If Coleman Fung (B.S.’87 IEOR) had twittered his life up until now, it might look something like this:

Arrived in New York City where my dad lives. Excited. English is a challenge. Oh, I’m 16 and from Hong Kong.

Majoring in physics at Rensselaer. Interning at a GE lab. Lightbulb moment! Don’t want to work in a lab.

Left college. Traveled across the U.S. Not sure what to do.

Enlisted in the Army — Rebelling against the traditional Asian-American thing. Been all over Europe, Egypt, Israel. Met people from all walks of life.

IEOR major at Berkeley. It’s challenging. But intellectually satisfying ;-) Amazed at Berkeley’s openness... Loving it.

Yes, I’m a derivatives trader on Wall Street. Job is great. Systems are terrible.

Launched OpenLink Financial. Developing the ultimate trading and risk management software. Looking for first client…

Left CEO job after 15 years, still chairman. 2008 company stats: sales: $184M; one-year growth: 32%.

Introducing the Coleman Fung Foundation. Funded $18M. Grants to educational causes, including Berkeley COE. It’s important to give back.

All this is true except that the 46-year-old Fung, who considers himself a technologist, doesn’t twitter. “I don’t want to be a slave to it,” he explains.

And that, in a nutshell, is the message he hopes to share at Commencement: Don’t get lost in the technology; harness it for a higher purpose. “Berkeley engineers have the expertise and the leadership potential to ensure technologies make a real impact and provide better humanistic connections,” he says.

Final tweet: “Don’t limit yourselves.”