Class of 2016 : First Cohort of Development Engineers
In May 2016 , the 1st Cohort of Development Engineering PhD Students graduated . Launched in 2014 , the Designated Emphasis in Development Engineering trains UC Berkeley graduate students who aim to use technology to address the needs of people living in poverty . The program ’ s coursework prepares students in engineering , business , and the social sciences to create , pilot , and evaluate technological interventions and solutions for low-resource settings . The program is the first of its kind in the country .
Dr . Jessica Vechakul , PhD in Mechanical Engineering
Department : Mechanical Engineering Advisor : Alice Agogino , Mechanical Engineering Research Interests : Human-Center Designed approaches to product design , technology for development Dissertation Title : Human-Centered Design for Social Impact : Case Studies of IDEO . org and the International Development Design Summit
Dr . Daniel Wilson , PhD in Mechanical Engineering
Department : Mechanical Engineering Advisor : Ashok Gadgil , Civil and Environmental Engineering Research Interests : Cookstoves , biomass combustion , and tropospheric black carbon soot Dissertation Title : Quantifying the Crisis of Cooking : Next-Generation Monitoring and Evaluation of a Global Health and Environmental Disaster Where He ’ s Headed Next : He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory focusing on scaling up several hardware and software products for monitoring technology adoption .
Dr . Ajay Pillarisetti , PhD in Environmental Health Sciences
Department : Environmental Health Sciences ( School of Public Health ) Advisor : Professor Kirk R . Smith , Global Environmental Health , Household Energy , Climate , and Health Research Group Research Interests : Household energy use in developing countries , technology adoption , impact assessment Dissertation Title : Inspecting What You Expect : Applying modern tools and techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of household energy interventions Where He ’ s Headed Next : Ajay is currently a post-doctoral researcher with the Household Energy , Climate , and Health Research Group with a focus on two projects in India -- one measuring and modeling the impact of household sources on ambient air quality and a second evaluating novel ways to drive clean cooking adoption .
Dr . Angeli Kirk , PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics
Department : Agricultural and Resource Economics Advisor : Elisabeth Sadoulet , Agricultural and Resources Economics Research Interests : Development microeconomics , specifically in technology adoption , agriculture , gender , nutrition / health investments , and time preferences Dissertation Title : Health , Human Capital , and Behavior Change : Essays in Development Microeconomics Where She ’ s Headed Next : Angeli recently started working as a Staff Economist at Premise Data , a mobile data and analytics platform bringing visibility to the world ’ s hardest-to-see places .
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