2022 College-wide awards for EECS undergraduate students

Claire McDermott
Claire is majoring in Computer Science. She has been an IA for EECS 376 and 281, a member of the Society of Physics Students, and was named an Amazon Future Engineers Scholar and Lockheed Martin STEM Scholar. This summer she’s looking forward to doing research abroad at CERN.

“I love math and science, and feel certain that that is my calling in my career, but I have always loved to write. It’s a great creative outlet for me in the midst of heavy technical work, so it feels great to be recognized for my abilities that I work on on my own time.”

Reva Kulkarni
Reva is majoring in Electrical Engineering. She has served as an undergraduate researcher at the University of Michigan for the Systems Imaging and Bioinformatics Lab, the Robotics Institute, and the Systems Biology of Human Disease Lab. She is a Career Peer Advisor at the Engineering Career Resource Center, and she serves as the Global Outreach Program Director for the Society of Women Engineers. She is most interested in the intersection of engineering and medicine.

“Throughout my life, I have been interested in biomedical applications because of my upbringing in a family of physicians and engineers, and because I had witnessed struggles of relatives against diseases like leukemia. I aspire to be a part of the community of scientists and innovators who strive to address global healthcare needs.”

Peter Linder
Peter is majoring in Computer Engineering and minoring in Mathematics. He serves as Autonomous Chief Engineer for M-Fly SAE/AUVSI Aero Design Team, and he was a member of the 2021 Seoul Robotics Cohort for TechLab at Mcity where he worked with the startup Seoul Robotics on an autonomous parking system for parking lots and garages. He is an IA for EECS 270. 

“My favorite U-M experience has been my membership on M-Fly, which has exposed me to lots of engineers and friends outside my discipline.”

Claire Yang
Claire is majoring in Computer Science. She was a member of the U-M undergraduate programming team, The Victors, and qualified for the finals in the premiere programming competition in North America in 2021, the International Collegiate Programming Contest. She worked as an IA for EECS 203 and 470.

“I have so many good memories of U-M, like making the ICPC Finals. I really enjoyed all the friendships I’ve made these past three years.”

Matthew Lichtinger
Matthew is majoring in Computer Engineering. He is Co-Founder & CEO of Slide LLC, a cross-platform mobile app company and corresponding website that allows users to automatically share contact information, including social media handles. He has served as Vice President of Corporate Relations for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Michigan chapter. He also serves as President of the Michigan Men’s Glee Club and is highly involved with volunteering opportunities spanning a range of causes including food kitchens, women’s resource centers, and family development centers.

“I had the joy of starting a software company with one of my best friends, something I never could have imagined I would do when I started school here. As a member of the Men’s Glee Club, I got to sing for and engage with inmates at Milan Federal prison, which was one of the most transformative experiences in my life.”

Fengyu Yang
Fengyu Yang is majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Business. He spent a summer at the Digital Media Computing & Design Lab at Zhejiang University as a research intern working on the Continue Semantic Segmentation (CSS) problem, producing a paper submitted to the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR). Currently, he’s working with Prof. Andrew Owens to collect a real-world multisensory dataset that incorporate vision and tactile signals. In 2022 he was invited to serve as a reviewer at CVPR.

“I plan to pursue my PhD degree after graduation, and I’m hoping to continuously explore the undefined and the untapped in the realm of computer vision in the future.”

Nuzhat Tabassum
Nuzhat is majoring in Computer Science. As an IA for EECS 183, she helped expand office hours offered in the class to support struggling students as part of the U-M Comprehensive Studies Program. She then helped design the first-ever lab section for CSP students in EECS, which she taught for two semesters. Nuzhat also served as a peer mentor for first-generation female students in Computer Science, and helped improve the user experience of Lobster, a C++ visualization tool to help visual learners learn to program more easily.

“I have been equally interested in sciences and humanities. U-M allowed me to incorporate classes like Women Studies, South Asian Art History, and Bengali language in my technical degree. It allowed me to grow not only as an engineer but also as a well rounded individual.”

Reva Kulkarni
Reva is majoring in Electrical Engineering. She has served as an undergraduate researcher at the University of Michigan for the Systems Imaging and Bioinformatics Lab, the Robotics Institute, and the Systems Biology of Human Disease Lab. She is a Career Peer Advisor at the Engineering Career Resource Center, and she serves as the Global Outreach Program Director for the Society of Women Engineers. She is most interested in the intersection of engineering and medicine.

“Throughout my life, I have been interested in biomedical applications because of my upbringing in a family of physicians and engineers, and because I had witnessed struggles of relatives against diseases like leukemia. I aspire to be a part of the community of scientists and innovators who strive to address global healthcare needs.”