What is your name and what is your major?

My name is Sushant Vema. I am a senior studying Data Science and Stats, and am from Pleasanton California in the East Bay. I have been in SAAS since Fall 2020 so I am one of the older members in the club. This semester I am a Prof Dev advisor, and in past semesters I have kind of been through all of the committees. I started in DF, and then I went to RP (Rest in Peace), DM, WebDev, DC, and then I was the director of the Education committee last semester. This semester I am an advisor where I probably see myself for the rest of my two semesters in SAAS.

How did you choose your two majors?

Originally I came in as intended CS and stuff, but I didn’t like CS classes as much as I liked some of the Data Science classes. And especially stats as well. So I kinda had many different interests in different domains. Instead of committing to one, I wanted to kind of learn techniques to work in whatever domain I wanted to in the future.

What are your professional interests and why are you interested in those fields?

From a technical standpoint, I have been working on a couple of reinforcement learning projects. That’s interesting because there is a lot of work to be done from a software and statistical perspective to make reinforcement learning more data efficient and to make it actually usable in real world situations. So I’m taking that and applying that to the sustainability industry where my company is working on a project to decarbonize their electricity by using reinforcement learning for optimal control of microgrids. But I think that honestly I am interested in anything with a social impact whether that is related to climate or social justice. Recently I’ve been looking into this concept of public interest technology which is this idea of engineering tech solutions for social good. And I am interested in doing grad school as well and focus on something interdisciplinary.

Have you learned any important lessons in your professional experience?

I think that it is really important to develop connections with people you work with wether that is on/off campus, in a job, or a research lab. And by that I mean if there is someone who is assigned to you as a mentor, you should really try to understand their perspective about everything that they are telling you because that comes from so many years of experience and you will get insights that you will not learn in a classroom or Udemy course. I think that overall, you should try to go above and beyond in the work that you do, feel free to ask questions, and critique the work of others (especially if you are on a more R&D type team where everyone expects you to provide feedback). Try to think about it critically and ask “Is this the right task that I should be doing for the overarching goal of the team? Is there a better way to do this?” Defend your ideas.

How did you make friends with people in SAAS and how did you meet them?

This goes back three years to Fall 2020. I was introduced to SAAS by my lab TA (someone you don't know), and I wanted to join some sort of community because my first year of college was online. It was challenging to network and make friends easily during that time. That was the first year that SAAS was online, and I met many of my close friends through a game we used to play every week called Avalon. Avalon is a social deduction game that is excellent for making friends within a group. We played it religiously every week for 6-8 hours, and that is how I met some of my closest friends in SAAS, as well as DonutBots. DonutBots are extremely underrated and a good way to meet people whom you wouldn’t talk to otherwise. Making friends in your committee is essential too. When I was in DC two semesters ago, I would take my DC team out to dinner at my house because I live in a co-op, and I would cook dinner once a week.

What advice would you give to a newer SAAS member?

I think that if you join SAAS, you should commit yourself to staying in the club for as long as possible. Don't merely view it as a professional opportunity. For me, SAAS has provided me with a solid group of friends—a cohort of people to graduate with. I consider this aspect crucial because while you can seek professional advice from various sources, there are only a few people you will stay in constant contact with. Engage with the DonutBots, participate in coffee chats—it's incredibly beneficial. Attend events, initiate conversations, and pursue your interests because, regardless of the path you choose, SAAS has the resources and people to support you in acquiring the necessary knowledge. Don't feel pressured to conform to what everyone else is doing. Feel free to carve out your own path and embark on something new. Leadership is so valuable. It's so gratifying to be a director of a committee, especially when you have a vision for how it could be better and you implement that vision. Leadership is truly amazing. I believe that everyone in SAAS, in the long term, should aim to hold an actual leadership position before transitioning to an advisory role.

What is your favorite class at Berkeley? Who is your favorite professor?

Oooh. Good question. I think that as hard Data140 was, I thought that…actually no that’s a cap answer. I’m not going to say that. It’s kind of brutal. I think my favorite class is this grad-level class I took called 'Data Science for Energy.' It was Civil Engineering 295, and a couple of my friends in sustainability who were engineers from different backgrounds told me about the class, and I thought it was interesting. I took it, and the professor was a researcher at LBNL working on power systems. He has also done some really cool machine learning work, and he taught us about applications of machine learning and data science to the power industry, how you can forecast interesting things, do anomaly detection, control theory (which I think is important), and a lot of different concepts. When we got to our final project at the end of the semester, we did something about linear programming for the optimal dispatching of power grids. It really cemented the idea that Berkeley is such an interdisciplinary place to be where you can be a part of cutting-edge disciplines, and there is still a class for you to take that and people working on topics and get access to so many different perspectives and disciplines. That was one of the highlights for me last year.

What is your favorite place to study on campus?

I have a lot of places to study on campus. I think the recommendation for underclassmen is to visit all of the libraries on campus. Just look at the list for all of the 26 or something libraries that Berkeley has and visit at least once. These libraries are so big that there are many nooks and crannies that you can explore. But that is just one aspect. There are a lot of nice outdoor spaces to go to. Overall, I really like the environmental design library because of the natural sunlight, the vibes are really good, and it's quiet. Main stacks are pretty depressing unless you really want to grind something out. Moffitt is just cringe because it is just freshmen and sophomores gossiping about other people all the time. Other than that, I really like to study at cafes. When the weather is nice, I like to go to the outdoor patio at Strata where I just work and get some sunlight. I have a lot of opinions on good study spaces, so hit me up if you want more advice on that.

What is your favorite Berkeley Restaurant?

The Noodle. Not many people know about this, but it is a Thai restaurant on Shattuck. Best Thai restaurant in Berkeley, and I don’t think anyone can change my mind. The Noodle is far better than Berkeley Thai house. That’s the worst one in my opinion. I’ve put so many people on this place.

If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

I think that I would be a sea otter because, for a couple of reasons, I think that they are just really fun animals and they don’t worry too much. They kinda just go with the flow. And I did a lot of swimming and water polo and stuff so I have an affinity towards water. Probably a sea otter or a dolphin for similar reasons. They are also super cute.

Do you have any opportunities to swim or play water polo in college?

I go swimming recreationally at Spieker pool quite often. Not water polo though. I stopped water polo after high school, but going to Cal water polo games is so hype. If you ever get the chance to go, I think that the men’s team is 2x national champions, and they are going for their third. They are totally cracked. Berkeley water sports go crazy. Unfortunately there is no IM team. If there was an IM team I would have played.

What would you sing at karaoke night?

Oh. That’s a good one. I would probably sing some 80s song or like a classic song. I wouldn’t do a pop song and definitely not a rap song. I hate rap, it’s so dumb. Maybe like upside down by Jack Johnson. I have a pretty wide music taste, and I can drop my spotify here. If you want to follow me, I love to hear what people are listening to. I think that the 80s have a fun place in my heart.