Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Why UC Berkeley?

My internship at UC Berkeley is coming to an end. Next Friday, Evi will arrive and we will travel through California for two weeks by car.

However, I promised you in a previous post to explain in a little more detail what I have been doing here. Let’s skip that—I will write a paper about it and gladly share it with you if you insist—and address a more general and far more simple question: why UC Berkeley?

In fact, this picture says it all:

IMG_3596

No, “NL” does not mean that the Dutch can park their cars here for free. Rather, it stands for “Nobel Laureate.” Indeed, so far, UC Berkeley has 20 faculty members and 24 alumni with a Nobel prize…

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a Nobel prize for engineering. But still, try to Google for instance “engineering university ranking,” or add “electrical” if you want to be more specific. On average—considering this, this, this and this site for instance—we could more or less agree on this being a realistic top-3 of engineering universities in the World:

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  2. Stanford University
  3. University of California-Berkeley

where Stanford and Berkeley are often rated ex aequo.

Ouch, that’s quite enough for some serious boasting here! In fact, it turns out that I did not even contribute to all this: apparently, Berkeley was already in all those rankings before I arrived…

So let me just conclude that UC Berkeley has a very fine engineering department and some pretty bright minds hanging around. Cooperating with some of these researchers—first and foremost with professor Bahai—was a very enriching experience, and provided invaluable input for my PhD project. Moreover, it was a unique opportunity to discover the culture and dynamism of one of the World's foremost high-tech regions, where a close cooperation between academia and industry spurs innovation and creativity as nowhere else.

Would I do it again if they asked me to? Definitely…

12 comments:

Nicolas said...

I know what you mean! I visited some friends who were studying in Berkeley once. I also felt very smart!

Anonymous said...

You may have wondered about the sudden silence at this end, but yep I'm back from France, bouncing with energy again. You mean you actually did other things than explore the area Wim? Gee, I am impressed ;-). Btw, my hubby was at MIT (which doesn't make me feel smart but just means he married far below his station... - over to you Nicolas).

Wim said...

Aha, good to have you back at the other end, Marleen! As for Nicolas: he's never really been away. However, this is an unusually long silence for him to reply after you sending in such a nice cross... I guess he is "en train de reculer pour mieux sauter" ;-)

pater collisilvae said...

Just a quick observation: the NL parking lot looks pretty empty, doesn't it? I assume the picture was taken before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.?

Wim said...

I always pass by this spot after work at 5:07PM, and that's when the picture was taken! :-p

ellen said...

Ja, lap, ik was net verslaafd aant raken aan de blog. Begin dan maar met een ESAT-blog,ok! Ge weet wel welke foto's en info ik wil :p

Wim said...

De volgende post is een verhaaltje, goed? Wel met maar 1 lousy fotooke...

Nicolas said...

Good to hear back from you Marleen! And thanks for giving money to France, that will pay for my parent's retirement (obviously they shouldn't count on me!)
Did your husband marry you before or after going to MIT?

Wim said...

Ouch! :-)

pater collisilvae said...

I was told by one of Sarko's advisors that He is making good progress in taking over MIT and moving it to Paris. Good move - makes sense: will make life a lot easier for some of us!

Anonymous said...

great, I should get a job there, means I would be able to park my "machtige machine" more easily without scratching so many other cars each time! enjoy your holidays Wim!

Anonymous said...

Oops Nicolas, I failed to reply to your question. After. I'm bracing myself for the answer...