Education & outreach

Q+A on excellence and diversity

05/01/12 — Berkeley Engineer sat down with Oscar Dubon, associate dean for equity and inclusion, and Executive Associate Dean Fiona Doyle to learn more about the college's efforts to attract a diverse range of highly qualified students.

Building a better world, one project at a time

05/01/12 — A new student group, Engineers Without Borders, is building a better world, one infrastructure project at a time.

Seeds of social change

05/01/12 — Kushal Chakrabarti (B.S'04 EECS) founded Vittana, a start-up that helps students from low-income or poverty-stricken homes around the world get an education.

Girls meet “the science of better”

05/01/12 — Rhonda Righter (M.S'82, Ph.D'86 IEOR) usually applies sophisticated mathematical models to challenges such as improving the efficiency of an auto manufacturing plant, but most recently, she served as a volunteer role model to 35 middle-school girls.

White House joins E-Week festivities

04/17/12 — In March, Berkeley celebrated National Engineers Week, an annual tradition since 1951. This year, the White House joined in the act. “You're the next generation of American engineers,” President Obama said in a recorded address during the March 14 launch of the “Stay With It” campaign, an outgrowth of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. “In an economy based on skills and education, science and technology, we need you more than ever. We need you to study hard and dream big.” The White House's goal is to encourage another 10,000 new engineers to graduate from college every year by connecting students with peers, role models and mentors.

UC Berkeley takes part in nationwide engineering initiative

03/14/12 ABC News — UC Berkeley participated in a nationwide motivational event organized by President Barack Obama to encourage students to pursue engineering degrees. The "Stay With It" campaign, put together by Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, is part of an effort to address the country's shortage of engineers and graduates with degrees in scientific fields in general.

The many faces of excellence

02/09/12 — Many pathways lead to education and a life's work in engineering, and we are committed to ensuring parity and opportunity each step of the way. I am very pleased to share news of several developments here in the College that are helping us to diversify the face of engineering.

Girls meet ‘the science of better’

02/09/12 — Industrial engineering professor Rhonda Righter (M.S'82, Ph.D'86 IEOR) is tackling a new assignment: serving as a volunteer role model to 35 middle-school girls. Visiting an after-school science enrichment program called Techbridge, Righter described her field and how she chose it to a group of students at Oakland's American Indian Public Charter School. Her presentation was intended to introduce the girls to engineering with the hope that they will one day be inspired to pursue studies and careers in it or a related field. “Industrial engineering is all about making things better,” Righter explained. “We're like detectives who solve puzzles.”

Inspiring future computer scientists at CS Education Day

02/09/12 — As the fall semester came to a close last December, more than 300 high school students visited Berkeley as part of Computer Science Education Week, a nationwide event to promote computing education and career opportunities for students at all levels. EECS faculty hosted CS Education Day by offering a full program of activities for high schoolers from around the Bay Area. “I have really had my eyes opened to how much difference I can make by supporting computing teachers in high schools. High school is really where it's at,” said Dan Garcia (Ph.D'00 EECS), who teaches “The Beauty and Joy of Computing” course at Berkeley.

Bergeron Scholars Program for Women comes to UC Berkeley

01/11/12 Wall Street Journal MarketWatch — Sandra and Douglas G. Bergeron have announced the establishment of a scholarship-mentorship endowment at UC Berkeley for undergraduate women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The program assists high-potential women with financial awards and a one-on-one mentorship program. In addition, each Bergeron Scholar will gain access to a comprehensive suite of support resources from UC Berkeley's Division of Equity & Inclusion.

UC engineering dean has high hopes for Chinese partnership

01/09/12 Contra Costa Times — S. Shankar Sastry has something in common with Olympic divers. Poised high above a pool of budgetary cuts and institutional obstacles, Sastry -- dean of the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley -- recognizes that success for a barrier-busting joint initiative in China will be determined by his department's ability to metaphorically tuck and rip into the future fabric of higher education. Sastry hopes new technology for education will be achieved through a collaboration between UC and the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.

Cal engineering dean supports diversity plan

11/21/11 California Watch — S. Shankar Sastry, the dean of UC Berkeley's College of Engineering, expressed support today for a recommendation from a student group that the college create a recruitment and retention plan for women and underrepresented minority students. The move came after representatives from several engineering student groups presented a list of recommendations to increase diversity and equity in the college at a meeting of the college's executive committee.

A look at the women of Berkeley Engineering

11/08/11 Daily Californian — In this Daily Cal op-ed, Fiona Doyle, Executive Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, provides a thoughtful and far-ranging perspective on the participation of women and underrepresented individuals in the college.

Campus works to improve atmosphere for women in College of Engineering

11/06/11 Daily Californian — A recent California Watch article that addressed sexism experienced by a UC Berkeley engineering student has prompted administrators in the UC Berkeley College of Engineering to examine discrimination in the male-dominated college. The article prompted a swift response from top administrators. The issue will be discussed at the next College Executive Committee meeting Nov. 21, according to Fiona Doyle, executive associate dean of the college.

Seeds of social change

10/17/11 — In Vietnam, less than five percent of women finish college-often because they can't afford the relatively small fees. Without skills, many young women have no choice but to take work that pays poverty-level wages. But thanks to a Seattle startup called Vittana, the brainchild of EECS alum Kushal Chakrabarti (B.S'04 EECS), some will benefit from a micro-loan that finances their education. "Education is the single most powerful tool we have to fight global poverty, enrich communities and transform lives," says Chakrabarti.

Security in a networked world

03/02/11 — Nearly two billion people-more than the population of China-now use the Internet. With its vast capacity for communication and information, the web has become a powerful tool for transformative change: from new financial services and poverty alleviation to political change, as we are seeing in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

A high-stepping boot camp

03/02/11 — They slept in yurts and went six days with virtually no cell phones or Internet service. But for 59 Berkeley Engineering undergraduates, spending their semester break at a woodsy Sonoma County retreat was the journey of a lifetime. The students were participants in Berkeley Engineering's first-ever LeaderShape Institute, a national program that trains young people to lead with integrity and make significant contributions to better the world. They returned to Berkeley focused, energized-and ready to take on new challenges. Voicing the sentiments of many, Paul Zarate, a second-year mechanical engineering student, says, “It was for sure worth missing a week out of your winter break. It was awesome.”

Can-do engineers

02/02/11 — What did you do over the holiday break? Fifty-nine of our extraordinary undergraduates spent six action-packed, 15-hour days at the Alliance Redwoods Camp in Occidental, California, learning how to tap into their highest potential for leadership through a program called the LeaderShape Institute.

Professional master’s opens for enrollment

12/14/10 — A man of compact build and modest manners, Coleman Fung (B.S'87 IEOR) is living proof that behind that unassuming demeanor could be lurking an engineering dynamo. Appearing in Sibley Auditorium on Nov. 19, Fung tossed aside his prepared remarks to engage the audience in a light-hearted exploration of the personality traits of an engineer. His talk, entitled “Preparing Engineers for Leadership,” was one of several events celebrating the launch of Berkeley Engineering's new professional master's, a one-year intensive program that combines in-depth technical studies with a core leadership curriculum in business skills like management and finance.

Uncommon in every way: Engineers in intercollegiate sports

12/14/10 — Consider these numbers: Of 35,838 students at Berkeley this year, 4,665 are engineers. Of 800 athletes in intercollegiate sports, only a handful-fewer than five at any one time-are working toward an engineering degree. The combination is rare because any sane, reasonable person would wonder: How on earth do you pursue one of Cal's most difficult academic programs while playing for its most demanding teams? In their own distinct way, three members of this rarefied circle, Richard Fisher, Sati Hsu Houston and Dustin Muhn, have managed to do it successfully. Read about them and watch them in action in a dynamic slideshow.