Alumni Spotlight Introducing...
Miller Allen
B.S. ’93, M.S. ’95 Ph.D. ’02
Mechanical Engineering
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I was born in Berkeley and raised in Oakland where I still live with my wife and two children. My parents, godmother, and uncle all attended Cal, and I wanted to attend Cal from as early as I can remember. I also knew I wanted to study science at an early age and the fact that Cal's Mechanical Engineering department is perennially ranked in the top three nationally made the choice even easier. While at Cal, I gravitated towards enriching my student experience by participating in student and community-service oriented groups such as the MESA Program, the Black Engineering and Science Students Association (BESSA), its graduate counterpart, BGESS, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Professionally, I am an Engineering Director at Applied Materials Corporation where I have worked for 18 years.
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Miller and his son Mason on their way to a Cal basketball game in 2015
What was your undergraduate life like at Cal? Although Mechanical Engineering was challenging, I really enjoyed campus life at Cal. I was an officer in the campus organizations listed above and through working closely with others on problems larger than the day to day grind of classwork we created lasting bonds. I made many close friends that I have to this day.
What advice would you give your undergraduate self? Prepare and go to office hours religiously. Read your professor's latest publications before you go, in addition to just showing up with some basic questions about the homework.
What are some current projects you are working on? In 2019, I co-founded the Black Engineering and Science Alumni Club (BESAC) with some of my fellow BESSA members from our time at Cal. We have been working to grow the chapter with the expressed mission to tap into our alumni network and find ways to help students who may be experiencing some of the challenges we faced. (Shout out to Kirk Tramble, Rori Abernethy, Nerayo Teclemariam, Leon Daniels, Josephine Agbowo, and Sheila Humphreys!)
How do you tap into your Cal Alumni network? My Cal Alumni network of BESAC members and extended contacts stays connected via social media. BESAC has hosted both in-person and online events including two Summer Welcome Parties for incoming students and a Homecoming event focused on COVID-19 disparities and how members of our community were responding to address them. The vision to form BESAC was driven from an event in 2018 which brought close to 200 alumni, students, family members, and friends to the Alumni House to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of BESSA and 30th Anniversary of BGESS. Seeing all of the love and energy in the room, we could only imagine how amazing it would be to harness those forces to create a longer lasting service organization.
BESSA 50th Anniversary Celebration at Alumni House, Feb. 10, 2015
(Left to Right: Carl Holmes ’95, Dr. Reginald Des Roches ’90 Ph.D.’95, Dana Perry ’95, Miller Allen ’93 PhD.’02, Tansel Pope, Director Professional Development Program)
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What is new in the Alumni Chapters Department
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After being with CAA since 2018, Sonia Wu ’04 has recently transitioned out of her role as Project Manager, Marketing & Operations. She has been a valued asset in supporting our team including integrated marketing, data management, and launching 360Alumni, CAA’s very first technology platform for alumni chapters.
Sonia would like to extend her gratitude to chapter leaders and campus partners for the innovative collaborations and partnerships. We wish her the best as she moves on with her new endeavors.
During this transition, please reach out to Caitlin LaFleur for marketing, 360Alumni, and chapter operations-specific matters.
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February Alumni Leaders Town Hall
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 It was great to connect with so many alumni leaders, CAA staff/board members, and campus partners in our February Alumni Town Hall. Remember your chapter has until March 1st to submit an alumni hosted engagement with new students during Alumni Week (April 19-23). Please find the form linked below along with Amanda Lacro’s email if you have any questions. Be sure to follow up this discussion around connecting with students and your community in 360Alumni. Jonathan Morgan, Alumni Scholars presented on ways for Alumni to support students through scholarship, please find his slides and contact information below.
Jonathan Morgan, jonathan.morgan@alumni.berkeley.edu
CAA Alumni Scholars Presentation
Amanda Lacro, alacro@berkeley.edu
Yield Events Form
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March Alumni Leaders Town Hall
Register Today!
March 18, 3 – 4:15 p.m.
Eventbrite link
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360 Alumni
How are you engaging with your 360Alumni account?
Chapters staff will be continuously hosting office hours and training on platform updates, best practices, and strategies to assist with your chapter programs and promotions. Be sure to log on to 360Alumni regularly to find out what is new!
Check out the training materials from January Training for best practices to get you and your chapter’s account ready for next steps! Let’s engage and enjoy empowering our alumni engagement through 360Alumni!
What is 360Alumni?
Our virtual alumni community is exclusively for alumni chapter leaders, like you, to manage your
- Chapter discussions and communications
- Membership management
- Event management
- Promote chapter events
- Find chapter resources from CAA… and MORE!
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IMPORTANT Alumni Chapter Action Items
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Thank you for those who have submitted your 2020 Chapter Banking & Chapter Membership List. Please contact us immediately if you have not done so.
Chapter Banking & Chapter Membership List
All chapters must submit annual financial statements and chapter membership list in order to be a chartered CAA alumni chapter. We will request that all chapter leaders complete the reporting form below.
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Keep the Chapters Team Updated
Tell us about your Events!!
We would love to hear about your chapters events! We are working to increase CAA presence at all chapter events as we continue to engage in this virtual world. As well, we can support pre-event marketing, connecting to speakers, grant funding and more! Be sure to reach out to chapters@alumni.berkeley.edu.
Please add chapters@alumni.berkeley.edu to your chapter newsletter/mailing list so we can stay up to date on your chapter. or send an e-mail to chapters@alumni.berkeley.edu about any events your chapter will be hosting. Once we learn about your events, the chapters team will reach out to you with a pre-event email with reminders and ways we can support your event.
Here are a couple of ways to promote your events
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Submit Your Event Reports!
Event Reports for chapter-led events need to be submitted 1 week after the event!
This information is important for us to advocate on behalf of chapters to our board and highlight ALL the great work of our alumni chapters AND helps us build contacts/communication with new alumni to help chapter outreach! Videos and pictures are greatly appreciated!
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Chapter Board Member Updates
If there are any changes to your chapter board leaders, please make sure to make a submission to the Board Member Update Form. Your timely updates are important for our future communications.
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What else is going on at CAA...
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Alumni Scholars Program
Deary Duffie MBA ’84 Leads with His Whole Self. Check out his alumni profile and workshop on Using Anxiety and Fear to Fuel Your Personal Power.
Volunteer with the African American initiative.
The Cal Alumni Association (CAA) and the African American Initiative (AAI) scholarship selection committee beginning the AAI selection process for 2021-2022. We are calling on Cal alumni to volunteer as scholarship application readers, phone bankers, and finalist interviewers. Find out more and register here!
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The Berkeley Network and Events
UC ALUMNI CAREER NETWORK WEBINAR | Leveraging social media to launch or grow your business.
This will be an interactive workshop and attendees will have an opportunity to meet fellow UC alumni through breakout activities during the event. Register Here
Career Connections: Tech for Good
Help students explore future career fields through casual conversations with Cal alumni and professionals. Register Here
Big Give–Cal’s annual online fundraising event–is quickly approaching! Big Give is March 11, but it’s not too early to start spreading the word. Help CAA have a BIG moment on Big Give! Get involved by making individual donations to CAA on the day of Big Give, at biggive.berkeley.edu/caa.
(Please note: this link will go live on March 10, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. PST)
Spread the word: Help promote our Big Give efforts on social media, using the hashtags #BearsGiveBack and #CalBigGive.
For more information or with any questions, please contact Danielle Kihara at danielle.kihara@alumni.berkeley.edu or 510.900.8204.
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Just in from
the California Magazine
Published by the Cal Alumni Association
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UC President Michael V. Drake reflects on Black History Month
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UC President Michael V. Drake reflects on the Black workers, scholars, artists and activists who have propelled the University of California — and the world — forward, and the work that remains to be done to achieve our ideals of equality, inclusion and justice. Watch the video
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HIREUCVirtual
Alumni-Only Career Fair
Join the University of California and Their 10 Campuses
For a Virtual Alumni-Only Career Fair!
Participants connect online with ease through Employer Group Info Sessions and Private one to one succession meetings via Zoom sessions.
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Please share these events with your chapter members! We encourage cross-chapter collaboration and would love for your members to learn about these amazing events that are being held by chapter leaders all across the nation.
Black History Month Panel: COVID-19 Vaccine Science & Facts
Feb. 28, 2 p.m. PST
Hosted by: Black Engineering and Science Alumni Club (BESAC)
What's Next is Sustainability? Renewable Energy Tech and Markets
Session 1 — Mar. 18, 6 p.m. ET
Session 2 — April 8, 6 p.m. ET
Session 3 — Date TBD
Hosted by: Cal Alumni Club of New York (CACNY)
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Cal Alumni Club of Los Angeles
Drag Queen Bingo with Peachy Springs
The Cal Alumni of Los Angeles chapter hosted a special Valentine's Day edition of Drag Queen Bingo with Peachy Springs. Proceeds of the event will be donated to the chapter's valentine this year, The Basic Needs Center at UC Berkeley. Not only were there the most intense games of bingo, but alumni young and old were able to partake in a rollicking afternoon filled with gut-busting laughs. Winners all received digital gift cards to their store of choice. Go Bears!
Cal Bears in the Desert
Remote Learning Resources for Desert Bears
This past summer Cal Bears in the Desert conducted a student survey to address study space and technology needs that resulted in the unexpected remote learning due to COVID-19 restrictions. This spearheaded our campaign to help provide entering Cal students with the resources they lacked from home and to help some with their restricted internet access. We linked students to Cal’s computer lender program and provided donated laptops. We made our first distribution in mid-January of materials and supplies to 12 students in the Eastern Coachella Valley. We also sent along handmade Cal masks and our Cal Bears in the Desert logo T-shirts. Students received: computer desks with bookshelves, ergonomic chairs, desk lamps, electrical plug-in Wi-Fi boosters and bluetooth wireless headphones. Please help us spread the word so we can reach our goal and send resources to more students in need! Reach out to us at CalBearsintheDesert@gmail.com to support.
Cal Alumni Club of New England (CACNE)
January Happy Hour
We continued our tradition of having monthly happy hours. Even though we had a larger group, we didn't use breakout rooms this month. After spending half an hour introducing ourselves, we found that the conversation flowed nicely, even in a large group setting. There were some alumni from other chapters in attendance as well, which is one of the benefits of these virtual events.
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