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Eric Wu in graduation regalia in front of Wheeler Hall on the UC Berkeley campus

Category: tesla

tesla

Tsang-Yung Wu, MEng ’21 (EECS): From Taiwan to Tesla

December 13, 2021 by Berkeley Master of Engineering

Eric Wu in graduation regalia in front of Wheeler Hall on the UC Berkeley campus

On reflections from his time in the Berkeley MEng program and the impact he’d like to make as an engineerTsang-Yung “Eric” Wu graduated from the Berkeley MEng program in 2021, where he studied Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS) with …

Filed Under: alumni, engineering, News Room, tech, tesla, uc-berkeley

Humans of Fung: Priyaj Mehta, MEng ’20 (ME/Sustainable Energy)

August 17, 2021 by Berkeley Master of Engineering

Priyaj Mehta headshot

On fostering professional connections within the MEng program.Priyaj Mehta graduated from the Berkeley MEng in 2020 where studied Mechanical Engineering with a focus on sustainable energy. Here, Priyaj speaks about his capstone experience and how netwo…

Filed Under: engineering, graduate-school, News Room, Students, tesla, uc-berkeley

Brian Mick: ‘It takes people skills to create change in an organization’

January 11, 2019 by Berkeley Master of Engineering

On Boy Scouts, fast cars, and a fruitful engineering careerBy Caroline OstermanI’ve been building things since I was a kid,” Brian recalls. When I asked him how he decided to become an engineer, he reminisced about his lively, inventive childhood. He w…

Filed Under: boy-scouts, education, engineering, News Room, tesla

From Student to Tesla Employee: What It’s Like to Get Hired and Work at Tesla After Graduation

December 4, 2017 by Berkeley Master of Engineering

Jingxian (Joanna) Zhao in her graduation gown

By Maya RectorJoanna on graduation day, May 2016.UC Berkeley MEng graduate Jingxian (Joanna) Zhao, MSE ’16, was recently hired by Tesla to work on battery research at their facility in Reno, Nevada. Joanna credits her training in the MEng program as be…

Filed Under: graduation, masters-degree, News Room, tesla, tesla-motors, uc-berkeley

Alumni Highlight: Dayana Hijaz, Class of 2015

October 12, 2017 by Berkeley Master of Engineering

Dayana Hijaz headshot

By Maya RectorDayana Hijaz graduated in 2015 with an MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering and a concentration in Product Design. She currently works at Tesla, where she develops software tools that aim to automate the engineering and sales designs of …

Filed Under: engineering, mechanical-engineering, News Room, stem, tesla, women-in-tech

Being on the Frontier of Tesla’s Electric Revolution

October 4, 2017 by Berkeley Master of Engineering

A Tesla car

By Michael Ji WangMichael graduated from UC Berkeley with a Master’s degree in Material Science Engineering in 2014, and started working at Tesla the same year at Palo Alto, California.Earlier this year Tesla Motors Inc. filed with the US Securities &a…

Filed Under: electric-car, engineering, News Room, solar-panels, tesla, uc-berkeley

Tech Treks: Tesla Gigafactory 1

April 7, 2017 by Berkeley Master of Engineering

by Arielle Maxner

Driving up Electric Ave. to the Tesla Gigafactory, a massive windowless wall of white topped with red looms before you, seeming even larger against the Nevada desert landscape. This is Gigafactory 1, currently under construction in Sparks, NV. The huge structure isn’t yet completed: all of the current parking spots are slated to be future factory floor. This stretch of Nevada is where battery packs will be produced for both homes and cars, focusing on the Tesla Model 3, the affordable electric car for everyone that Elon Musk envisions will eliminate the need for fossil fuels.

Tesla’s mission, to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy,” is front and center at the Gigafactory.

A miniature version of a big vision: Tesla’s plan for Gigafactory 1

Knowing Tesla’s mission is one thing, but seeing the reality of their commitment to sustainability is another. Only partially complete so far, the Gigafactory is already producing batteries for the next generation of clean energy — in a completely revolutionary way. Our tour guide detailed the vertical integration and economies of scale that allow Tesla to overhaul traditional manufacturing practices. For instance, while under construction, the Gigafactory is run by grid power, but will be powered by its own solar panels and become net zero energy by completion. It runs on an advanced water recycling system, which will only use a fraction of the initial projection.

By 2020, the Gigafactory aims to create more lithium ion batteries per year than the current worldwide production.

Getting things done in a better, more innovative way is a palpable culture in the factory. With nearly unimaginable speed and mobility, it’s a unique mix of construction and production at the Gigafactory. Employees are at their desks while construction workers build up the factory interior. Our two tour groups were able to walk around the floor and speak to engineers at Tesla. These representatives from different branches — manufacturing engineering, facilities engineering, packaging engineering, design, and new product introduction — were able to shed light on the needs of the Gigafactory, the Tesla application process, and what it’s like to work for Tesla.

Taking in the Atmosphere: Berkeley M.Eng students commemorate their visit to Tesla’s Gigafactory

Among them was Brian Mick, an M.Eng. alum now working in Tesla’s Palo Alto office as a mechanical design engineer. He offered advice, opened himself to questions, and when we were out of time, encouraged us to continue the conversation about Tesla with him over email. One thing in common among the representatives was their dedication to Tesla’s mission of producing beautiful cars and, more importantly, clean energy. The core of Tesla, its battery technology, is on display here at the Gigafactory to bring us into Elon Musk’s vision of sustainability.

Tech Treks is a Career Services initiative offered by the Berkeley Masters of Engineering Program. It connects students and industry by hosting trips that allow future Engineers to learn about a company’s projects and initiatives directly from their employees and engineers.


Tech Treks: Tesla Gigafactory 1 was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Filed Under: berkeley, electric-car, Students, tech, tesla

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