The Berkeley Engineering Design Scholar Program is a 10-week summer research program open to all continuing UC Berkeley 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 Hannah Stuart (Mechanical Engineering), and other UC Berkeley faculty.
We are offering the Berkeley Engineering Design Scholar Program as an in-person, on-campus experience in summer 2023, starting June 5th and ending August 11th.
Joint Design Scholar x Maker Launchpad Experience
This summer, a select number of Design Scholars will also be able to participate in the Maker Launchpad as part of a combined summer learning experience. Design Scholars doing this option will still conduct engineering design research, but in the latter half of the summer will also participate in a six-week comprehensive prototyping program, offered by the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. The program emphasizes design methodologies and the required prototyping skills to bring projects to reality.
Joint Design Scholar x Maker Launchpad participants will not receive a summer stipend, but instead they will be able to enroll in the Maker Launchpad with the $4000 program fee waived. This joint program is a great option for students who are interested in developing both their research and hands-on design skills this summer, or who are exploring both academic and industry career paths. For more information about this option, please contact amydinh@berkeley.edu.
Eligibility Requirements
Participants must be matriculated Berkeley students during the program. Students are also expected to be able to participate in person in program activities, as the Design Scholar program will be run on the Berkeley campus.
The Design Scholar program is open to all continuing Berkeley undergraduate students in the College of Engineering, although freshmen are encouraged to wait until their sophomore or junior years to apply. Continuing Berkeley students outside of the College of Engineering with a track record of experience in design will also be considered. Student veterans, persons with disabilities, women, transfer students, and students of color are especially encouraged to apply.
Selection Criteria
Applicants should demonstrate their broad range of relevant 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 engineering design, such as human centered design, qualitative data collection and analysis, electro-mechanical-software prototyping, or data science topics applied to design. Ideal candidates will also demonstrate interest in pursuing or learning more about research and graduate school.
Apply for the 2023 Berkeley Engineering Design Scholar Program here by Sunday, March 26th 11:59pm. Scholars will be matched with faculty mentors in April/May, after they are accepted into the program. To get information when the next application cycle opens, see the following section.
Sign up here to receive email alerts with important announcements about the Berkeley Engineering Design Scholar program, including key application dates and deadlines.
To learn more about the program, please contact Amy Dinh (amydinh@berkeley.edu). Learn more about the Scholars from prior cohorts here.