Saturday
October 3, 2026
Join us for an afternoon of celebration and connection at the UCLA Samueli Showcase and Awards. The event will feature conversations with distinguished alum and faculty; award presentations honoring outstanding students, educators, engineers and alum; entrepreneurship and industry panels; and a reception bringing together members of the UCLA Samueli community.
LOCATION
UCLA Engineering VI Building
404 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
PROGRAM
Emcee
Jamal Madni M.S. ’08, M.S. ’12, Director, AI & Data Analytics, Boeing Defense, Space & Security
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Registration
1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Opening Remarks
• Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
In Conversation: Henry Samueli and the Next Generation of Bruin Engineers
• Henry Samueli ’75 M.S. ’76, Ph.D. ’80, Co-Founder, Broadcom Inc.
• Benjamin Flom, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Cooper Pitts, Materials Science and Engineering
• Vanshika Turkar, Computer Science
AWARD PRESENTATIONS & PANEL DISCUSSIONS
2:15 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.
Edward K. Rice Outstanding Student Awards
Doctoral Student: Guorui Chen Ph.D. ’25
Master’s Student: Fang Zhou M.S. ’25
Bachelor’s Students: Isabella He ’25, M.S. ’25 and Natalie Tsubamoto ’25
2:25 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
Boeing Excellence in Teaching Award
Daniel Schwalbe-Koda
Robin B. Joshi Excellence in Teaching Award
Sanjay Mohanty
Eon Instrumentation Inc. Excellence in Teaching Award
Lara Dolecek
2:40 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
Entrepreneurship Panel: Engineering Innovation
• Adam Cheyer M.S. ’93, Co-founder, Siri
• Di Wu M.S. ’15, Ph.D. ’17, Director, Deep Learning Algorithm and Software, Nvidia
• Achuta Kadambi, Associate Professor, UCLA Samueli
• Mona Jarrahi, Professor, UCLA Samueli
Moderator
• Robert Candler, Associate Dean, Research and Physical Resources,
UCLA Samueli
3:20 p.m. – 3:40 p.m.
Alumni Service
Susan Baumgarten ’73, M.S. ’76, MBA ’79
Rising Professional Achievement
Di Wu M.S. ’15, Ph.D. ’17
Professional Achievement in Industry
Adam Cheyer M.S. ’93
Professional Achievement in Academia
David Zhigang Pan M.S. ’94, M.S. ’98, Ph.D. ’00
3:40 p.m. – 4:10 p.m.
Industry and Academic Panel: Collaboration Delivers
• Zach Rash, ’19 CEO and Co-Founder, Coco Robotics
• Bolei Zhoi, Associate Professor, UCLA Samueli
4:10 p.m. – 4:25 p.m.
Lifetime Contribution
Theresa Maldonado
Alum of the Year
Mukund Padmanabhan M.S. ’89, Ph.D. ’92
4:25 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks
• Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean, UCLA Samueli
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Reception
SPEAKERS
Henry Samueli
Co-Founder
Broadcom Inc.
Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park
Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean
UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
Jamal Madni
Director AI & Data Analytics
Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Robert Candler
Associate Dean, Research & Physical Resources
UCLA Samueli
Adam Cheyer
Co-founder
Siri
Benjamin Flom
Electrical and Computer Engineering Student
UCLA Samueli
Mona Jarrahi
Professor
UCLA Samueli
Achuta Kadambi
Associate Professor
UCLA Samueli
Cooper Pitts
Materials Science and Engineering Student
UCLA Samueli
Zach Rash
CEO, Co-Founder
Coco Robotics
Vanshika Turkar
Computer Science Student
UCLA Samueli
Di Wu
Director, Deep Learning Algorithm and Software
Nvidia
Bolei Zhou
Associate Professor
UCLA Samueli
— Thank You to Our Sponsors — ——
As program details continue to evolve, please check back on the website for updates. For questions, contact: HSSEASEvents@support.ucla.edu