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Alumni Spotlight

LEAP with Assistant Professor Chao Wei’20

April 21, 2021 By Shirley Li

Don’t be afraid of failure because that is a necessary step toward success as a startup.

Can You Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself? 

I am Chao-Wei Huang, I graduated from the Department of Animal Science and Technology at the National Taiwan University. At the end of my PhD program, I have the chance to get involved in a project that uses biochips for on-site selection in the pig industry. In 2018,  I applied for the LEAP program and joined the GLOBE program in Berkeley to see if there is an opportunity for collaboration on technical aspects of my proposal and also seeking the chance to obtain funding for our start-up idea. During the program, I also applied to SkyDeck and got selected as a hotdesk team. Now, I am an Assistant Professor at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.

Chao Wei at the Golden Gate Bridge

Why are you interested in participating in the GLOBE program and what are your startup ideas? How did you think of this idea?

Berkeley is ranked top three in engineering, and it has a strong connection with Taiwan. My start-up idea is to select better livestocks (pigs) on-site by genotyping with microfluidic biochip. To seek the breakthrough opportunity of the technique and the networking, Berkeley is the only option for me . While I was in Berkeley, I joined Liwei Lin‘s lab and tried to develop the prototype for further application.

While I was in Taiwan, our team was excited about the prototype that could genotype the pigs. But after discussing with the customers (farmers who raise pigs) who we think would purchase the chips, I have to say our prototype did not fit their needs. They don’t need products with fancy techniques. All they want is to increase the production efficiency at a lower cost. The things they care about are technologies which are cheaper and easier to be implemented to their production system. Hence, I pivoted with my idea to provide the algorithm for them to select pigs in real time. Even though I still think that the biochip for on-site detection is the future, providing the solution to what customer need immediately is really the most important thing. In addition, our biochip is too complicated for the customers (farmers who raise pigs) to use. Hence, it is not validated by the market.

From this experience, I noticed that there is a huge gap between the research in the lab and the market needs. To fulfill the gap, I think I have to upgrade not only our techniques but also learn from the ecosystems that already incubated many successful companies, one of which being UC Berkeley. In addition, the GLOBE program in Berkeley fits both of my criteria. By joining the GLOBE program, I not only got into the startup program, but I also have the opportunity to network with the Biomedical industry that is active in Silicon Valley.

Most of us think start-ups are based on technology. However, after I came to Berkeley, we learned that customers are the most important and we have to use minimal viable products (MVP) to keep iterating our product to fit our customers’ needs. I think if we stick to technology, we will be restricted to what we can do. Now, I learned that we should focus on what the customers need first and then combine it with the technology so they will consider buying it. The technology itself may not support the business, instead it only supports the concept of doing business. A lot of biochips were invested millions of dollars and developed for ten years or more. In America, there are a lot of resources to develop these biochips. They will be purchased by big pharma. However, in Taiwan, it is not as easy as in America and we still have a lot of certifications to apply, which is similar to gaining FDA approval in America. Even though there are a lot of biochip companies, the final products on the market are still limited. 

Could you tell us a little bit about the LEAP program and your experience with it?

The LEAP program is funded by industry in science or technology as well as the National Research Lab. The program provides opportunities to PhD or people with engineering background for over 3-5 years. And there are two tracks of the program, one is for academics and one is for the industry. The LEAP program collaborates with reputable schools and institutions, like Berkeley, Duke, Stanford, and Michigan Hospitals. They also offer opportunities in big companies like Roche and Microsoft to LEAP scholars if you decide to choose the industrial track.

I am a biologist, but Prof. Liwei Lin, the principal investigator (PI) who hosted me, is focusing on the engineering field. That is why I applied to the program and feel very lucky to be selected. The LEAP program provided an opportunity for me to join the labs in Berkeley and helped me to learn skills in these well-known labs. In addition, we also have the opportunity to apply for SkyDeck, which is the startup accelerator program at UC Berkeley. If you don’t have a Berkeley affiliation, it is really challenging to get into SkyDeck Accelerator because you would have to compete with other global startups. LEAP gave me this opportunity to join one of the most well-known labs in the world as well as SkyDeck in Berkeley!

What are the challenges you had for your startup and how did you overcome those challenges?

At first, I wanted to sell my tech to farmers who raise pigs, however, the farmers cannot accept the change to genotyping their pigs and the cost of implementation. Farmers are really busy working on their farms, so they cannot afford to waste time in things they believe are inefficient. Hence, it is really challenging for me to sell them the things that will not have immediate benefits. If time is so important for them, I think it would be helpful to provide them with a decision-making software to assist them make decisions faster and easier. In the end, I provided them with a visualization report for them to make their decision easier.

Chao Wei with host faculty Prof. Liwei Lin.

Could you please tell us a little bit about your host faculty in Berkeley?

Prof. Liwei Lin is the professor who hosted me while I was at UC Berkeley. He not only provided the experiment resources such as equipment, but he also shared his networking with me to collaborate with professors in UCSF. In addition, I had the opportunity to collaborate with his lab members. Professor Liwei Lin has rich experience in the industry, he also gave me great strategic advice. My lab members Dr. Chen and I published a paper where we used CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) to detect bacteria in urea. And the postdoc in Prof. Jennifer Doudna’s lab also helped us to develop this technology.

What is the startup ecosystem in Taiwan like and what are the differences or similarities between Taiwan and the Bay Area?

In my opinion, I think we are more technology-oriented in start-up. The general personality in Taiwan is afraid of failing. We prefer to follow the “easier” or “better” pace that everyone told us. However, in the States, even undergraduates are talking about start-up ideas and seeking for the opportunities. In Bay area, the concept of start-up is more like if there is no ecosystem, we can build an ecosystem so everyone can make money. In Taiwan, we get used to sharing the benefits of an existing market, which will lead to zero-sum market.

Chao Wei in San Francisco

What made you decide to launch your start-up in America?

Why I wanted to come to America from Taiwan is because Taiwan purchases pigs from America. However, pigs have problems with adaptation from America to Taiwan. I wanted to make a platform for exchanging the information between Taiwan pig farm and US pig farm, which may provide the best match or the optimal breeding pigs for the pig farmer in Taiwan. Let’s say the tinder for pig industry but not only displays what the pigs look like but also the genetic background to make sure that the genetic background could be preserved.

The pigs-breeding industry has already been established by USDA for many years in
America. That is why we wanted to go to America to do the start-up, because
there are many pigs with excellent genetic background which could be selected for breeding. If we could provide a platform for the farmers in Taiwan, the improvement of our pig herd will increase rapidly.

Chao Wei at a professional event

What was your experience with the Berkeley SkyDeck Hotdesk program?

There are two programs: cohort and hotdesk in SkyDeck. The committee in Skydeck will select you and match you to the program that fit you. If you are in a cohort program, you will get funded, but they will take your equity. If you are hotdesk, you will have the same resources as cohort team but without funding.

For the application, they will ask you what is your business, what category are you working on right now. Basically, they will ask about your background. The second interview is about what is your technology, and they will expect you to explain it very very detail. Their technology questions will be really specific, you have to differentiate what is your technology. If your technology is defensible, then would it also be patentable? Can your competitors copy you easily or you have the strength to overcome this type of challenge. The other one is that your business idea is big enough. Your technology should be 10 times greater than the others. If your market is not big enough, the investor will not invest in you. You have to find a big enough market to do that. After that, the committee will decide if you are accepted to the hotdesk team or cohort team.

In the first week of the program, you have orientation, and then every week you have a mixer event. You can talk your ideas with others to build connections. You should definitely communicate with others and keep relationships with others because a lot of advisors will join the mixer so you can ask questions. They have a presentation on Berkeley accelerated methods per week. It also includes Startup 101: how to pitch, how to get funded, how to spare equity, and how many co-founders are better for your team. They will tell you everything about that. They provide biopharma connections, but you have to find which resources are best for you. Because the opportunity will not come to you, you have to ask. That is how things work in Skydeck. 

Do you want to share any caveats, observations or advice about doing your own start-up with us

We have to find customer needs first as it is most important as compared to the technology itself. Don’t be afraid of failure because we want to learn more about customers. Make more connections with people. It’s better to make a list and have a spreadsheet to note every person might help you, or already helped you and keep taking care of them because the connection is so important in a start-up. If you keep your relationship with them, someday when you need help, we will be able to reach out and ask for help from them. And don’t be afraid of asking for help. People in general are happy to help!

What advice do you have for future GLOBE Scholars?

Most of the people who graduated from engineering background always think technology is the most important thing, but I think they have to forget about every technology they have learned. And they have to ask good questions, learn from customers and collaborate with people. Do not get lost with all the resources, because you have to focus on what you want to build. There are a lot of mentors, ask what is a very good idea for the startup. A very good indication for a good idea is that when you share your idea with people and they keep on asking about it. While you start to execute the plans don’t change your mind easily because of other noises but to learn when to pivot is also a great lesson during the journey. I think the most important thing is not what you achieved at the end, but the journey that you have been through. Go
bears!

Chao-Wei Huang

Chao-Wei is currently an assistant professor at the National Pingtung university of Science and Technology(NPUST). He graduated from the Department of Animal Science and Technology in National Taiwan University(NTU). He is an alumni of the GLOBE program and the LEAP Program in UC Berkeley. He is also a member of the Berkeley Skydeck Hotdesk cohort.

Feel free to connect with Chao-Wei via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn

GLOBE Alumni Spotlight Series

  • Interview with Professor Kajanová: An International Perspective on Berkeley Research
  • Interview with Dr. Jowy Tani: Doctor, Scientist, Entrepreneur, and BTB Scholar
  • Graduate School Application and Experience with Yingqiao, a GLOBE alumna attending PhD program in Carnegie Mellon University
  • Build Your Startup with Mukul Khadke, a graduate of SRM and Founder of Inventeurs
  • Bridging the Gap between Engineering and Business with Dennis Tan, NTU, ME’21

GLOBE 15 Anniversary Special Series

  • Lunch Break with GLOBE Director Matthew Sherburne
  • The Story of GLOBE, Part 2
  • The Story of GLOBE, Part 1

Career Advice Coffee Chat with UC Berkeley CEE PhD Candidate Angelika’24

February 26, 2021 By Shirley Li

Just follow your heart, everything else will fall into place.

Angelika Zhang’24, PhD Candidate at UC Berkeley Environmental Engineering

Can You Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself? 

I am a 2nd-year Ph.D. student in Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. I did my master’s degree also at UC Berkeley and my undergraduate study in the same field at Tongji University in Shanghai.

When and why did you decide to go to graduate school instead of industry?

I did not give it a second thought and went abroad for my master study because I always wanted to study abroad. But I did think twice about my Ph.D. and decided to pursue a Ph.D. degree during the first semester of the master’s year.

After I finished my undergraduate study at Tongji University, I did an internship in an environmental consulting company in Shanghai, during which time I wondered if more challenging and interesting job opportunities would open for me if I had a higher degree. So I decided to pursue my master’s degree in CEE, UC Berkeley. During my master’s study, I found out that there are more things at school that I want to take time and dive deeper to learn before I enter the industry. And that’s when I finally decided to apply to Ph.D. programs, which was actually not very early. 

I feel it doesn’t matter if you can’t decide at an early time. Reach out to people for advice and also ask yourself which path you like better. Also, Internships are helpful for deciding future academic or career paths. Lastly, always believe everything will happen at a right time and in the best way!

What is the difference between a master program and a PhD program?

For a Master’s program, it is more course-oriented while a Ph.D. program is more research-oriented. Though in my first year of my Ph.D., I also took a lot of classes, which is useful for my future research. After the first year, I have switched my gears from taking classes to doing research. 

Angelika Zhang (3rd to the left)

What do faculty typically look for in a PhD candidate?

The faculty really values your research experiences and wants to feel that you are motivated in the research and persist in doing research. Personality and mindset really for research is important, ability-wise, students should know more about their research field. Students should be able to do research in their related-field. For example, my professor did a lot of statistical modeling, even though our research has to do with environmental engineering but my professor really cares about my ability to build statistical modeling. 

How to get across your motivation to do research? – I talked with my professor a lot in Master’s, communication, chatting with your potential supervisor is really important.

How did you choose your schools? How many schools did you apply to?

For my Master’s, I applied to Berkeley, Stanford, CMU, and Washington state university. I consulted some seniors students and professors about what schools they think are the best for studying environmental engineering, and what are the specialties of their environmental engineering departments. I also googled the professors in these universities for their research and look for anything I am interested in.

How did you prepare and what did you do for your master program application process?

The first thing I did is to choose universities that I would like to apply to and make a chart of their application deadlines. The second thing I did is start writing my personal statement and resume. The third thing was to reach out to professors or internship supervisors for recommendation letters. I also sent them my list of universities, my transcripts, and my personal statement. The last thing was submitting all these materials!

How do you ask for recommendation letters? What to provide your recommendation writers to write a good letter?

From my own experience, usually 3-6 recommendation letters will be required. I think asking professors who are familiar with you and your research is the best. Also, your supervisor during the internship is also a good choice.

Is it okay to have imperfect grades when applying to grad school?

From my supervisor, she said students who have really high GPAs do not necessarily correlate to them being the most suitable for doing research. I think the grad school admissions committee does care more about research experiences or even internship/work experiences than just GPA. The conclusion is that GPA is important, but it is not the final decision. 

What happens next after the interview? How do we adjust ourselves during this waiting period (since it is nerve-wrecking)?

You should just relax and chill. I remember I traveled to places during that time. So during the winter break, before you hear about interview invites, you should travel to some places and have some fun with your friends while staying safe of course.

How did you decide where to go ultimately? (Is the research area more important or the people and the atmosphere more important? What is the trade-off?)

I would say my experience of choosing master programs is a little bit special as I was an exchange student in the GLOBE program here at Berkeley during my fourth undergraduate year. So I chose to continue my master’s study here at Berkeley as I like the academic atmosphere here (also I like the weather in California so much!)

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Studying Abroad During Pandemic with Jason Chen, NTHU, MSE’21

February 22, 2021 By Shirley Li

Meet as many people as you can, and you will find the world bigger than you imagined. Always work hard and play hard. Go Bears!

Can You Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself? 

I am currently studying Material Science at the National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan, and completing my Bachelor’s degree during the final year of my undergraduate career. I have been trying to find an opportunity to study abroad since sophomore year. When I was in my junior year in Taiwan at NTHU, the department announced the exchange program with Berkeley, so I applied for it right away! That is how I came to the Dado and Maria Banatao Center for Global Learning and Outreach from Berkeley Engineering, GLOBE Online program.

How was your online experience in Berkeley?

In the beginning, I was afraid that online classes will be less efficient considering we are not in the classroom together and there will be fewer interactions, but Prof. Matthew Sherburne made us feel really connected. It was as if there were no time-zone differences, and he greeted us really well and it really warmed up my heart.

The content of the class is pretty broad while not being shallow. The important part is that we are given lots of advice about how we can connect what we are learning to the work we will do in the future. The talks we were given during classes conveyed that we should realize the importance of “Interdisciplinary Learning”. The course “Material Production” gives me a lot of new insights in terms of interesting knowledge and intellectual thoughts.

In addition, the students I met in Berkeley were a highlight of my experience. My group mates are really nice during group meetings. I was taking MSE120 Material Production with them. During zoom meetings and messenger chats, we really opened up to one another and shared about the troubles in our lives. They are incredibly kind and it is heart-warming to make friends on the other side of the world.  

Jason’s study pal at home
Jason doing online learning

What are some differences and similarities between classes in Taiwan vs Berkeley?

In Taiwan, we would not have many chances to ask the professors or lecturers questions. We will only ask the Teaching Assistants(TA). In UC Berkeley, we could ask the professor a lot of questions during office hours and it would be a more efficient way to get our questions answered than if we were to only ask our TA. I can ask Prof. Matthew Sherburne questions about MSE120 directly and solve my issues instantly.

What challenges did you encounter in the class in general and through online? Would you have done anything differently?

While the quality of the class in Berkeley is really good, the only downfall is the time difference. I did not attend any virtual activities offered by Berkeley because much of them are held during the time I am sleeping or having classes in NTHU. I also cannot attend the College of Engineering hosted virtual touring of the Berkeley campus. I really wanted to join them to get to know all the buildings and all the scenic viewpoints; however, it takes place really late in my time-zone. 

In terms of different things I would have done retrospectively, I would try my best to attend all of the office hours if I got a second chance. I feel that it would be more worthwhile and efficient to ask professor questions during that time as opposed to using email to ask questions.

What are your future career goals? Did you find your experience here to be helpful for grad school/job?

I am going to start grad school in NTHU and I want to start a start-up once I find enough partners who are professional enough one or two years after graduation. I am still thinking about applying for PhD . For the start-up, I am interested in the CS industry or conventional industry in alloys. I am still trying to look for partners, so I am not super sure what I will found in the future. 

I think the concept of “Interdisciplinary Learning” I gained from Berkeley can be applied to some of my career plans during my grad school life, and perhaps give me guidance in what classes to take or which company I should apply for an internship.

Overall, did you find the virtual program to be worthwhile?

Yes, indeed. The entire semester is a special experience for me, especially during the pandemic. This program and the online classes in Berkeley gave me a special chance to know companies in the field such as Intel, and it conveyed to me the importance of interdisciplinary learning.

In Taiwan, there haven’t been many classes combining machine learning or artificial intelligence with material science yet. The combination of machine learning techniques and material science in my class is something I enjoyed quite a lot at UC Berkeley. When we combine machine learning knowledge with our domain expertise in material science, it will be much easier for us to apply our knowledge to the real world and even get a job because the intersection between the two subjects will create greater results.

Do you have any advice for future GLOBE students? 

First of all, congrats! You should be proud of yourself to get a chance to study at Berkeley. Meet as many people as you can, and you will find the world bigger than you imagined. Always work hard and play hard. Go Bears!

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Jason Chen

Jason Chen studies material science as an undergrad at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU). He is an alumnus of the GLOBE visiting students program.

  • Visit Linkedin account (opens in a new tab)
GLOBE Alumni Spotlight Series
  • Interview with Professor Kajanová: An International Perspective on Berkeley Research
  • Interview with Dr. Jowy Tani: Doctor, Scientist, Entrepreneur, and BTB Scholar
  • Graduate School Application and Experience with Yingqiao, a GLOBE alumna attending PhD program in Carnegie Mellon University
  • Build Your Startup with Mukul Khadke, a graduate of SRM and Founder of Inventeurs
  • Bridging the Gap between Engineering and Business with Dennis Tan, NTU, ME’21
GLOBE 15 Anniversary Special Series
  • Lunch Break with GLOBE Director Matthew Sherburne
  • The Story of GLOBE, Part 2
  • The Story of GLOBE, Part 1

Learn more about ENG 187: Global Engineering with Ella Tyler’22

December 9, 2020 By Shirley Li

The class had such an international focus and gave us the opportunity to work on a team project. It provided a very practical and applied experience.

Can You Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself? 

I am a third-year studying IEOR with a minor in Public Policy and originally from Santa Cruz. I currently do research with the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. In my free time, I enjoy camping and reading. A summer ago, I did a data science internship in Boulder, Colorado about energy use. This past summer, I was working on taking online classes and doing research about energy use. 

Why were you interested in taking the course ENG 187: Global Engineering: The Challenges of Globalization and Disruptive Innovation?

I was drawn to the fact that the class had such an international focus and gave us the opportunity to work on a team project. It was really interesting because we heard from so many speakers. I was impressed with some of the startup companies, like Impact coffee. I felt like they have a really unique way to make a positive social impact.

Shirley Li (left) and Ella Tyler (right) presenting their final presentation

What project did you work on? What‘s your take away from the experience?

I was working with Tai-Ding Biotechnology. Tai-Ding Biotechnology is using data to help create analytics and recommendations for swine breeding. I thought it was interesting to call a lot of people around the country and ask questions about the startup. I talked to everyone from veterinarians to small farmers. I learned there is a lot of demand for analytics in the swine breeding field, a whole market that I previously hadn’t really realized existed.

I feel like some challenges we faced during the course are what our final goals were, deciding what we want for the final project, and deciding what the start-up was looking for. 

I think one thing I learned is how much you can learn from asking questions during the interview process.  It also was really interesting to learn more about entrepreneurship, business, and the start-up world in both Taiwan and the US.

What are your takeaways from the course? What are some impacts the course has left on you?

I would still say it would be helpful in interviewing people and helped me develop a better understanding of business and entrepreneurship. 

I think it helped me to better understand case studies, it prepared me to think about entrepreneurship and the different challenges that they face. I think it helps me have a much better understanding of companies from Taiwan coming to the U.S., I was introduced to the process of companies coming to the U.S.

Would you recommend it to other students?

Yes! I liked the course because I was exposed to people who are founding the startup and working with other students. I definitely recommend it to students who are learning about international business and entrepreneurship. This class is a smaller class compared to other similar courses on campus and we got to work on one big project on international business. Also, on the last day of class, we had our presentation and the Taiwanese style dinner together, that was pretty memorable!

Ella Tyler

Ella is a junior student studying IEOR at UC Berkeley. She is currently doing research with the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory and enjoys camping and reading in her leisure time.

Feel free to connect with Ella via LinkedIn

  • Visit Linkedin account (opens in a new tab)
GLOBE Alumni Spotlight Series
  • Interview with Professor Kajanová: An International Perspective on Berkeley Research
  • Interview with Dr. Jowy Tani: Doctor, Scientist, Entrepreneur, and BTB Scholar
  • Graduate School Application and Experience with Yingqiao, a GLOBE alumna attending PhD program in Carnegie Mellon University
  • Build Your Startup with Mukul Khadke, a graduate of SRM and Founder of Inventeurs
  • Bridging the Gap between Engineering and Business with Dennis Tan, NTU, ME’21
GLOBE 15 Anniversary Special Series
  • Lunch Break with GLOBE Director Matthew Sherburne
  • The Story of GLOBE, Part 2
  • The Story of GLOBE, Part 1

View the world differently from the lenses of GLOBE Ambassador, Abdoul Aziz’21

November 18, 2020 By Shirley Li 3 Comments

It is an eye-opening experience and would certainly push you to do more in your life, build and strengthen your potential as a global leader.

Abdoul Aziz (middle) with cohort of Globe Ambassadors on the MRT in Singapore.

Abdoul Aziz grew up in Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa and moved to South Africa, where he received the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship to come to the US as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley. He was selected as a part of the 2019 GLBOE Ambassador Program. Let’s hear about Abdoul Aziz’s transformative experience traveling to Singapore and the Philippines with GLOBE.

Can You Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself? What made you interested in the GLOBE Ambassador Program?

During the summer, I was an undergraduate student from UC Berkeley going into my senior year, majoring in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a concentration in Structural Engineering.

I was interested in the GLOBE Ambassador program because I wanted to develop certain personal qualities, international knowledge, and the technical skills necessary to work effectively in various global settings as a civil engineer. I am a firm believer that engineering is significantly influenced by diversity. The inclusivity of different people and mindsets within a group of engineers contributes to creating a diverse set of ideas that build upon distinct life experiences and relationships with the world. 

This eight-day trip to the Philippines and Singapore had the power to transform me from an “engineering student” into a “real-world engineer.”

Throughout this trip, I challenged the status quo and took the initiative to pursue new ideas. Concurrently, I wanted to build bridges of trust and respect with the communities around me. Broadly, I wanted to learn more about other languages and cultures, further develop teamwork and group dynamic skills, and immerse myself in the business, engineering, and education realms of other countries. This trip to the Philippines and Singapore was also about encouraging the contribution of diverse individuals to empower and strengthen their respective communities. Engineers should embrace diversity, consequently allowing themselves to achieve their full potential.

Furthermore, this trip was a way to solidify my personal development and goals as a civil engineer. I was interested in being a civil engineer who has a global mindset and presence. Yet, whenever I am working on a project, I still approach solutions with a local mindset. I wanted to be an engineer who seeks to create socio-emotional growth by empowering individuals and communities to attain economic prosperity, stability, and advancement. That trip was an opportunity to look at global problems and reflect on some of the best courses of action.  This eight-day trip to the Philippines and Singapore had the power to transform me from an “engineering student” into a “real-world engineer.” 

Where did you go on your trip and how did you engage with the social enterprises or start-ups, or large industries there? Any companies or organizations that caught your eyes?

I went to a lot of places, and I engaged with many social enterprises and start-ups. To name a few, I went to the University of the Philippines, Diliman Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Ayala Corporation, National Engineering Center in the Philippines, and ETH Zurich Future Cities Lab, Micron Technology Corp., Nanyang Technology University, and Venture Corporation Limited in Singapore. 

Lunch with students from University of the Philippines Diliman

Similar to my home country in Africa, the Philippines needs many innovations to help with resources. It was inspiring to see what these start-ups are coming up with to help the community. 

An organization that caught my eye was Phildev, or Philippines Development Social Enterprises Start-ups such as FAME, Cleaning Lady, Gazlite, Bambuhay, and Uproot. I met many extremely open-minded entrepreneurs and practiced a community design-centered approach to come up with a magnificent solution to local issues. Similar to Côte d’Ivoire, the Philippines needs many innovations to help with resources. It was inspiring to see what these start-ups are coming up with to help the community. 

In general, their points of view and endeavors were stimulating as they expanded my horizon, as well as concretized some of my own entrepreneurship thoughts.

Meeting Startups at PhilDev Event in the Philippines

What did you enjoy about the trip? What are some cultural differences? Did those differences have some impact on you?

The Philippines is pretty similar to my country with the weather, the scenery, and the ambiance . . . Singapore helped me picture what the future of human living conditions and standard of living looks like.

I enjoyed the trip to the Philippines. The Philippines is pretty similar to my country with the weather, the scenery, and the ambiance. Yet, their willingness to make the community a better place and entrepreneurship spirit is something I had not experienced before. I also enjoyed Singapore a lot. Singapore helped me picture what the future of human living conditions and standard of living looks like. My time in Singapore somehow completes the beginning of a self-discovery journey I started at UC Berkeley. After my time there, I was guided by one goal: developing scalable technologies that will ensure the structural integrity of infrastructure in developing communities around the world and the African continent.

Has this experience helped you in your academic or professional journey?

When we went to Singapore, we went to the ETH Zurich Future Cities Lab. It was life-changing. For the past year, I was trying to find a crossroads between Structural Engineering and Data Science. ETH Zurich Future Cities Lab introduced me to Structural Health Monitoring. I knew I found my academic niche. The idea of using a Fiber Optic sensor coupled with computational technics to monitor the health infrastructures and building blew my mind. As a result, I had decided to join the Matthew DeJong Research Group at UC Berkeley and focus on my Ph.D. aspirations in this field. Thus, this trip helped me develop a career goal — structural health monitoring (continued on page 2). 

Students are listening to the presentation from ETH Future Cities Lab in Singapore
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