I am a 2nd year Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley. I received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Technology Management from the University of California, Davis in June 2010. My current research interests are in energy efficient processor design in deeply scaled technologies. I am co-advised by Professor Bora Nikolic and Professor Krste Asanovic and am a member of the BWRC and the ParLab.
I am currently researching different methods to increase energy efficiency of SRAM arrays. In May 2011, I worked on a tape-out of a testchip in ST Microelectronics 28nm. I helped setup the tool flow including DRC/LVS/PEX, designed a 6T memory array used in caches and L2 memory, an 8T register file, assembled the pad frame, assisted in the physical design of two different processors, compiled all projects together, and performed final DRC/LVS/delivery.
Ph.D. (expected) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Co-advisors: Borivoje Nikolic and Krste Asanovic
B.S. in Electrical Engineering (Emphasis in Digital Electronics)
Minor in Technology Management, UC Davis Graduate School of Management
Exchange student, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Entirely self-taught freelance web developer, specializing in PHP content management systems. Completed more than 300 projects with over 200 different clients while studying as a full time student. Activities included XHTML/CSS markup, PHP programming, database design, graphic design, consulting, negotiating with CEO’s, marketing, and project management.
All of my dotfiles (including configuration and plugins for Vim and Bash) are hosted on GitHub.
I use Evernote daily to record things that I have learned. If it takes more than 10 minutes to figure out, I save it! I have shared some of my notes that might be of interest to others. Notes are categorized and cover topics such as:
Click here to view the notebook or add it to your own evernote. Click the "tags" link at the top of the page to see all possible categories.
I grew up in Roseville, CA. I have a twin brother Michael Zimmer, who happens to also be pursuing a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley in EECS working on embedded systems. I did manage to get away from him during undergrad as he went to UC Santa Barbara while I went to UC Davis. My dad is also an electrical engineer who now runs his own consulting company and my mom stayed at home to raise the kids. I have a younger sister in high school (but with no ambitions for engineering)
Outside of school my interests include cooking (and eating), reading, and anything athletic. In high school I ran track and cross country and finished with a PR of a 16:30 5K. My real athletic passion now is ultimate frisbee (video showing what it looks like played). In college, I played for the UC Davis Club Ultimate Frisbee team for all four years. In grad school, I practice with the UC Berkeley Club team occasionally. During the summer, I play on various club teams.
I love travelling and have been to: England, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Belguim, the Netherlands, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Cambodia. As a junior, I studied abroad at the National University of Singapore, which gave me the opportunity to travel all over Southeast Asia, go scuba diving, and eat plenty of amazing (and strange!) food.
In June 2011, I married the love of my life Anjali Zimmer, who is also a Ph.D. student at Berkeley studying Molecular and Cellular Biology (with an emphasis on genetics). Someday I hope to understand what she does... We met in the dorms freshman year at UC Davis and life has been amazing ever since! We live together in North Berkeley, and in our elusive free time we garden, cook, visit family, and hang out with friends.
