Bias Busters at Cal (BB@Cal) works to combat bias through addressing explicit and implicit actions of sexism, racism, and ableism. We work to identify and reduce these biases through continual learning and activism in the classroom, lab space, throughout campus, and in everyday life. BB@Cal has conducted anti-bias training and workshops at the College of Engineering, EECS department (faculty retreats, grad admissions reviews, faculty hiring reviews, etc), various labs and research groups, multiple undergraduate and graduate research programs and REUs, as well as at the EE and CS 375 pedagogy courses over the past 5 years. In addition to these on-campus offerings, Bias Busters has presented at the national laboratories, industry conferences, the Women in Tech Initiative (WITI), and the Western area Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (WECEDHA). Anti-bias work is never truly done and people never truly overcome their personal biases, it is a continual learning process and we must all work together each and every day to make small steps and strides towards improving our community. Working to uplift and reduce bias towards the most vulnerable of us - in tech this is often the disabled, women, and POC - will raise the quality of life for all those involved, as a rising tide lifts all ships.
Panelist:
Alexander Alvara
3rd yr, PhD Student, Mechanical Engineering
University of California, Berkeley
As a third year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, Alexander’s research is on micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) for actuators, robotics, and sensors with an interest in nanomaterials and education. Alexander earned his three BS degrees in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Science Engineering at UC Irvine after transferring from Los Angeles Pierce College. As a first-generation, transfer, high-school dropout, Latinx student from a low-income family of eight, Alexander is adamant about working with underprivileged and misunderstood students and community members to enact social and institutional change to upheave the systems that hold us down. Alexander works to make sustainable change on campus and in the surrounding community. In his current work with Bias Busters, Alexander is the Co-President. As of Spring 2021, Alexander also currently works on campus at UC Berkeley with the Mechanical Engineering Department as a Town Hall Coordinator, College of Engineering as a member of the Graduate Study Committee, Office for Graduate Diversity as a Diversity & Community Fellow, SACNAS Grad as Chair/President, Bay Area GPS as Peer Advising Chair, LAGSES as Social Co-Chair, FGLI as a Board Member, and GALS as Internal Affairs Officer.
Panelist:
Nicole-Marie Cotton
4th yr, PhD Candidate, African American Studies
University of California, Berkeley
After working in a microbiology lab and 3M, Nicole was set on a career in the life sciences until one day she was in the middle of a debate between her zoology professor and her philosophy professor about ethics. Since then, Nicole has been interested in ways to bring people together from different backgrounds to discuss ethical issues such as environmental justice, multicultural inclusion, and tech for social good. Nicole is a graduate researcher for UC Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute working on a landscape scan on technology, surveillance, and social determinants of health for underserved communities during the COVID-19 crisis. Nicole is the social chair of Bias Busters and part of the inaugural class of UC Berkeley Diversity Community Fellows. Her PhD research centers around how DNA ancestry technology and social media converge to teach the public new understandings of race and ethnicity.
Panelist:
Kieran Peleaux
4th yr, PhD Candidate, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
University of California, Berkeley
Kieran received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and spent two years in industry working on low-power wireless power harvesting technology before moving to Berkeley. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley researching resonant microelectromechanical systems for communication and their integration with RF circuits. He has worked with Bias Busters since 2019 to combat systemic biases and injustices in STEM and academia through outreach and education. He lives (and works) at home with his partner, their dog and two cats. Kieran is thrilled to have the privilege to attend and participate in ECEDHA this year.
Panelist:
Eyes Robson
1st yr, PhD Student, Computational Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Eyes Robson is a PhD student in the Center for Computational Biology at the University of California Berkeley. Before coming to Berkeley, Eyes completed their MS in Statistics & Operations Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where they researched applications of machine learning to systems biology. Their current research interest lies in the construction of scalable sequence models for genetic variant interpretation and protein design. They hope to be able to answer important questions like “how can we recast sequences to speed up model training?” or “what fairness metrics can we apply to this pathogenicity prediction model?” Their work is strongly interdisciplinary, borrowing from applied statistics, natural language processing, and parallel computing. Outside of research, Eyes enjoys audiobooks, oatmilk mochas, and oodles of avocados.
Panelist:
Josh Sanz
5th yr, PhD Student, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
University of California, Berkeley
Josh Sanz is a third year Ph.D. student in the EECS Department at U.C. Berkeley advised by Dr. Anant Sahai. His academic interests lie in the intersection of signal processing and machine learning, and his research focuses on applications of machine learning for physical layer wireless communications. He has been engaged in diversity and inclusion work since his time as an R.A. at Harvey Mudd College, continued through mentoring an all-women FIRST Tech Challenge team while working at Lincoln Laboratory, and currently through membership in the Bias Busters organization at Berkeley.