Sammy Tesfai: Undergraduate Student

Sammy Tesfai

Degree Program: Computer Engineering, B.S.
Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Hometown: Santa Rosa, CA

“What I like best about being an engineering major would be the amount of flexibility we are given to express our creativity into creating solutions to problems individuals can use in the real world.”

Noopur Raval: Postdoctoral Researcher

Noopur Raval: Postdoctoral Researcher

Graduate Institution: Jawaharlal Nehru University, Cinema Studies, M.Phil., Arts & Aesthetics, M.A.; UC Irvine, Informatics, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: Christ University, (3 majors) Media Studies, English Literature, and Psychology, B.A.
Advisor: Norman Su
Department: Computational Media

“It’s important to learn by doing, take chances, and grow from those individual experiences.”

Amber Sargeant: Alumna

Degree Program: Serious Games, M.S.
Graduate Institution: UC Santa Cruz
Undergraduate Institution: UC Santa Cruz
Department: Computational Media

“I wanted to get an M.S. in serious games because I want to make games that explore topics important to me, such as climate change and mental health. I think these topics need more recognition in the media, and what better way to show it than through interactive media?”

Maryam Siddiqui: Undergraduate Student

Maryam Siddiqui: Undergraduate Student

Degree Program: Computer Science, B.S.; Electronic Music, minor
Department: Computer Science and Engineering

“There’s a lot of intersection between electronic music and computer science. In one of my classes, we’re using a specific music programming language to program our own sounds and electronic instruments. Doing these types of projects heightens my interest because I never thought I could blend those two fields and passions of mine together.”

Selin Ovali: Graduate Student

Selin Ovali: Graduate Student

Degree Program: Human Computer Interaction, M.S.
Undergraduate Institution: Purdue University, Computer Science B.S.
Department: Computational Media

“I specifically chose this program because I really liked the people involved and the research currently being done at Baskin Engineering in the HCI field.”

Justin Grant: Graduate Student

Degree Program: Human Computer Interaction, M.S.
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Los Angeles, Philosophy, B.A.
Department: Computational Media

“My goal is to build on my undergraduate philosophy degree to develop technology that is useful and accessible to everyone.”

Harika Dechiraju: Ph.D. Candidate

Harika Dechiraju: Ph.D. Candidate

Degree Program: Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (India), Instrumentation and Control Engineering, B.S.
Advisor: Marco Rolandi
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering

“I’ve been working on developing bioelectronic devices for wound healing applications and tissue regeneration.”