Alexander Alvara


Current Research

2020 – Present Berkeley Autonomous Microsystems Lab (BAMLAB) - UC Berkeley

  • Low-cost Interplanetary Solar Sail

  • Autonomous Quadruped Walker Microrobot

  • Self-Righting for MEMS Robots

  • Autonomous Microrocket

  • Materials Characterization and Fabrication for Ionocraft


2018 – Present Liwei Lin Laboratory (L3) - UC Berkeley

  • Polymorphic Robust Actuators for Underwater Exploration

  • 4D Printing of Hydrogels


Education

2018 – Present University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley CA, USA

  • Ph.D. & M.S. Mechanical Engineering

  • Major: MEMS/Nanoscale Science and Engineering

      • Co-Advisors: Prof. Liwei Lin, PhD (Mech. Engr.) and Prof. Kristofer Pister, PhD (Elec. Engr.)

          • PhD Coursework: Completed 05/15/2020

          • Preliminary Exam: Completed 01/16/2019

  • Minors: Public Policy, Materials Science, Physics, Mathematics, Machine Learning

          • Overall GPA: 3.709/4.000

2017 – 2018 University of Toronto (one-year study abroad) - Toronto ON, CAN

  • U.S. Fulbright Student Fellowship

  • Non-Competitive Eligibility (NCE) Certification 2018-2019

      • Advisors: Prof. James Drake, MD (Neuro.) and Prof. Andrew Goldenberg, PhD (Bio. Eng.)

2014 – 2017 University of California, Irvine (UCI) - Irvine CA, USA

  • B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Specialization in Materials and Mechanical Design

      • Advisor: Prof. David Reinkensmeyer, PhD (Mech. Engr.)

  • B.S. Aerospace Engineering, Specializations in Flow Physics and Propulsion Systems

      • Advisor: Prof: Robert Liebeck, PhD (Aero. Engr.)

  • B.S. Materials Science and Engineering

      • Advisors: Prof. Michelle Khine, PhD (Biomed. Engr.) and Prof. Chris Hoo, PhD (Mat. Sci.)

2011 – 2014 Los Angeles Pierce College (LAPC) - Woodland Hills CA, USA

  • A.S. Pre-Engineering

  • A.S. Mathematics

  • A.A. Humanities

  • A.A. Social & Behavioral Sciences

  • A.A. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

      • Advisors: Prof. Lee Loveridge, PhD (Phys.) and Prof. Elizabeth Cheung, MS (Ind. Engr.)


Fellowships, Scholarships, and Grants

  • 2021 Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS) Fellow, National Research Foundation, Singapore

  • 2020 Diversity & Community Fellowship, Office of Graduate Diversity, UC Berkeley

  • 2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Resource Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) Award

  • 2019 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship Award

  • 2018 Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship for Graduate Study

  • 2018 National GEM Ph.D. Fellowship

  • 2017 U.S. Fulbright Student Research Fellowship

  • 2016 Osher Scholarship for Top Performing Transfer Students

  • 2015 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Grant Recipient (Mechanical Engineering)

  • 2015 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Grant Recipient (Materials Science and Engineering)

  • 2015 Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Scholarship


Patents

  • 2020 Provisional Patent No. 62/833,549: Endoscopic Multi-Tool