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May
24, 2003, 16S:
Special Commencement Issue
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Bechtel
Achievement Award: Ankur
Luthra , EECS
Bechtel
Engineering Scholarship:
Jengyee Liang, IEOR
Departmental
Citation Winners:
Nathan Huebsch, BioE
Mark Wan, CEE
Peter Chen, EECS
Kenny Kamrin, Eng. Science
Marc Oman, IEOR
Melissa Santala, MSE
Siddharth Patel, ME
Brian Quiter, NE
Other
Departmental Awards
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Photo
by Peg Skorpinski
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Engineering
Science Citation: Kenny Kamrin
Kenny Kamrin was given his
alliterative name by parents who thought it would look good in lights
on a marquee. Ever since then he’s been participating in his mom’s
musical theatre productions.
“Both my parents were involved in theatre, so it was hard for them
to believe that I wanted to be a scientist and not an actor,” he
says.
But Kenny hasn’t left the stage behind. He is part of Berkeley’s
UC Men’s Octet. Pedestrians on lower Sproul have often heard Kenny’s
a cappella group belting out tunes on a sunny day.
Kenny knew he wanted to go to Berkeley since his uncle Michael Harris,
a professor in the optometry department, took him around campus as a kid.
Kenny’s humble life goal is to understand how the universe works,
he says. He chose the broad-disciplined major of engineering physics so
he could study everything he has ever been interested in.
This fall Kenny heads off to grad school at MIT, where he will do research
in physical applied math and fluid dynamics. Eventually he wants to be
a professor, preferably at Berkeley, in either physics or math.
In four years Kenny found time to be a ASUC senator, sit on two academic
senate faculty committees, work as a CalSO counselor, tutor high school
kids, play trombone in the Cal band, teach two adjunct courses in calculus,
and start a student group called “Sonic Insomnia,” dedicated
to electronic music activism.
“I threw two campuswide all-night dance events in Pauley Ballroom
to put a positive spin on raves after they were demonized by the press,”
he says.
In his spare time (he swears he has some) Kenny uses his training as a
fully certified hypnotist to entertain at parties and Berkeley events.
He also has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and was a runner-up for the University
Medal.
“One of my majors was extracurricular activities and I minored in
math,” jokes Kenny.
EECS Professor David Atwood is familiar with Kenny’s academic acuity
and his extracurricular energy. “He’s had many involvements
while still maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Clearly this is a person with not just
a lot of brainpower, but also a lot of energy and dedication to his community.”
Kenny says it helps that he loves everything he does. “I like putting
on a show, leading groups, teaching and performing. It sounds like exhausting
work but to me it’s more like exhausting fun.”
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