’s degree in Business Administration in International Business from Rollins College, Florida.
Warren Reed — Executive Director, JPMorgan

Warren Reed is the Executive Director of Wholesale Payments at JPMorgan, using data, design, and business principles to create and build AI data that— balance the art of decision making with science.
Prior, he was the Manager for Metrics and Monitors at the Monitors Program in the Office of Financial Research at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, a multi-year, multi-million dollar program that developed a suite of tools to assess, measure and monitor risk across the financial system.
Warren is an alumnus of New York University and Columbia University.
Dr. Venkata (Murthy) Renduchintala — Group President & Chief Engineering Officer, Intel Corporation

Dr. Venkata (Murthy) M. Renduchintala is the group president of the Technology, Systems Architecture & Client Group and chief engineering officer at Intel Corporation. The group is responsible for aligning technology, engineering, product design, and business direction to extend Intel’s strategy and speed execution across the client device and IoT segments — all core to growth in the smart and connected compute era. Murthy’s group brings together Intel’s Platform Engineering, Client Computing, IoT, Software and Services, and Design and Technology Solutions as they share a common set of technologies required for client/mobile System on Chip (SoC) and connectivity leadership.
Murthy has spent a substantial part of his career in the SoC, mobile, and IoT areas. Prior to joining Intel, he was executive vice president of Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and co-president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, where he led its semiconductor business in the computing and mobile segments. He joined Qualcomm in 2004 from Skyworks Solutions Inc./Conexant Systems Inc., where he was vice president and general manager of the company’s Cellular Systems Division. Prior to Skyworks, he spent a decade with Philips Electronics, where he progressed to become vice president of engineering for its consumer communications business.
Murthy holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, a master’s degree in Business Administration and a PhD in Digital Communications from the University of Bradford in England.
Rendel Rieckmann —Head of Secure Communications Business, Airbus Defence and Space, Germany

Rendel Rieckmann is an MEng alumna from the Class of 2014. Before coming to Berkeley, she studied Industrial Engineering and Business Management in Germany and Australia and worked in various positions around manufacturing and performance management. Since graduating from the MEng program, Rendel has worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company advising clients mainly in the Operations sector in all sorts of advanced industries in Europe and Africa. Being younger than most of her employees’ tenure, she took over the role of Head of Solar Array Production at Airbus Defence and Space, which produces solar generators for all types of satellites in Ottobrunn (near Munich) and Leiden (near Holland). Since 2019, Rendel moved into Profit and Loss responsibility as the Head of Secure Communications Business Germany. The business takes care of various communication solutions and services especially in remote areas where satellites are needed.
Leyla Seka, Partner Operator Collective

Leyla Seka spent over 11 years at Salesforce where she most recently served as the executive vice president of the Salesforce Mobile platform experience, enabling all customers to unlock the power of Salesforce from anywhere. Prior to her current role, Leyla was executive vice president of the Salesforce AppExchange, where she launched a refreshed AppExchange storefront, a new partner program, and built an entire AppExchange-focused team, resulting in more than 4,000 solutions, installed nearly 6 million times. Leyla was also the executive sponsor of BOLDforce, Salesforce’s organization for expanding and empowering the black community at Salesforce. Before joining Salesforce, Leyla worked in product management and marketing organizations at Primavera Systems (acquired by Oracle), Evolve Software, Vivant and Eutron SPA. Prior to working in technology, Leyla spent two years in Mali, West Africa, as a Peace Corps officer.
Leyla holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and French from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Masagung School of Management at the University of San Francisco. She is active in women in technology and equal-pay issues and was named a “Next-Gen Innovator” by Forbes.
Lee Fleming — Faculty Director, Fung Institute

Professor Lee Fleming joined the IEOR Department at UC Berkeley in Fall 2011 and is the Faculty Director of the Coleman Fung Institute of Engineering Leadership. He teaches engineering leadership and a capstone lab within the Masters of Engineering curriculum. His research applies machine learning and NLP techniques on large datasets with causal inference models from management and social science. His work investigates how mobility influences creative output, innovative search strategy drives firm performance, non-competes change labor mobility and entrepreneurship, governance influences innovation, and investors value innovation search strategies. His recent work published in Science illustrates how almost one-third of U.S. patents rely on government-funded research.
Lee earned his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at UC Davis. He went on to earn a master’s in Engineering Management from Stanford University in the Honors Cooperative Program. He then received his PhD in Organizational Behavior in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Stanford. Lee also completed a master’s in Statistics during his doctoral years. Between 1998 and 2011, he was a professor at the Harvard Business School, most recently as the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration.
Professor Fleming is an avid cyclist and rides his bike to work whenever possible. On rainy days he prefers to run and slog through the mud. He has been a professional musician (and member of the AFL CIO), a blackjack dealer, and a cycling teammate of Andy Hampsten.
Read more at about our advisory board members // Edited by Lauren Leung
Introducing the Fung Institute Advisory Board was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
MLSys 2020: Experiencing cutting edge research in machine learning and systems
By Yifan Bai, MEng ’20 (EECS)The Conference on Machine Learning and Systems (MLSys) is an annual conference targeting research in systems and machine learning (ML). This year it was held in Austin, Texas. I was honored to have an opportunity to attend …
Fung Feature: Li Yang Kat MEng ’20 (EECS)
On studying abroad, what it takes to be a great engineer, and sharing his passion for science and math with othersLi Yang Kat is an MEng student studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS). He is originally from Singapore and has studi…
Fung Feature: Dennis Zhang, MEng ’20 (BIOE)
On living around the world, healthcare innovation, and making STEM accessible for allDennis is an MEng student studying bioengineering. He has lived abroad in Germany and China, and is looking forward to exploring the innovative environment of the Bay …
Fung Feature: Tiffany Tao, MEng ’20 (ME)
On origami, the power of storytelling, and product design.Tiffany is an MEng student studying mechanical engineering with a concentration in product design, and also the Communications Representative for the MEng class of 2020. She is originally from a…
Introducing the Student Representatives for the Class of 2020
Introducing the student representatives for the Class of 2020

Each MEng class elects Academic, Career, Social and Communications Representatives. These representatives foster community within and among the classes and put forth the extra time and effort to plan and run various events.
Career Representatives
The MEng Career Representatives serve as the conduit between the Career Development Team and the students, helping to deliver information, activities and events that support the MEng student’s career and job search journey. They collaborate on career activities with the program office to organize, staff and promote networking and programming events.

Heqing Huang, Industrial Engineering & Operations Research
Heqing is an MEng student in IEOR. Originally from China, Heqing went to UW-Madison (Go Badgers!) for his undergrad and worked as a Business Intelligence Consultant in Chicago for two years. He is passionate about assisting others in achieving their career goals. Heqing likes to run and hike in the summer, and snowboard in the winter. You can often find him in the RSF, Shires Hall and hopefully the wilderness of Lake Tahoe.

Janelle Lines, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
Janelle Lines is a Master of Engineering student in the EECS department at UC Berkeley. Janelle graduated from UC San Diego in 2018 with majors in Bioengineering and Physics. Following her graduation, Janelle worked as a software engineer for a year at a biomedical device company called Instrumentation Laboratory (IL) in the greater Boston area. She is now attending UC Berkeley to study EECS with a specialization in Data Science and Systems. During her time at UCSD and in industry, she led multiple successful projects in the fields of machine learning and data science. Her most notable accomplishment was the design of an autoencoder neural network for anomaly detection in medical device performance at IL. Janelle has a passion for incorporating authentic leadership and entrepreneurial values into engineering practice. She is enthusiastic to serve as the career representative for the EECS department in the MEng program. Janelle is eager to utilize her diverse experience working in both industry and academia to connect current students with potential career opportunities in industry. In her free time, Janelle enjoys multiple athletic activities including surfing, horse-back riding and boxing.

Madeleine Waller, Nuclear Engineering
Madeleine Waller is a Nuclear Engineering student at the University of California, Berkeley in the Master of Engineering program. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in May 2019. Over the course of her academic career, she has worked at the Rensselaer Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, Curtiss-Wright and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the future, she aspires to contribute to the design and implementation of small modular reactors.

Mike Munckong, Bioengineering
Hi everyone! My name is Mike, and I am originally from Thailand but grew up in LA. I went to Brown University for my undergrad in biomedical engineering, and I’m excited about moving to New York after graduation. I love food (Thai food especially, shout-out to Imm Thai on University Ave), landscape photography and listening to Spanish reggaetón.

Sushmitha Sree Gumireddy, Civil & Environmental Engineering
I am Sushmitha, a Master of Engineering student in Civil Engineering with a focus on Intelligent Transportation Systems. As a career rep, I hope to build a strong network for my batch mates to foster their career choices. I love challenging myself to learn new things and currently am learning Yongmudo-Self Defense. Reading books and meditation are my stress busters.

Varun Save, Mechanical Engineering
Born and raised in Mumbai, Varun studied Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. While working as a Data Scientist at Cymer and an Interior Engineer at Tesla, he was challenged to stretch his comfort zone and deliver products within a short span of time. During his internships, he realized that learning new skills and understanding the business side of engineering enabled him to widen his creative thinking and problem-solving horizons. This is what brought him out of the cornfields of West Lafayette to the technological and cultural heaven that is Berkeley. When he isn’t working, you’ll find Varun playing football (the one with feet), hiking or taking a nap or reading on the beach.
Social Representatives
Social Representatives communicate social and recreational ideas and feedback among the student body. They also plan and implement cohort bonding events and are provided with an activity budget. They work with the program office to organize, staff and promote programming and social events.

Toby Baker, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
I am hoping to work in the field of agricultural robotics, solving food insecurity and reducing the environmental impact of farming. Outside of class, I like cooking, TV, exercising and being social.

Anthony Yan, Mechanical Engineering
Hey everyone! My name is Anthony and I will be one of your social reps this year. Some quick facts about me: I was born in Hong Kong and lived there until I moved to New York City to go to an International Boarding High School. I love meeting people from different cultures and learning the languages of my peers who come from ALL OVER THE WORLD! I love playing basketball and guitar. Most importantly, I am really excited to be here and I plan to take advantage of all that UC Berkeley and the west coast have to offer.

Elsie Wang, Industrial Engineering & Operations Research
A foodie who loves engineering, traveling and laughing!

Hazelynn Khoo, Mechanical Engineering
Hazelynn is a current MEng student studying Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Product Design. She graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara in June 2019. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking and baking, exploring new beaches and attending concerts.

Kian Talaei, Industrial Engineering & Operations Research
Hello. Salaam. Hola. Bonjour. Namaste. Annyeonghaseyo. Marhabaan. My name is Kian Talaei and I will be one of your social reps this academic year. I am currently a Master’s student in Industrial Engineering Operations Research and actually completed my undergrad at Cal as well as double majoring in Economics and Biology. My hobbies include playing soccer, tennis, and poker, driving and going out with friends.
Academic Representatives
Academic Representatives communicate class-wide academic issues and concerns to core faculty and, when appropriate, to the program office. They act as the main point of contact for professors in reaching the students within the class.

Kaan Ardic, Mechanical Engineering
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and I completed my undergrad at Purdue University. I am a passionate fan of almost all sports, and I enjoy getting to participate in as many as possible. I look forward to making a positive difference within the MEng program during my one year here!

Daniel Chung, Industrial Engineering & Operations Research
I am a part-time student in IEOR and a full-time Applied Data Scientist at Atlassian. I was raised in Vancouver, completed my undergrad near Toronto, spent a few years working in New York, and now living in SF so I must say I experienced the east coast and the west coast lifestyles pretty evenly. I enjoy casual meetups at coffee shops so feel free to reach out if you want to discuss anything, from academics to fun things to do in the Bay Area.

Isha Sharma, Bioengineering
Hi! I am a graduate student in Bioengineering. I am from Delhi, India. Before moving to the USA, I was working with Bain & Company. As an academic representative, I intend to bring improvements and structure to our MEng program, and to represent the academic requirements of my batch-mates. Beyond academics, I love dancing!

Pranay Pasula, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
Three years of industry experience in multiple engineering roles at Shell Oil Company. Interested in using machine learning, math, and software engineering to benefit society. Love playing tennis, watching movies and being outdoors.

Thomas Chen, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
I received my Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech. Prior to starting the MEng program, I was working at a semiconductor company down in San Jose. I am passionate about circuit designs and applications of chips to form a working system, which was what I did for undergraduate Capstone Design. Outside school you will find me watching sports and shooting photos while hiking on trails. Something cool: I shoot films!
Communications Representative
The Communications Representative writes blog posts, takes pictures and coordinates with the MEng marketing and social media team to share their “day-in-the-life” MEng experiences, and helps to publicize the news and accomplishments of the MEng cohort.

Tiffany Tao (Mechanical Engineering)
Tiffany is a graduate Mechanical Engineering student participating in the Master of Engineering Program here at UC Berkeley. She can be found tinkering around in a maker’s workshop and plans to pursue a career in product design. Human-centered design and interaction design are her main disciplines of focus and she wants to learn more about how to integrate technology into people’s daily lives. In her spare time, she likes to do origami, photography, and play video games. Fun fact: she has a collection of 50+ postcards on her wall from her travels, friends and family.
Follow our Facebook and Instagram!
Introducing the representatives for the class of ‘20 was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Staff Highlight: Claire Trias
By Dione RiveraIn our Staff Highlight series, a staff member at the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership shares insights about their job search experience and career journey with Master of Engineering (MEng) students and Fung Fellows.This feature …