Engineering Alumni Advisory Council

Matt Bao
Matt Bao attended UC Irvine from 1995 to 2001 and earned a B.S. and M.S. in civil engineering with a specialization in environmental engineering. Since 1999, Bao has worked with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, starting as an intern in the Field Engineering section, and currently as a civil engineer in the Biosolids Management section. He currently works on projects that promote the recycling of biosolids as a nutrient-rich fertilizer, and serves as a chair and member of committees that promote biosolids recycling.

Yi-Chia (Elsa) Chen
Yi-Chia (Elsa) Chen received her Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from UC Irvine in 1996. Upon graduation, she joined Rockwell Semiconductor Systems as a process characterization engineer for the first three years. Afterwards, she has been in product and test engineering at Rockwell/Conexant/Skyworks Solutions. Currently, she is the product and test engineering manager for Mobile Transceiver Products at Skyworks. In 2002, she completed her M.B.A. degree from UC Irvine with a concentration in finance.

Patrick Hong
As the Senior Technical Editor/Director of Digital Strategy and Development, Hong is responsible for Road & Track magazine’s strategic planning and creating synergies between print and digital contents. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from UC Irvine, M.S. in aerospace engineering from USC, and dual M.B.A. degrees from UCLA and National University of Singapore. He actively participates in UC Irvine and Samueli School alumni activities by serving on the scholarship committee and regularly returning as a guest speaker.

David Maradiaga
David Maradiaga graduated with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering with specialization in electro-optics/solid state devices in 2000. Since then, his career has focused on test development and failure analysis within the semiconductor industry. He now works at Marvell Semiconductor's Aliso Viejo design center.

Ramin Massoumi
Ramin Massoumi is an associate vice president with Iteris, Inc., managing the company’s Orange County headquarters office. He has a background in civil engineering with a specialty in transportation engineering, and has been working on a number of traffic engineering, intelligent transportation system, and transportation planning projects since his graduation from UC Irvine.

Goran Matijasevic
Goran Matijasevic is director of research development at The Henry Sameli School of Engineering at UC Irvine. In this capacity, he works on the formation of new industry, university and academic collaborations, especially focusing on new interdisciplinary research initiatives. He is currently on the OCTANe (Orange County Technology Action Network) Operations Committee, vice-chair of OC Innovation, as well on the boards of Southern California Biomedical Council and TriTech Small Business Development. Matijasevic received his M.S. and Ph.D. from UC Irvine in electrical and computer engineering and his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.

Mark McDannel
Mark McDannel has been working as a mechanical and environmental engineer, specializing in combustion, air pollution control, and energy production, since graduation from UC Irvine. He is currently a supervising engineer at the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, where he leads a group of engineers responsible for developing renewable energy power plants and finding ways to reduce electricity consumption at Districts landfills and waste water treatment plants.

Benjamin Medvitz, Chair
Benjamin Medvitz has a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and an executive M.B.A. from UC Irvine, and 12 years of experience in a diverse range of engineering companies, including DSL modem communications hardware and software, virtual reality video games, mission critical HVAC systems, and in-flight information and entertainment. He has designed chip and board level hardware, written software, integrated systems and managed development teams of up to 52 people and $35 million in size. Medvitz is currently the vice president of engineering for InTheAirNet, a rising star in in-flight entertainment. He is responsible for all technical aspects of design, development, and support of InTheAirNet’s current and future product lines.

Rob Peirson
Peirson is currently senior director of Product and Test Engineering at Skyworks, located in Irvine. Skyworks is a manufacturer of high performance analog and mixed signal semiconductors enabling mobile connectivity. Graduating with an emphasis in electrical and computer engineering from UC Irvine in 1983, he later also received an M.B.A. from UC Irvine. Peirson is a long-term supporter of UC Irvine Athletics and a former member of the UC Irvine Alumni Association Board.

Eric C. Shen
Shen is the director of transportation planning for the Port of Long Beach. At the Port of Long Beach, he oversees the planning, design and development of future transportation strategies, as well as the evaluation of the current transportation system. He will also help implement Green Port Policy programs to reduce air pollution from goods movement, and represent the Port to regional, state and federal transportation agencies. He is also a registered civil engineer in California and Alabama, and a certified Professional Transportation Planner. He serves as an appointed member to Transportation Research Board committees. Shen also lectures for transportation engineering courses at local universities.

Matthew J. Traum
Matthew is an assistant professor of mechanical and energy engineering at the University of North Texas (UNT). He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2007), where he held a research assistantship at MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. His doctoral major was thermal fluid sciences, and his minor was micro/nano fabrication and manufacturing. Traum also holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT (2003) and two bachelor’s degrees from UC Irvine (2001) in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Traum also minored in women’s studies at UC Irvine. In addition, he attended the University of Bristol (England) as a non-matriculating visiting scholar, where he completed an M.Eng thesis in the Department of Aerospace Engineering (2000). Prior to his appointment at UNT, Traum taught in the Physics Department at Simmons College in Boston, MA.

Alumni