"Peers supporting peers with grad school life."

Our goals are to provide a private, open-minded supportive ear and sounding board for any situation and serve as a resource to other students for navigating grad school issues such as classes, advisors, prelims, stress, and conflicts.

To talk to a peer simply reach out by speaking to us in person or sending an email. All EECS peers are listed below and have a sign on their desk designating them as a peer.

Any other questions can be directed to Kristin Stephens (ksteph [at] cs.berkeley.edu), the graduate student EECS Peers coordinator.

Kristin Stephens (ksteph [at] cs.berkeley.edu) Kristin Stephens Bio: My research is a cross between information visualization, data mining, and human computer interaction. I've served as WICSE president and am now the main organizer of EECS Peers. Fun Fact: In my free time I enjoy swing dancing and crochet.	Justine Sherry (justine [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Justine Sherry Bio: I am a fourth year in networking; I sit in the NetSys Lab. My research focuses on “middleboxes” -- things like firewalls and proxies. I grew up in and around Seattle and enjoy cooking, reading, nerdy board games, and coffee. Fun Fact: I make an awesome chocolate raspberry cake.	Vijay Kamble (vjk [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Vijay Kamble Bio: I am a fourth year graduate student in EECS from Mumbai. I am interested in game theory, economics, applied probability and optimization. I have always tried to be a jack of all trades and I am here hoping to be a master of at least one. Fun Fact: I can always sense when someone is uncomfortable in a room.	Jake Sadie (j.sadie [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Jake Sadie Bio: Originally from Ohio, I went to Clemson University to earn my Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering and here at Berkeley I work in the printed electronics research laboratory under Vivek Subramanian. I live in San Francisco and enjoy running the EECS Graduate Student Softball League, traveling the world during summers, and pretending like I know how to play a guitar. Fun Fact: By the end of summer 2013 I will have attended 55 Dave Matthews Band concerts. No joke.
Kurtis Heimerl (kheimerl [at] cs.berkeley.edu) Kurtis Heimerl Bio: I am a soon-to-be-graduating 7th year student in Computer Science with a focus on cellular networks, human-computer interaction, and international development. I am originally from Alaska, emigrating through the wonderful University of Washington on his way to Berkeley. Fun Fact: Owing to my red state heritage, I have numerous bear stories at my disposal.	Brian Zimmer (bmzimmer [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Brian Zimmer Bio: I'm a fourth year PhD student in EECS co-advised by Bora Nikolic and Krste Asanovic, and study architecture and circuit-level techniques for improving energy efficiency in digital systems. I graduated from UC Davis with a BS in 2010. Fun Fact: I play on a club ultimate frisbee team.	Stephan Adams (shadams [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Stephan Adams Bio: I am a fourth year hailing from the beautiful East Coast. When not being a student I enjoys, biking, traveling, and playing chess badly. Fun Fact: German was my first language, but I speak English better.	Matt Spencer (mespence [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Matt Spencer Bio: I was born in Iowa, educated in Boston, and even more educated here at Berkeley. (5 years so far.) I am fascinated by weird physics, emerging electronic devices, mixed-signal circuits, and breaking all of the above in lab. I'm advised by Elad Alon. Fun Fact: My recent hobbies include a Chinese martial art called wushu and salsa dancing. Hilarity ensues when I confuse them.
Shaddi Hasan (shaddi [at] cs.berkeley.edu) Shaddi Hasan Bio: I'm a fourth year PhD student in the TIER group, with a systems and networking bent. Originally from Tennessee, did my undergrad at UNC Chapel Hill. Fun Fact: I can (probably) identify any bird you come across on campus.	Judy Hoffman (jhoffman [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Judy Hoffman Bio: I am a 4th year studying computer vision, though if you include my undergraduate time at CAL I'm in my 8th year here. I was co-president of WICSE last year and now I'm the diversity and outreach officer for the CSGSA. Fun Fact: I love hiking and camping!	Scott Beamer (sbeamer [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Scott Beamer Bio: I am an East Bay native who has so far been unsuccessful at leaving Berkeley. I am studying Computer Architecture and I am currently designing specialized hardware for graph algorithms. Fun Fact: I can throw a frisbee at least ten different ways.	Paul Pearce (pearce [at] cs.berkeley.edu) Paul Pearce Bio: I'm a 4th year security PhD student, and current CSGSA co-president. I have a good working knowledge of the department, and have served on several committees. I did my undergrad here at Cal, and I'm originally a Jr College transfer from Southern California. Current obsession: Biking. Fun Fact: I'm one of the older grad students in the department.
Samarth Bhargava (samarth [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Samarth Bhargava Bio: I'm a fourth year grad student, studying electromagnetics and optical devices. I was an undergrad at Carnegie Mellon University and am originally from Massachusetts. I love nature, art, music, running, hiking, backpacking, etc. I am most productive and often found and at Berkeley coffee shops. Fun Fact: My older brother called me Samartha Stewart when I was little, because I also love arts & crafts, cooking, baking...	Tselil Schramm (tschramm [at] cs.berkeley.edu) Tselil Schramm Bio: I'm a second year student in the CS theory group, and a current CSGSA co-president. My research interests have not yet converged, but I am interested in graph algorithms, spectral graph theory, and hardness of approximation (and other things too). Fun Fact: Outside of research, my hobbies include bouldering, ceramics, reading, and being outdoors.	Gireeja Ranade (gireeja [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Gireeja Ranade Bio: I'm a grad student in EECS from Pune, India and I'm interested in information theory and control theory, neuroscience, and social and economic systems. I love to dance and read. Fun Fact: I took time off from grad school to teach Computer Science in Accra, Ghana.	Aaron Bestick (abestick [at] eecs.berkeley.edu) Aaron Bestick Bio: I'm a 3rd year EE PhD student working on controls/robotics research with Ruzena Bajcsy. Outside of school, I occupy my time with outdoorsy pursuits like camping, backpacking, and skiing (poorly:), along with hacking together electronics projects like drink-mixing robots and wireless beehive-monitoring sensors. Fun Fact: The coolest backpacking trip I've ever taken was a week-long, ~70 mile trip through the North Cascades in Washington State.