Upperclassmen share resources, advice with freshmen in new class offered by TBP

That first semester of freshman year can be the most confusing, lonely, and difficult one at Berkeley. “I’m from Canada and I didn’t know a single soul when I began as a freshman,” says Heena Patel, now a CEE senior. “A family friend picked me up from the airport and dropped me off on Move-in Day. That was it.” After three years of trial and error, Patel has successfully navigated academic and social challenges and now calls Berkeley home. But, oh, life would have been so much easier, she says, if she’d had one definitive place to go for advice, resources, and friendship those first 15 weeks.

From that personal experience, Patel helped launch E98, “Berkeley Engineering: The Survival Guide.” Offered by Tau Beta Pi (TBP), Cal’s chapter of the national engineering honor society, within the DeCal program, the new one-unit pass/no-pass course is taught by Patel and seven other engineering upperclassmen. “We cover topics like getting the best deals on textbooks, effective study habits, academic resources, good eats in Berkeley, where to find housing, and getting that first internship,” says Tony Xu, an IEOR junior. [FULL STORY]

EECS alumnus to share his experience designing and producing chips for Marvell

The gap between semiconductor research in an academic lab and mass producing a resulting product can be enormous. George Chien (M.S.’96, Ph.D.’99 EECS) knows. He spent several years laboring on his Ph.D. dissertation entitled “Monolithic CMOS Frequency Synthesizer for Cellular Applications.” But when he arrived at his new job as design engineer in the wireless R&D group at Marvell, Chien faced design issues much broader and far more complex than his research project. Every graduate researcher moving into industry faces the same set of challenges.

On Monday, September 12, Chien returns to campus to share his personal experience with students. He will speak from 4 to 5 p.m. in Wozniak Lounge, 4th floor, Soda Hall. Refreshments will be served afterward.

“Academic research is really important,” Chien say. “For this talk, though, we’ll focus on the considerations required to create a product that will sell in the millions. By comparison, academic research is mostly about proving a concept.” says Chien. “I’ll speak about my own experience and how we put a new chip into production at Marvell.” [FULL STORY]

He’s game: IEOR senior concludes Cal tennis career and goes professional

On a hot summer afternoon, IEOR senior Patrick Briaud warms up, rallying with a fellow member of the Cal men’s tennis team. Unlike his match play, Briaud’s movements during practice are relaxed, even languid. The racquet meets the ball with a solid thwunk. He works the baseline, then moves to the net, racquet flashing in short, calculated punches.

Briaud looks like he’s been doing this since he was born, which is almost true. He started tennis at age five, when his dad, an engineering professor at Texas A&M University, began to coach him. This spring, Briaud finished a successful college tennis career, making it to the first round of the 2005 NCAA Championships in doubles. In May, he was the featured speaker at the athletic department’s student athlete awards banquet, where he collected a Pac-10 intercollegiate post-graduate scholarship and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Arthur Ashe regional leadership award. The fanfare over, he relinquished the team captain spot and hung up his Cal jersey. But he didn’t stop playing tennis.

“This summer I’m giving professional tennis a trial run,” he says. So far he’s played in three professional tournaments and earned $700. But fortune and fame aren’t the draw. “I want to experience the professional tennis life and visit new places. I want to take a period of time and devote myself to it.” [FULL STORY]

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