The Berkeley Engineering Design Scholar Program is a 10-week summer research program open to all undergraduates in the College of Engineering or with relevant experience in design innovation. The Scholars actively contribute to the growing design ecosystem at UC Berkeley—participating in seminars, workshops, and special events with members of the design community, including their cohort of fellow undergraduate Design Scholars, graduate students, and faculty. In addition, they learn and practice critical skills of making through the Maker Pass program. Scholars also receive a $5000 stipend. The per week commitment will fluctuate, but students should prepare to be able to commit at least 20 hours/week towards research.
During the program, each Scholar is matched with a faculty advisor based on their interests, and conducts faculty-guided research in areas such as Engineering Design, Design Methodology, Human Computer Interaction, and Data-driven Design. If there is mutual interest from both the Scholar and faculty advisor, they may have the option of continuing their research beyond the summer.
The program is led by Professor Kosa Goucher-Lambert (Mechanical Engineering), with additional mentorship and project supervision from Professor Bjoern Hartmann (Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences), Professor Hannah Stuart (Mechanical Engineering), Professor Sarah Chasins (Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences), Professor Eric Paulos (Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences), and other UC Berkeley faculty.
The application for the summer 2021 cohort is now closed. To get notifications about future application cycles of the program, please sign up for an email alert.
The program is open to all continuing Berkeley undergraduate students in the College of Engineering (COE). Students outside of COE with a track record of experience in design (e.g., Design Innovation courses at Jacobs) will also be considered. Student veterans, persons with disabilities, women, transfer students, and students of color are especially encouraged to apply. Participants must be matriculated Berkeley students at the time of the program.
Applicants should demonstrate their broad range of applicable skills, desire to learn about cutting-edge research in engineering design, and commitment to advancing equity and inclusion in the Berkeley engineering design community. Ideal candidates will have experience and/or interest in human centered design, qualitative data collection and analysis, electro-mechanical-software prototyping, and data science topics applied to design.
To learn more about the program, please contact Amy Dinh (amydinh@berkeley.edu). Learn more about the Scholars from prior cohorts here.
You can also sign up for an email alert to receive updates about the Berkeley Engineering Design Scholar Program, including when the next application cycle starts.
The Berkeley Engineering Design Scholar Program is running as a remote experience in summer 2021, starting June 7th and ending August 13th. All program activities, including research, mentor meetings, cohort seminars, and prototyping & fabrication will be conducted remotely. In lieu of direct access to the makerspace, which is currently unavailable, Scholars will receive priority access to the Jacobs Project Support program.
Meet the Summer 2021 Scholars below, and mark your calendar for the Jacobs Summer Design Showcase on August 13th, at which the Scholars, along with other students participating in summer design courses and programs, will present their work. You can also learn about the Scholars’ research projects here.
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Keilani Adachi Major/Class Year: Mechanical Engineering 2023 Faculty Mentor: Hannah Stuart |
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Xinyun Cao Major/Class Year: Computer Science and Cognitive Science 2022 Faculty Mentor: Bjoern Hartmann |
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Resham Khanna Major/Class Year: Cognitive Science and Psychology 2022 Faculty Mentor: Kosa Goucher-Lambert |
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Rajavi Mishra Major/Class Year: Computer Science and Business Administration 2022 Faculty Mentor: Sarah Chasins |
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Ankita Morari Major/Class Year: Sustainable Environmental Design 2023 Faculty Mentor: Eric Paulos |
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Nseke Ngilbus Major/Class Year: American Studies 2022 Faculty Mentor: Kosa Goucher-Lambert |
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Imran Sekalala Major/Class Year: Data Science 2022 Faculty Mentor: Bjoern Hartmann |
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Philippa Steinberg Major/Class Year: Molecular Cell Biology and Data Science 2023 Faculty Mentor: Sarah Chasins |