Thanks to donors like you, Berkeley engineers are breaking barriers, advancing technology, and addressing society’s most pressing challenges. Your support fuels groundbreaking research, enriches student experiences, and ensures that Berkeley Engineering remains a leader in education and discovery. See how your generosity has made an impact over the past year.
Berkeley Engineering Fund (BEF)
The BEF provides essential support, enabling the College to seize new opportunities and tackle urgent needs. Your generosity advances the Dean’s priorities—supporting students, driving research, attracting top faculty, and enhancing facilities. Below, you’ll see how your contributions make a tangible impact across Berkeley Engineering.
Engineering Student Services (ESS)
Thanks to donors like you, ESS provides vital resources like advising, professional development, and wellness programs that help students thrive. From PREP and T-PREP to career resources and student organizations support, ESS empowers students at every stage of their journey.
To learn more about ESS and how they support our students, check out our ESS podcast, where we speak with Luis Castillo and students about the Center for Access to Engineering Excellence (CAEE) and its impact.
Pre-Engineering Program (PREP) and Transfer Pre-Engineering Program (T-PREP)
PREP and T-PREP are three-week summer programs that prepares incoming first-year and transfer students for the challenges of Berkeley Engineering. Through coursework, advising, design projects, and community-building, PREP boosts confidence, builds skills, and helps students find community.
“I love how the program helps us familiarize ourselves with the primary resources around the campus, like the food pantry, mental health, and housing, in addition to the professional and engineering-specific skills. Thank you!” – Nicole Phan, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, Class of 2026
Faculty Support: Investing in Top Talent
A new engineering professor starts like a small business owner—beginning with an empty room and big ideas. Their startup package is essential seed funding that launches their research. In a competitive market, top candidates are sought-after entrepreneurs, and Berkeley must strategically invest to attract the best.
With the help of our donor community, we can attract top faculty by offering competitive startup packages, equipping them with the resources needed to launch groundbreaking research and effective teaching from day one. Together, we make this possible by:
- Equipping labs with cutting-edge tools.
- Funding PhD students who drive early-stage research.
- Covering access fees for specialized research facilities.
Faculty Highlight: Zakaria Al Balushi
Zakaria Al Balushi is an Assistant Professor in Materials Science & Engineering, Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the SK Hynix Faculty Fellow. Thanks to donor support, he successfully:
- Installed two commercial metalorganic chemical vapor deposition systems used to develop large-scale next-generation semiconductor materials.
- Made critical upgrades to the exhaust equipment in his lab to accommodate highly specialized gasses necessary to perform such research.
- Hired postdocs and acquired a variety of characterization equipment to perform research.
Berkeley Engineering added 14 tenure-track faculty members to its roster this academic year. These professors bring their wide range of expertise across the college.
Investing in Excellence: Supporting Our Departments
The departments at Berkeley Engineering drive education, research, and innovation forward. With strategic funding, they recruit top faculty, enhance courses, upgrade labs, and offer hands-on learning experiences like attending conferences. Supporting departments ensures our programs stay cutting-edge and provides students and faculty with the resources to thrive.
BioEngineering Scholars Program (BioESP)
Departmental support creates transformative opportunities for students, offering hands-on experiences, mentorship, and resources.
Programs like the BioEngineering Scholars Program (BioESP) provide undergraduates with research opportunities, faculty advising, and a strong community. Each year, 20-30 new students, including those from underrepresented backgrounds, are selected for the program. Support for these programs removes financial barriers, ensuring all students have the chance to thrive and excel.
"This research opportunity has benefited me greatly because it has made me realize that research is a path that I want to pursue. There are so many different types of research that are valuable that I don't have to feel like I "have to" research something. Research is effective if you like what you're researching. I now understand that and am looking into research as a potential career path." - Denise Robles, Bioengineering, Class of 2024
Experiential Learning: Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS)
Through departmental support, the EECS department plans to redesign EECS 16A and 16B courses to provide hands-on experience with hardware, including building electrical guitars and designing circuits. These courses bridge theoretical knowledge with real-world applications, helping students deepen their understanding of electrical engineering concepts while developing practical skills for their careers.
Thanks to the support of the Berkeley Engineering Fund and our donor community, the vision for our new engineering building became a reality—from the master plan to the architectural design and construction. Our community of alumni and friends helped lay the foundation for a space that will inspire the next generation of engineers.
The building opened in Spring 2025. The $95 million cost is funded entirely by philanthropy, and the final stages of fundraising for the project continue.