Meg T
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

Expertise

Materials Sciences/ Applied Physics / Electrical Engineering

Bio

Hello! My name is Meg Tanaka, a 4th year Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley in Applied Sciences and Technology. I am currently taking a 2 year break from my Ph.D. program and am in the School of Journalism Masters program at UC Berkeley. As an Asian woman in STEM, I have always been the minority in any space; I want the next generation to have more resources, empowerment, and freedom in their career and lifestyle choices. Having grown up in the US and attended university in Japan, I believe that some of the biggest changes needed in both countries are in education, which is why I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, with a minor in Education and designated emphasis in New Media Studies. I have worked as a freelance journalist and ethics consultant for companies and brands for 3 years, and my work has been featured in 50+ publications, including Forbes and Newsweek. I also work in the music industry, and my hobbies always revolve around music!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Exploring the applications of spintronics technology

In this project, students would explore real-life applications of spintronics technology, a cutting edge and rapidly evolving field of research. By looking into fundamental research that has happened throughout the past years as well as reading into recent papers that have been published, students can give an overview of the overall topic, as well as potentially propose their own ideas or applications.

Languages I know

Japanese

Teaching experience

I have participated as a mentor in the CITRIS EDGE in STEM Mentoring Program, providing career mentoring to benefit women and historically under-represented students in STEM, and am currently holding the position of secretary in WiCSE (Women in Computer Science and Engineering). I am also volunteering as an instructor in Bay Area Scientists in Schools (BASIS), a science role model volunteer program providing hands-on engineering experiences to students in public elementary schools within the East Bay. I also plan to mentor underrepresented first year students in EECS via the WiCSE mentorship program, as well as provide academic and career support for students of single-parent families in Japan via the US-Japan Council Watanabe Scholarship program that I am a recipient of.

Credentials

Work experience

Waseda Academy Integrated Bilingual School (2015 - 2020)

Education Team Leader

SLAC (2017 - 2020)

Research Intern

Freelance journalist (2018 - Current)

Consultant/agent

Education

Keio University

BA Bachelor of Arts (2020)

Applied Physics

University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

MS Master of Science (2023)

University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate

Electrical Engineering

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Meg T - Research Program Mentor