On April 30, 2016, the Design Department brought together UC Davis designers of all fields, passions, and classes to host the 2nd Annual Alumni Networking Day. Formerly called the Alumni & Portfolio Day, the Alumni Networking Day reached nearly 100 participants, including POP UP shop vendors, alumni speakers and panelists, volunteers, and alumni and students of all majors and grades.

The day started off with over 20 student, alumni, and company vendor POP UP tables where participants were encouraged to sell art, crafts, and other works, present their research, promote their companies, and even search for interns. Afterwards, attendees gathered to hear 3 keynote speeches from alumni Christian Bergstrom ‘09, a Product and Instructional Designer at Clover Network Inc., Mei Chen ‘07, a Senior Product Manager at PropelPLM and Founder at Talent Loves Us, and Henrik Olsen ‘90, a Design Lead at CircleUp.

Before a free Chickpeas catered lunch, the attendees enjoyed an alumni panel featuring Jasmine Yang ‘14, Randall Hom ‘12, Julia Schwartz ‘05, Arianna Azevedo ‘11, Lucia Carrousel ‘11, and the keynote speakers. These panelists discussed their experience designing with clients, how their careers have changed and evolved, how networking has affected their lives, and more. Full notes can be viewed here.

The success of 2nd Annual Alumni Networking Day was made possible by the student-led team of co-directors Mary Serafin, Amy Ye, Silvia Chen, Belinda Huang, Hannah Lee, and volunteers Debparna Pratiher, Atra Kermani, Sanaea Kakalia, Nick Yoon, Eugene Lee, and Sarah Tao. The Design Department thanks alumni Julie Merk and her husband Randy for their generous support and contribution.