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 2022, starting June 6th and ending August 12th.
Meet the Summer 2022 Scholars below and mark your calendars for August 12, 2022, when they will present their research findings at the Jacobs Summer Design Showcase.
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Chang Bo Major/Class Year: Mechanical Engineering 2023 Faculty Mentor: Hannah Stuart |
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Holly Pilling Major/Class Year: Psychology 2023 Faculty Mentor: Kosa Goucher-Lambert |
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Megane Annaelle Tchatchouang Kayo Major/Class Year: Data Science 2023 Faculty Mentor: Kosa Goucher-Lambert |
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Cindy Tung Major/Class Year: Bioengineering 2024 Faculty Mentor: Eric Paulos |
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Stanley Wang Major/Class Year: Mechanical Engineering 2023 Faculty Mentor: Hannah Stuart |
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Kelly Ye Major/Class Year: Computer Science 2024 Faculty Mentor: Kosa Goucher-Lambert |
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Shuyao Zhou Major/Class Year: Computer Science 2023 Faculty Mentor: Bjoern Hartmann |
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.
Information about the next application cycle will be shared in spring 2023. 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.
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To learn more about the program, please contact Amy Dinh (amydinh@berkeley.edu). Learn more about the Scholars from prior cohorts here.