Master of Design Alumni

As graduates of the Berkeley MDes program, you remain integral to our creative community. The career paths you follow and the lives you lead after the program embody the broad reach and impact of the MDes beyond the walls of the University. We are so proud of you for taking the next steps to pursue exciting opportunities after the program.

The many MDes cohorts to come will be inspired by you and the examples you set as you launch, advance, or pivot your career. We are excited to see you emerge from the program as leaders and innovators in design and emerging technologies, and can’t wait to see your positive impact in a broad spectrum of industries, organizations and social contexts. We know you will continue to make an extraordinary difference in the world around you.

We hope that you’ll use this site to stay connected to the MDes community and continue to take advantage of our career resources. Remember, we are here to support you for the remainder of your career.

 

Resources for MDes Alumni

As an MDes alumnus, you will continue to have access to all of the same resources that were available to you as a student, including the MDes job board, opportunities to meet 1:1 with a career coach, and our broad collection of career resources that can bolster you in any phase of your career exploration and job search. Check out the links below to access these resources or to schedule a coaching session.

Staying Connected

It’s incredibly important to the MDes leadership to keep in touch with you after you graduate. We want to hear about the amazing things you’re doing as alumni. It’s also a priority for us to provide a platform for you to stay connected with one another and future generations of MDes students so you can continue growing in your careers.

The MDes Slack workspace that you used as students will be the primary platform we’ll utilize for ongoing alumni communications and for connecting across MDes generations. Please do the following to take full advantage of the MDes network:
  • Update your Slack profile. All of the fields (job title, employer, location, etc.) are searchable and will be really helpful for ongoing communications and connecting with people in companies and roles you’re interested in. Edit your profile by clicking on your icon in the top right hand corner of the MDes Slack Workspace, then select Profile > Edit Profile, and fill out all of the fields.
  • Join our alumni channels.
    • #alumni – a place for MDes alumni to connect. You’ll be joined there by the next cohort in December, and by lots of wonderful humans in the years to come.
    • #jobs-and-internships – post any relevant opportunities you come across here, and check in if you’re searching for a new role.

Please also make sure you join our MDes Alumni LinkedIn Group using the link below. We will be sharing job postings, invitations to events and workshops, and providing other opportunities to stay connected to the MDes community via this group.

You’re now also part of a broader community of UC Berkeley Alumni who you can connect with. Please take some time to explore the UC Berkeley LinkedIn company page linked below, where you can look up the 645,600+ alumni and search by job title, keyword, or company.

Another way to stay connected is to register your @berkeley.edu email address with the @Cal Alumni Network so that you can continue to use the same email address after graduating. You can learn more about the process to claim your email address here. If you don’t claim your account, it will be deactivated nine months after graduation, and you’ll lose all emails and files.

MDes Alumni News

Contact Us

You can learn more and connect with the MDes Alumni community by contacting the MDes Director of Career Development.

MDes Student Cohort Fall 2022

Our second cohort of 37 students joined the program in Fall 2021 and will graduate in Fall 2022. They are 72% female and 28% male. 49% of the class are international students and represent 8 different countries and locations from around the world – including Argentina, China, Hong Kong S.A.R., India, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey. 21% of the class identify as underrepresented minority (URM) and the ethnic diversity among the US students is African American/Black (5%); American Indian (3%), Chinese/Chinese American (16%), Japanese/Japanese American (3%), Latin American/Latino (3%), Mexican/Mexican American (5%), Turkish (3%), and White/European descent (11%).

The backgrounds and experiences of the second cohort span many fields and practices from design, architecture and engineering to anthropology, cognitive science, art, physics, interdisciplinary studies, textiles, business and innovation.

MDes Student Cohort Spring 2022

We are pleased to highlight the profiles of the MDes Spring 22 Student Cohort and share our excitement for the diverse backgrounds and dynamic experiences each student brought to the MDes program. 

As an overview, this cohort was 50% men and 50% women with experience in a diverse range of fields and practices including architecture, cognitive science, design, economics, engineering, entrepreneurship, information management, interdisciplinary studies and mathematics. With an international population of 64%, this cohort represented five different countries including China, Germany, India, Greece, and Mexico. Ethnic diversity among the US students is Black/African American (5%), Chinese/Chinese-American (14%), Korean/Korean American (9%), and White (9%).