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Parikh Scholars Program focuses on interdisciplinary studies
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Celebrating
the new program are (left to right) Parikh scholars Bill Trac
(Eng Physics), Fan Lau (Eng Physics), Natalya Sokolovskaya
(Env Eng), and John Cason (Eng Physics), with Mihir and Nancy
Parikh and their son Michael.
PEG SKORPINSKI PHOTO |
Financial burdens will be considerably lighter this year for
John Cason, Fan Lau, Tuan Nguyen, Natalya Sokolovskaya, and Bill
Trac, five Engineering Science undergraduates who have each received
a $5,000 scholarship, thanks to the Parikh Scholars Program.
Initiated this year with a $100,000 gift from Mihir Parikh (B.S.’69
Eng Physics, M.S.’71 Ph.D.’74 Eng Sci) and his wife
Nancy, the program supports students in the Interdisciplinary
Studies (IDS) program, the college’s multidepartmental curriculum
combining engineering with studies in physics, medicine, and other
natural sciences.
“Over the years, I have worked in completely different disciplines,
including electron lithography, radiation physics, and semiconductor
automation,” says Parikh. “This has provided me with
the confidence of taking knowledge from various disciplines and
adapting it to solve a problem at hand.”
A native of India, Parikh started his engineering studies at Berkeley
in IDS. After working at IBM and HP, he founded and for 18 years
served as chairman and CEO of Asyst Technologies, a global public
company that provides automation solutions for the semiconductor,
flat panel display, and related industries. New scholarship recipients
will be chosen each year through a competitive process.
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