Hey! I am a Halloween boy born in Hong Kong. I spent most of my early childhood traveling back and forth between Hong Kong and New York City. My family eventually decided to settle down in Hong Kong.
I then “officially” came back to the US for high school. I had the best 3 years of my life bonding with friends from all over the world at an International Boarding High School just outside of NYC. After high school, I spent 4 years at the University of Rochester and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with High Distinction.
Next, I decided to fly across the country to the West Coast, and pursued a Master of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Control Robotics and Autonomous Systems at UC Berkeley — GO BEARS!!! At Cal, I was exposed to state-of-the-art autonomous systems and gained a better understanding of the control of robotics in both software and hardware. I also leverage one of the top MBA programs in the world by taking leadership courses at HAAS School of Business.
I joined an autonomous drone start-up company as a Robotics Engineer shortly after I graduated from Berkeley. I learn a lot being the only junior engineer supporting core engineers. I also get to lead software projects such as precision landing using perception and ultra-wideband, as well as engineer and manage drones, battery packs, charging stations, and many other in-house hardware designs. The dynamic work environment provides a great platform to wear multiple hats and strengthen my technical skills, business operation, and marketing.
With the desire to gain more exposure to the scaling initiatives of a start-up company, I decided to join Cruise, one of the leaders in the self-driving service industry. I started as an AV Behavioral Diagnostic Engineer and quickly became an integral part of the Safety team as a Systems Engineer. I focused on the end-to-end analysis of why our AV gets stuck on-road and why our AV could not be recovered remotely. Contribution in such analysis pipeline steers engineering efforts and drives the company’s mission as the company scales its fleet both nationwide and internationally.
As a first-generation student, I do not take all these opportunities lightly. I am super thankful to be in the Bay Area especially when I nerd out about anything that flies really (are you catching on yet?!). I am motivated to explore my career endeavors and I invite you to explore my website and follow along with me throughout this exciting journey! Thank you very much.
Anthony Yan 