Neha Hudait
Can I have some background information about you, such as your year, your pronouns, your major, and your hometown?
My name is Neha. I'm a senior, graduating in May 2022. My pronouns are she/her. I'm studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Business Administration, as a double major through the Management Entrepreneurship and Technology program, or otherwise known as the MET program on campus. My hometown is Blacksburg, Virginia.
What were your past and current committees in SAAS?
My past committees were External Affairs during my junior spring, and then I've been an advisor for a year now for professional development.
Why did you choose your major?
I'm originally from Southwest Virginia, or Blacksburg. I saw the impact that something called technological gentrification had on my community. What that really means is that certain people don't really have the same access to technology because of things like technological illiteracy, or access, and so on, and so forth. So I wanted to find ways to be able to improve technology across the board and make it more equitable, so that those who might need a little more assistance with getting access to technology can get on the same level as everyone else, and even the playing field. And so with that being said, I wanted to focus more on the business and strategy aspect of that, but in reality, technology is just so present in our daily life that you really need to have a technical background, even if you are trying to make business decisions. And so that is where computer science and electrical engineering, of course, came into play with business and Berkeley has a really great program for both. So that's why ultimately, I chose both and came here.
Do you have a fun fact that you want to tell people about?
Oh my gosh, a fun fact is that I just tried Korean food for the first time recently. Now, I'm very much obsessed with it. I go to T-Toust every week. It's so good. I usually get their tofu soup, and it slaps. I just went there today.
Other than Korean food, do you have any other hobbies or interests?
I really like watching documentaries. I'm really interested in true crime and mystery types of media, so I listen to a lot of those podcasts and watch those videos. I also really enjoy mixology, so making my own mixed drinks, whether they're alcoholic or not. That process has been really fun – figuring out how to be an adequate bartender and stuff like that.
Have you taken any classes or anything about that?
I have this book called Boozy Bartending – super good, because it goes over really easy drinks like mocktails and cocktails. So depending on my audience, I can make whatever. They also have alcohol-based baked goods. Pretty cool. So I'm getting into baking because a lot of people in my life are interested in baking. So we're working on that part of it. I'm not very good at it. But yeah.
Moving onto your professional experience, what are your professional interests, and why are you interested in those fields?
I'm really interested in the security and privacy sectors, especially because a lot of different apps or technologies that have been built and are really big right now, such as Meta or Facebook, have really great bandwidth, and they have a huge target market. But oftentimes, these technologies are really built with the idea of trying to target as many consumers as possible for the aesthetics, so on, and so forth. And security and privacy is often an afterthought. And suddenly you have this problem where you have amassed millions of users with all of this data, but you don't really know how to secure your application or keep that data private. And so there's a lot of really cool research being done in those fields that explore, how do you go from the ground up and improve security and privacy measures, without taking down the whole infrastructure and integrity of your application? So I think it's interesting to me because from the engineering point of view, there's so many things to think about from database management to actual privacy to ML and DL applications, but also from a business strategy perspective of what exactly is your value proposition you're offering to customers? Why is your app, privacy, and policies better than someone else's app, so on and so forth? And what strategies can you employ to be able to make your data more secure? I think those are all really interesting questions, and are very relevant to what we're doing. Career-wise, I'm more interested in the strategy and development of the tools as opposed to the coding aspect. So a lot of my interests have been more so on the managerial route, such as product or program management. After graduation, I'll be a product manager at Nvidia working on product security. So very much in the realm of my interests.
Do you use statistics in any of those fields that you're interested in?
Yeah, I think statistics is really important to just understand how well your tool is working. Let's say you make a good tool for detecting privacy violations; hypothesis testing is really important there – identifying different measures of the distributions of your data points, so on and so forth. But it also comes hand in hand with data science in general – the process of managing and exploring data.
What internship experience do you have?
So I've had a lot of different types of internship experiences, ranging from smaller startups or nonprofits to bigger companies. Most notably, I've been a software engineering intern at Facebook and Nvidia and done software engineering research, natural language processing research, and ML research at different companies like Girl Effect, which is a nonprofit, as well as UCSF Medical Center. For product management, I've done that at SAP and Nvidia as well. So kind of dipping my toes into many different sectors. After all of those experiences, after graduation, I've decided to join Nvidia on their product security team, as a product manager. So going back to what I previously interned as.
Do you have any other campus involvement?
Yeah, I'm in a club called IEEE, which is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. It's really similar to SAAS, except more catered towards the electrical engineering and computer science side of things as opposed to statistics and data science. Other than that, I'm part of Student Technology Services, which is an organization on campus that helps with all things technology, giving IT support with accessibility to technology, education, so on and so forth. Aside from that, I created a club called Data Good, which is a data science for social good organization, so I spend time advising that. I'm also trying my luck at table tennis this semester through Cal Table Tennis. I'm not very good, but I am learning, and I'm glad to be part of that.
How did you find out about SAAS, and why did you join?
A lot of my mutual friends who are currently alumni were part of SAAS. They always talked about how great their experiences were, especially because their entire friend group was created through SAAS. After reflecting on some of their experiences and all of the really cool involvements they had on campus, I really wanted to try to join this community where I could have people that were really similar to me and the interests that I have. So that's kind of how I found out and originally joined. I did join a little bit later than a lot of my peers. I joined as a second semester junior, but I think that's really great, because at that point, I really got to focus my involvement in SAAS and also enjoy the social aspect since SAAS does a really great job with cultivating a really great social atmosphere.
What was your favorite SAAS community you've been in and why?
I would say professional development or Advisory Committee is my favorite because you get to take a step back and look at all of SAAS in a different, third party view. I think that's really important because you can offer insights and help out without having to necessarily be at the forefront of a lot of the decision making. I think being able to see the leadership grow and my peers that are a little bit younger has been really rewarding, because I got to see that they're learning how to be leaders and I'm here as a resource in case they want whatever help is possible. I think that's been really shown through things like planning the Research Symposium, developing the professional development Notion page, or even any of the workshops that the professional development advisors have put on.
For each of the committees you were in, what did you do or learn?
My first semester in SAAS, I was in the External Affairs committee. I think my favorite thing that we did was I worked with the committee to put on a Data Science in Nonprofits for Social Good panel. We had different panelists come in from different sectors like education and government and talk about their experiences using data in the social good sector. I think that was really in line with my interests at the time with using data for social good, so that was really special. I think last semester was also really great because that was my first time being a professional development advisor. What I did in that role was create a professional development Notion database that has a ton of resources about writing a résumé, or a cover letter, interview tips, so on and so forth. That's been added on to every semester, so that's been really great. This semester, I really focused on providing one-on-one support with the start of having things recruitment parties, which are dedicated office hours where underclassmen primarily, but really anyone, can come in and ask any questions they have about cultivating a résumé, getting one-on-one help applying to jobs, creating a spreadsheet for a job tracker, so on and so forth.
Do you have a favorite SAAS semester?
I think this semester, my last semester, just because it's taken a lot to get SAAS to where it is now. I think social culture this semester, as well as just the sheer number of events, has been unmatched to any semester that I've been a part of, but also, my first semester in SAAS was during COVID, where everything was virtual, and last semester was hybrid. So I think that also played a part.
Why did you stay in SAAS for the past few semesters?
I think it was really just for the people. Honestly, as an upperclassman, when you're looking to join clubs, it's not really for the professional aspect. It's more so just to meet friends. I think that's really what kept me in SAAS because I wanted to continue having avenues where I could reach out to people and make friends that are not necessarily only my year, but also, you know, younger than me, older than me, so on and so forth. I think that has been really instrumental, since I met so many really great people during my senior year, but also have been able to develop those friendships and will take them outside of college as well.
What has your proudest accomplishment been in SAAS?
Personally, it would be the professional development Notion, just because from my understanding, it is the first time that we've had a centralized place to put professional development resources, whereas previously, it was just kind of all over different slides or different events. So I think that has been really special because that hub will live on far beyond me graduating, and the people who will take over professional development in SAAS will have a place to start and continue to add and iterate on top of.
How has SAAS helped you with your career or professional development?
I think that SAAS has really taught me a lot of not necessarily hard, technical skills, but a lot of softer skills, such as teamwork, communication, as well as empathy. I think that within SAAS, you're working with so many people from so many different walks of life, and it's important to realize that you're not in this bubble that you might feel you're in. I know for me, EECS is its own bubble and as is Business, and I think the nice thing about SAAS is that it's so diverse in terms of majors and interests. So I think that was really important for me to learn how to build empathy, and create meaningful conversations with those who may not necessarily be of the same background as me.
Do you have a favorite SAAS memory?
I think my favorite SAAS memory is just randomly posting on #hangouts on Slack, and then going to IHOP at 4 AM. I think those late night hangouts that are just very spontaneous have been some of my favorite memories because it's really a time where you can just hang out with people that you've never really hung out with before and build those relationships. For example, IHOP is where I got super super close with Kavin and Ellis and so many others. That all happened because I just randomly messaged on Slack.
How did you make friends with people in SAAS?
I think I really tried to put myself out there and make it known that I'm here for the social aspect and I'm open and willing to make friends. I tried to find common ground with all of the people that I thought I would get along with, or even those who I didn't know very much about. I think going to things like retreat, for example, or, different socials have helped. Because even if I don't know anyone, I can just try to make friends and find common ground in terms of let's say we're doing an event like karaoke – singing with someone is something you have in common, right? I guess cultivating those friendships, really focusing on making plans outside of SAAS is so important. Because SAAS, I feel like for any club or any organization, will get you part of the way there by introducing you to new people, but it's kind of up to you to be able to actually create those meaningful relationships. So creating plans that are not club-related, I think, is also really important to be able to keep those friendships and have them be very fulfilling.
SAAS’ three club values of community, exploration, and mentorship. Which one of those is the most important to you and what does it mean to you?
I think, for me, community is probably the most important of the three, because you can't really have a safe space to explore or gain mentorship without a community. I think a community starts from the ground up, meaning that you need to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable, put yourself out there and try your best to make friends. I think within SAAS, our leadership has done a good job of cultivating that community and creating that safe space as well.
What has been your favorite class?
I really liked Global Poverty and Practice 115. It's called Global Poverty, Challenges, and Hope. It's a class that discusses privilege and poverty in the Global South, which is not something that researchers look at as much as other areas. I think it's really important to add humanities to your college experience, especially if you're taking a lot of technical classes. It really changed how I view wealth disparities and socioeconomic statuses.
Who has been your favorite professor?
My favorite professor is a Haas professor named Edward Kass. I took a class called UGBA 105, which is on Organizational Leadership, and he was my favorite professor because I think he brought a lot of empathy and real world examples to his course, which isn't something I see a lot. I feel like a lot of professors stick with the textbook or notes or follow the status quo of what has already been taught, but Edward Kass wasn't afraid to challenge the status quo and create a class that was meaningful and relevant to all of us. So, it was really awesome. I'm still in touch with him, and he's been really instrumental in terms of how I approach leadership and understanding how to be a good leader.
What’s your favorite Berkeley memory?
Honestly, I think my favorite Berkeley memories have been using Gig [car rental] to go places. So a lot of my favorite memories are going out at 2 AM and randomly driving around and stuff like that, or going up to the top of Berkeley Lawrence National Laboratory and looking at the stars.
Is there a favorite spot on campus that you think more people should know about?
My favorite spot on campus is this little grassy area that's right next to Li Ka Shing and the Genetics and Plant Biology building. It's just this one strip of grass before you go down the stairs and go downtown. I think that's really nice because Memorial Glade and Crescent Lawn get so crowded while that place is a really nice area to just sit, relax, watch the clouds, and have picnics and stuff like that without having the stress of being around a ton of people because sometimes you just want to chill and not talk to anyone.
What's your favorite place to study on campus?
I would say the South East and South Asian library in Doe because it's super quiet, but you can still talk in it. It has a really good atmosphere in general. The librarian is super funny, and he'll crack jokes a lot. I also really enjoy the top floor of Chou Hall in Haas. It has a little balcony area where you can study outdoors as well. That's also been really nice because you can just sit out and people watch or look at the scenery but then also get some work done.
What is your favorite bathroom to use on campus?
None of them – just kidding. If I had to pick one, it would be either the bathroom on the third floor of the Residential Student Services building on Channing or a bathroom in Sutardja Dai because those bathrooms are really nice. I hate literally every other bathroom because they’re so grimy. Cory's first floor bathroom is the worst bathroom. And I stand by that statement.
What's your favorite restaurant?
Jupiter is my new favorite. It changes because I have a rotation, but I would say right now, it's Jupiter.