DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Career Development Manager
- Internships
Bio: Adrianne is the Career Development Manager for the M.DevEng program. She has lived and worked in Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, San Francisco, and Washington DC. Adrianne has more than fifteen years of broad experience in executive recruitment and talent development for US Government contractors, NGOs, startups, SMEs, and educational institutions. Adrianne served in the US Peace Corps in Ukraine and has a BA in Russian Language and Literature and an MA in International Development. She is a Certified Executive Career Coach and is focused on student career development as well as alumni and employer engagement for the department. When she's not engaging with alumni, employers, or students, Adrianne volunteers for the International Rescue Committee and enjoys hiking and playing trivia games. Adrianne handles questions related to employers, alumni, career development, career events, etc.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor, Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
Job Titles:
- Affordable Internet Research Manager, Facebook
Job Titles:
- Professor of Safe Water and Sanitation / Civil and Environmental Engineering
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor / Civil and Environmental Engineering
Job Titles:
- Energy, Water, and the Environment
Formerly an elite athlete and originally from Ireland, Barry has now become an environmental scientist and development engineer who is striving to transcend conventional scientific boundaries and create new innovative solutions to address the global challenges facing sustainability and environmental protection. He has a distinct intellectual curiosity of addressing the concerns associated with the global ecological decline, and values multi-cultural and international collaboration in tackling these global challenges. Barry has a Bachelor's in Environmental Sciences with Diplomacy in Professional Practice from the University of Ulster and is pursuing his Masters Degree at the University of California, Berkeley, in Development Engineering; specializing in Water, Energy & Environment - as a triple international scholar. Barry is a George Moore Scholar, the Finduddannelse.dk Sustainability Scholar and Blum Centre Scholar. He is the Former Climate Ambassador of Ireland and recently the Co-Founder of a global youth-led NGO called Earth Action Hub. He has also has been involved in several projects through MOCKCOP, British Trust for Ornithology and the Foundation for Environmental Education. Aside from his professional career, Barry enjoy sports, travelling and outdoor pursuits such as hiking, surfing and boating.
Beatriz Manz is a Professor Emerita of Geography and Ethnic Studies at the University of California Berkeley. She served as Chair of both the Department of Ethnic Studies and the Center for Latin American Studies, where she remains active. Her research is focused on indigenous Mayan communities in contemporary Guatemala, and she has been called to serve as an expert witness on human rights abuses in Guatemala before both the U.S. Congress and the Audencia Nacional (Spain's National Court). Throughout her career she has been involved with international, governmental and non-governmental institutions focused on international human rights issues, such as the UNHCR, UNDP, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam, and the Center for Justice and Accountability.
Job Titles:
- Cora Jane Flood Professor of Business Administration / Haas School of Business
Job Titles:
- Director of Student Programs
Bio: Chetan Chowdhry manages and serves as the Lead Academic Advisor for the Global Poverty & Practice Minor. Prior to joining the Blum Center team, Chetan served as a Graduate Coordinator with the University of Maryland Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy Office. He holds a Master's degree in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Environmental Analysis & Design from UC Irvine.
Job Titles:
- Professor Emeritus / Economics
Job Titles:
- Professor of MDevEng 's "Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship" Blum Center for Developing Economies
Job Titles:
- Cora Jane Flood Professor of Business Administration / Haas School of Business
Job Titles:
- Energy and Resources Group Founding Director of Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory
Job Titles:
- CEO, Geocene
- Doctor in Mechanical Engineering / GAGDIL Lab for Energy and Water Research
Job Titles:
- Professor Agricultural and Resource Economics / College of Natural Resources
Job Titles:
- Founder, Three Stone Analytics, and National Geographic Sustainability Entrepreneur
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Advising Committee
- Doctor in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Job Titles:
- Director of Development
- Member of the Academic Advising Committee
- Program Director
- Director of DevEng Programs
Dr. Yael Perez is the Director of Development Engineering at UC Berkeley. Dr. Perez holds a PhD in architecture with a research focus on the impact of digital technologies specifically in developing regions, and previously served as Program Coordinator for the NSF INFEWS: STEM Training for Actionable Research and Global Impact NRT.
Bio: Yael Perez is the Development Engineering (DevEng) Program Director at UC Berkeley's Blum Center for Developing Economies, managing the DevEng Masters and the DevEng PhD Designated Emphasis. Yael holds a PhD in Architecture from UC Berkeley with a scholarship on co-design methodologies and technologies to support and empower communities and design practitioners in fostering sustainable development. For over a decade, she has been collaboratively leading CARES-Community Assessment of Renewable Energy and Sustainability-a team of UC Berkeley faculty and students working with Native American Citizens in their pursuit of sustainable development. Recently, this initiative grew into the Native FEWS Alliance, a cross-institutional collaboration working to significantly broaden the participation of Native American students in Food, Energy, and Water Systems (FEWS) education and careers to address critical challenges facing their communities. Before joining the Blum Center, Yael was a visiting scholar at IIT Mandi (India).
Job Titles:
- Founder and CEO of Build Change
Elizabeth Hausler is the Founder and CEO of Build Change and a global expert on resilient building and post-disaster reconstruction. Elizabeth's strategic direction and leadership has grown the organization from a few employees in 2004 to over 230 strong working on three continents. She is a 2004 Echoing Green Fellow, a 2006 Draper Richards Kaplan Fellow, and a 2009 Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow as well as the recipient of a 2017 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and a 2018 UC Berkeley Campanile Excellence in Achievement Award. She is a member of UC Berkeley's Environmental Engineering Department's Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor / Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Job Titles:
- Professor of Mechanical Engineering / Education Director, Blum Center for Developing Economies
Job Titles:
- Professor of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning
Bio: Gladys Khoury directs all financial aspects of the Blum Center including accounting practices, budgeting, financial planning, financial analysis, and monitoring of financial performance. From 2006 through 2009, Khoury was a Senior Research Administrator and Program Manager for the TRUST Center in UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. From 2001 through 2006, she was Senior Contracts and Grants Officer, at UC Berkeley's Controller's Office, and from 1989 through 2001 she was Controller and Office Manager for California Engineering in San Francisco. Gladys holds an MBA in Finance, with a BA in Accounting and Finance from the University of California, Berkeley. She is also an active member with the California Association of Realtors as a Real Estate Broker licensed by the state of California.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor / Mechanical Engineering
Job Titles:
- Energy, Water, and the Environment
Hello! My name is Greg Berger and I have a diverse background spanning the engineering, construction, and travel industries. I have a B.S. in mechanical engineering and was the engineering manager for a company that manufactures high-pressure compressors before taking a left turn and working construction in Australia, and eventually in the travel industry as a tour guide for several years. I have been fortunate enough to visit many countries and have seen first-hand the importance of water and electricity in improving lives. I wanted to find a way to combine my engineering background, love of travel, and drive for a fulfilling and meaningful career, and the MDE program was a perfect fit. I love doing hands-on work and hope that through this program I will gain the knowledge to help with the implementation of water and power systems in developing countries. In my free time I love to travel, hike, surf, and other outdoor activities!
Job Titles:
- Professor / Public Health
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor in Residence
I am from Ghana, West Africa. I have a background in electrical/electronics engineering and I am looking forward to use this knowledge to help solve some of the pressing problems in the healthcare sector in Ghana. I enjoy reading, watching movies and hanging out with loved ones. What place do you call home? Accra, Ghana Hon Leung Curtis Wong Energy, Water, and the Environment Before joining this graduate program, I have an academic background in mechanical engineering and I worked in a power plant in Hong Kong as an engineer for 4 years. I am passionate about energy and its impacts on the society. What place do you call home? Hong Kong Jessica Tan Sustainable Design Innovations My undergrad is Chem. Eng. The last decade, I was working in ceramic, adhesive / glue and plastic (on-going) supporting the application of product life cycle for consumer electronic market- building electronic devices to power the IOT. Presently, at UC Berkeley, I have been focusing on sharpen my skills in entrepreneurship and product design in sustainable design It has been an incredible and stressful journey juggling between work and school but, I have been learning a lot. What place do you call home? Bay Area
Job Titles:
- Designer and Social Innovation Strategist
Job Titles:
- Paul and Stacy Jacobs Distinguished Professor of Engineering
Job Titles:
- Master of Architecture in Urban Design
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder, Reflex Design Collective and Visualize
Job Titles:
- Professor / Mechanical Engineering
Job Titles:
- CEO, Co - Founder, and Technical Lead, Global Water Labs, and University of Washington Commercialization Fellow
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Job Titles:
- Energy, Water, and the Environment
Since getting my BS in Environmental Engineering in 2019, I worked at a civil engineering firm in drainage design and stream restoration. I came back to school because I really enjoyed the experiences I had with WASH projects for Engineers without Borders and wanted to work in the space of doing good for others again.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor / Architecture
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Cal 's Center for African Studies
Martha Saavedra has served as Associate Director of Cal's Center for African Studies since 1993. She received a PhD in Political Science from UC Berkeley. She has taught at St. Mary's College of California, Ohio University, the Escuela de Estudios Universitarios Real Madrid, and at UC Berkeley, including in Global Studies, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and the Graduate School of Journalism. Her research has ranged from agrarian politics and ethnic conflict in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, to representations of Africa in Chinese popular culture, and to gender, development, and sport in various Africa countries. She recently worked on a collaborative project on sport and development in Cape Verde, Nepal, and Timor-Leste and on African athletic migration to the European Union.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director of the Blum Center
Bio: Maryanne McCormick is the Executive Director of the Blum Center and the Executive Director of the Big Ideas student innovation competition. In that capacity, she is responsible for the strategic vision and overall operation of these multidisciplinary, multi-campus research and education efforts. In addition, she is Special Advisor at the Development Impact Lab, a global consortium of research institutes, non-governmental organizations, and industry partners, headquartered at UC Berkeley, committed to advancing international development through science and technology innovations. She holds an academic appointment at Berkeley Law School. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, she spent a decade in Washington, DC, serving on the staff of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, as advisor at the Federal Communications Commission, and as public policy manager for Corning Incorporated. McCormick has a JD from Catholic University, graduating first in the class, an MBA from George Washington University, and a BA from the College of the Holy Cross. She is a member of the California Bar.
Matt Podolsky is the DToD Program Coordinator and a staff researcher at UC Berkeley. In addition to his work with DToD, he also serves as the Managing Director of Research Technologies for the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute. Podolsky has extensive experience working on applied research projects in information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D), energy access and monitoring, and cyber-physical systems.
Job Titles:
- Technical Advisor to the CEO at GitHub
Omoju Miller is Technical Advisor to the CEO at GitHub, where she previously served as a Senior Machine Learning Data Scientist. She has over a decade of experience in computational intelligence, having worked at Google, REACH Technologies, and Insight Data Science. She holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in computer science and education. She has co-led the nonprofit investment in computer science education for Google, and served as a volunteer advisor to the Obama administration's White House Presidential Innovation Fellows. She is part of Bloomberg's Beta Future Founders program, and is a member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network in AI.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Materials Science
- Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Oscar Dubón is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the University of California, Berkeley. Having recently served as Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, he oversaw the establishment of several efforts promoting institutional support for Latinx/Chicanx, Asian Pacific Islander and Native American students. He is also a faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he has led the establishment of the Berkeley Bridge Graduate Summer Fellowships program. Since joining the Berkeley faculty in 2000, his research has focused on the relationship between defects and properties of materials and the growth mechanism of semiconductor epitaxy.
Job Titles:
- Li Ka Shing Foundation Chair in Health Management / Haas School of Business
Job Titles:
- Director, Big Ideas Contest
Job Titles:
- Energy, Water, and the Environment
I studied engineering in Paris, France, with a focus in business intelligence and data analytics. Curious about management, I joined my former university's consulting firm as a project manager and its secretary general. After interning as deep learning engineer in 2019, I finally graduated. Driven by my attraction for entrepreneurship, I then undertook a series of projects, from the development of an educative mobile app to the design of an indoor aquaponics system; to finally end up as a cybersecurity analyst in a consulting firm. I have always had the chance to pursue my passion for music and the saxophone that I have been playing for more than 15 years. Whether it is in music through composition and improvisation or in engineering by solving problems, I have always been looking for creativity. Today, I am grateful to study development engineering which is contributing to fill in the missing pieces of my training towards becoming a more ethical, a more aware, and a more fulfilled engineer.
What place do you call home? Anywhere there are friends and communities I can relate to.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Member of the Academic Advising Committee
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Member of the Academic Advising Committee
- Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Job Titles:
- Associate Director for Research of the Blum Center
- Chief Technologist, Blum Center for Developing Economies
Bio: Daniel Fletcher is Associate Director for Research of the Blum Center, Faculty Director of the Big Ideas Contest, Purnendu Chatterjee Chair in Engineering Biological Systems, and a Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Between 2015 and 2019, he served as Chair of the Bioengineering Department. His research focuses on the biophysics of cell movements and the cytoskeleton and development of biomedical devices, specifically for developing regions. He received a DPhil from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. His research has received an NSF CAREER Award, a National Inventors Hall of Fame Collegiate Award, and was designated "Best of What's New" by Popular Science magazine. In 2010, he won the Bioengineering Teaching Award for Outstanding Instructor in the Bioengineering Honor Society. He is currently serving as Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator.
Job Titles:
- Blum Chancellor
- Blum Chancellor 's Chair in Development Engineering / Chair, Development Engineering Graduate Group
- Professor / Civil and Environmental Engineering
Bio: Dr. Kara Nelson is the Blum Chancellor's Chair in Development Engineering and a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Prof. Nelson teaches courses and conducts research on critical issues at the intersection of public health and the environment. Her research program investigates practices for wastewater based epidemiology, water reuse, disinfection, nutrient recovery, and international WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), which draw on her expertise in a wide range of treatment processes including filtration, membrane processes, ion exchange, and disinfection with UV, sunlight, and ammonia. Prof. Nelson teaches courses on innovation in the water sector, drinking water and wastewater treatment processes, pathogen detection and inactivation, and natural treatment systems. She led the Engineering Research Thrust at ReNUWIt (www.renuwit.org) and a large regional program to monitor SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater (COVID Wastewater Based Epidemiology for the Bay Area; www.covid-web.org). Prof. Nelson is passionate about creating a climate in which everyone belongs and can reach their full potential, and previously served as Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion in the College of Engineering.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Member of the Academic Advising Committee
Job Titles:
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Job Titles:
- Member of the Academic Advising Committee
Job Titles:
- UC Berkeley Blum Center Researcher and Lecturer
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Job Titles:
- Career Diplomat & Supervisory Foreign Service Engineering Officer
Ryan Shelby is a Diplomatic Attaché and Supervisory Foreign Service Engineering Officer at the United States Agency for International Development in Southern Africa. Prior to this position, he served in USAID/Haiti and managed a team that concentrated on climate resilient infrastructure, housing rehabilitation, clean energy systems, and the incorporation of disaster risk reduction policies. He also served as a Senior Energy Engineering Advisor within USAID's Office of Energy & Infrastructure, leading the Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development initiative that focused on accelerating the development and deployment of clean energy solutions and business models for farmers and agribusinesses. He was a Millennium Challenge Corporation Science, Technology & Innovation Fellow, and holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Ryan Shelby is a Career Diplomat & Supervisory Foreign Service Engineering Officer serving within USAID/Southern Africa since 2019. In this role, Dr. Shelby serves as the main infrastructure and construction expert for 15 countries in Sub Saharan Africa. He provides technical guidance for the design, construction, operations, and maintenance of infrastructure for economic growth, education, health, governance, and sanitation goals. In 2019, Dr. Shelby was awarded the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for National Security and International Affairs, given to the U.S. Government officials who have fostered innovation and have provided the greatest benefit to the American people. A native of Alabama, Dr. Shelby completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley in Mechanical Engineering.
Job Titles:
- Chairman in Forest Economics
Job Titles:
- Administrative Officer at the Blum Center
- Communications
Bio: Sam Goldman is an administrative officer at the Blum Center and the Development Engineering course scheduler, assisting the faculty and associate directors. Previously, he was a program assistant at the Graduate School of Journalism, co-lectured an undergrad journalism class at Cal, and was a reporter for Noozhawk in Santa Barbara, Calif. Sam has a master of journalism from UC Berkeley and a bachelor's in geography from UC Santa Barbara, and he continues to write and report the occasional freelance story for local and national outlets. When not officiating administration, he's writing, reading, running, and rooting on his favorite sports teams. Sam handles external communications, Blum Center media, and how classes are scheduled.
Job Titles:
- Senior Lecturer / Earl F. Cheit Faculty Fellow Haas School of Business
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Department of Anthropology
Job Titles:
- President of Global High Growth Regions at Honeywell
Shane Tedjerati is President of Global High Growth Regions at Honeywell, responsible for business expansion in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Prior to Honeywell, he was Regional Managing Director for Deloitte Consulting for Greater China. He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and co-founder of its Middle East Leadership Initiative and China Fellowship Program; special advisor to Chongqing and Wuhan Mayors; a member of the advisory board of Antai College of Economics and Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University; and industry Co-Chair of China Leaders for Global Operations, a dual master's degree program from MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has lived in China for more than 20 years and speaks six languages.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor / Haas School of Business
Stephen Isaacs is the former President and CEO of Aduro Biotech, a publicly traded clinical stage biotechnology company focused on immuno-oncology, with additional programs in autoimmunity and infectious disease. Prior to Aduro, he founded Cerus Corporation in 1991, a biomedical products company commercializing the Intercept Blood Systems. He is the founder of the Alliance for Global Health and Science with the Department of Public Health at UC Berkeley, which undertakes capacity building at universities and medical schools in Uganda and Zimbabwe. He also established the Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Initiative at UC Berkeley, to promote immunological research for cancer and infectious disease.
Hi! My name is Sudeshna. After I completed my undergrad in computer science engineering, I worked in the IT industry as a technology analyst and project manager. My interests range from sustainability to digital design, creative ideation and human-centred innovation. My passion is to explore ways in which engineers can help create a healthier and sustainable community. I look forward to learn the unique blend of design thinking, computational thinking, maker culture, and business, in this Development Engineering program. In my free-time, I love to sketch portraits, practice hip-hop dancing, and learn any new sport. What place do you call home? India Patricia Quaye Sustainable Design Innovations Patricia has a Bachelor of Education (Social Studies) degree and is pursuing a Master of Development Engineering (Concentration: Sustainable Design Innovations) at UC Berkeley. She is concerned about the future, committed to leading and inspiring positive change in the world, and passionate about current issues such as poverty, food sovereignty, agroecology, girl child education, climate change, and sustainability. She hopes to be the kind of researcher, educator, social entrepreneur, and development engineer twenty-first-century needs for a better world. Patricia leverages her passion to help make the world a better place for both present and future generations through quality education, leadership, mentorship, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, Community Development and Sustainability, Social Innovation, youth empowerment and a variety of community services, projects, and volunteer activities. What place do you call home? Ghana Jessalynn Rintala Self-Designed Concentration Jessalynn works in transdisciplinary resource management and posthuman economics. She has extensive experience in civic engagement: Alaska governors, economic groups, non-profits and policymakers. Mostly she's into working with communities: leveraging government structures/strictures, building consensus, ID'ing funding. She calls Alaska home, where she is lucky every darn day to enjoy access to sustainable fish, game, berries, mushrooms, plants, herbs, and renewable hydro. What place do you call home? Juneau, Alaska
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor / Economics
Job Titles:
- Program Support Manager for the Blum Center
Bio: Syreen Ponferrada is a Program Support Manager for the Blum Center, the Big Ideas Contest, and the AMENA Center. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017 with a BS in Nutritional Sciences: Physiology and Metabolism. Previously, she worked as a Financial Analyst Assistant at the Institute for Business Innovation at the Haas School of Business and, following graduation, as the Institute's Program Coordinator. At Cal, she was an active member of multiple Pilipinx-American organizations, helping to spread awareness of Filipino culture, and supported first-generation immigrant students like herself. Growing up in the Philippines and having attended college in the United States, she is a student of the differences between underdeveloped and developed countries and hopes to give back to her Philippine community through economic development.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Natural Resources / Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management
Job Titles:
- Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Job Titles:
- Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Job Titles:
- Program Manager & Student Advisor
Bio: Valerie is the Student Advisor and Program Manager for the M.DevEng and Global Poverty and Practice Minor at the Blum Center. Before joining the Blum Center, she worked with many higher education initiatives supporting Minority Serving Institutions and underserved communities across the United States. Additionally, Valerie has spent over four years researching human communication tactics, neurological data processing, and financial policy. Her experiences have provided her with an interdisciplinary understanding of students and the greater bureaucratic elements of higher education institutions. Valerie has a BA in Cognitive Science and Psychology from the University of California, Merced, and an M.S.Ed in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of her work in student affairs, you can find Valerie baking, trying to find the best cup of coffee in the Bay Area, or at the local farmer's markets. Valerie handles questions regarding student services, academic needs, programming ideas, and other student affairs-related concerns.
Victoria Coleman is the former CEO of Atlas AI, a public benefit corporation bringing world class AI solutions to sustainable development. She is a member of the Defense Science Board, the Chair of DARPA's Microsystems Exploratory Council, a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a member of Lockheed Martin's Technology Advisory Group, and a member of Santa Clara University's Advisory Board for the Department of Computer Engineering. She serves as Senior Advisor to the Director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at UC Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Rutgers University
Job Titles:
- Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Professor