Young Alums (2000-2004)

2000
B.S. After receiving her master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics, Yana Feldman (Chem) began work in August 2002 as a senior analyst at a private research consultancy, FirstWatch International, in Monterey, CA, researching and analyzing issues of nuclear nonproliferation and arms control.

Ph.D. Grier A. Wallace (Chem) and his wife, Kathryn, have two children: Olivia, born in 2001, and Rowan, born in 2003. Also in 2003, Grier took a position as a senior scientist at Abbott Bioresearch Center in Worcester, MA.

2002
B.S. Kevin Andruss (Chem) started medical school last year at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Currently a bioenvironmental engineer and a deputy flight commander with the Air Force Biomedical Science Corp, Angus C. Lam (ChemE) is working on occupational health, environmental surveillance, and wartime nuclear, chemical, biological defense and health risk assessment. Last November he was looking forward to possible deployment and let us know that he is “Glad to be here! Proud to serve!”

Robyn L.W. Woo (ChemE) started graduate school in chemical engineering at UCLA last year.
Ph.D. Leigh M. Warren (Chem) has started law school at the Columbia University School of Law in New York City.

Postdoc. Maria M. Andersson (ChemE) took a position as a researcher in the Department of Biotechnology of Lund University in Lund, Sweden.

Yu Sung Chun (Chem) has been doing post-doctoral research at Stanford University since September 2002.

2003

B.S. Andreana (ChemE and Material Science & Engineering) took a position this year as a wafer fabrication engineer at Advanced Micro Devices in Sunnyvale, CA.

Jennifer A. Cruz (ChemE) started the chemical engineering Ph.D. program at Northwestern University in Evanson, IL, last fall.

Erfan Gunawan (ChemE and Material Science & Engineering) wrote, “Expecting a new addition to my family because my brother’s wife is expecting.”

Katherine J. Lew (ChemE) is working on a Ph.D. in Materials Science at UC Santa Barbara.

Ph.D. In September 2003, Morris D. Argyle (ChemE) joined the faculty of the University of Wyoming as an assistant professor in their Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.

Symyx Technologies in Santa Clara, CA, gained a new staff scientist last August when Hyeok Hahn (ChemE) joined their polymer properties division to do combinatorial research.

Michael Leavell (Chem) has won the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry’s 2004 “Best Student Paper Award.” Dr. Leavell is currently a postdoctoral associate at Sandia Laboratories in Livermore. u Another alum starting at Symyx recently is Benjamin V. Mork (Chem), a staff
scientist doing materials discovery.

At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Center for Basic Science in Golden, CO, Nathan R. Neale (Chem) is doing postdoctoral research under Arthur Frank on dye-sensitized solar cells. Living in downtown Denver, he’s enjoying both outdoor and city life.

Early this year, Benjamin R. Wood (ChemE) started work as a staff scientist at General Electric in Niskayuna, NY.

Postdoc. Jun Cai (ChemE) wrote to say how grateful he is for his two years at Cal. He has been appointed associate professor at East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai, and is continuing with the project he was doing here—using renormalization group theory in the calculation of phase equilibria in chemical engineering.

WanZhen Liang (Chem and ChemE) has been a professor in the Department of Chemical Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei since last September.

After returning to Korea, Hyuneui Lim (ChemE) took a position as a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials in Daejon.

Quanzhou Luo (Chem) is at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, doing another postdoc.

Arlene E. McKeown (Chem) was hired last December as a senior research chemistry in the process research department of Merck in Rahway, NJ.

Later this year, Dominic S. Peterson (Chem) will join the technical staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory in their C-analytical chemistry sciences division.

Guangyi Wang (ChemE) has joined the faculty of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in Honolulu, as an associate professor in their Department of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. His teaching focuses on developing courses on marine bioengineering and biotechnology, and he is also developing a research program in bioprospecting and the production of valuable products from marine natural resources, using bioengineering approaches.

Toshio Waku (ChemE) is chief research chemist for Nippon Oil Corporation in Yokohama, Japan, working in their central technical research laboratory.

DengGuo Wu (Chem) became a research associate last November at Ohio University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Yi Zhao (Chem) has also joined the faculty of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei as a professor in their Department of Chemical Physics.

Visiting Scholar Eishi Endo (ChemE) has taken a position as assistant manager in Sony Corp MSNC’s energy research and development division.

Akio Hamamoto (ChemE) is a senior scientist doing research and development at the Daito Kawei Kogyo Company in Osaka, Japan.

Spring 2004 Expected Degree

B.S. Gilbert Victor T. Basbas (ChemE) was featured in last October’s issue of Design News in the article, “Engineering Students You'd Love to Hire.”

Marina Berdichevsky (ChemE) is planning a month-long trip to Europe after graduation.

Peter J. Callis (Chem) sent us this news: “I changed my career from chemistry to culinary.” In his new field, he can be found cooking “cuisine a la bière” at the Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley.

Kathryn M. Cantrell (Chem) has been working as a research associate at Gilead Sciences in Foster City, CA, since last November.

Elise Huang (ChemE) is looking forward to a rare family reunion—the first in five years. In the fall, she’ll be starting her chemical engineering Ph.D. studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madsion.

Vannarith M. Leang (ChemE) had an article, “Playing Hockey the Scientific Way,” published in California Engineer. He has been accepted to UC Davis for chemical engineering graduate school.

Brian A. Wong (Chem) has initiated our unofficial Joker’s Corner with this excellent news: “I have recently been offered a position at the Devil’s Advocate Corporation after completing the requisite task of committing a felony in all 50 states. However, I have chosen instead to accept the throne as the Emperor of Greenland. The pay is not as good, but the crown is really spiffy.”

Summer 2004 Expected Degree
B.S. Carrie A. Liang (Chem) listed some of her activities, associations, and honors while a student here: Member, Gamma Phi Beta International Sorority; 2003 ASUC Public Relations Director; 2003 Panhellenic Vice President of Public Relations; 2003 Greek Leader of the Year Award; UC Berkeley Researcher, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Nuclear Sciences Division.

Fall 2004 Expected Degree
B.A. Research collaborations have taken Alan Aspuru-Guzik (Chem) to Italy and France this year. u Yao Liu (Chem) also reminisced, “I joined [the] Chinese People Union… I made a lot of friends there, and hosted several important events. I had a very good time, and had a colorful college life.”

Ph.D. Heather A. Harker Garnier (Chem) will be moving back to France within the next year.

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© 2004 UC Regents

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