I3@USD-Fall 2025

Beyond

The Accidental Engineer How Valedictorian Jack Berkowitz Found His Calling at USD T he valedictorian of the Shiley Marcos School of Engineering, Jack Berkowitz ’25 (EE), By Michelle Sztupkay

Zixiang Zhou is attending New York University in pursuit of his Master of Science in Project Management.

Congratulations Class of 2025

the Horizon

Electrical Engineering John Cizin is working as an

Ensign in the U.S. Navy and will be stationed in San Diego at the Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron 3 for a year. He will then attend Basic Division Officer Course before heading to Pearl Harbor to DDG-112, the USS Michael Murphy, where he will be stationed for three years. Fernando Huerta received three job offers prior to graduation and landed at Eaton Corporation in La Puente, California, as a power systems engineer. Jonathan Miller is working as a project engineer at Precision Partners, a startup company in San Diego.

app for his senior design project, which is now available for free on the AppStore. Cristian St. Clair , president of the National Society of Black Engineers, served as 2025 President for a Day on May 7, 2025, switching places with President James T. Harris III, DEd. St. Clair received two job offers prior to graduating, including one from Apple. He is now a software engineer at Capital One in Dallas, Texas.

Computer Science Mathisha Karunaratne received two job offers prior to graduating from the University of San Diego. He is now a project manager at Dream Start Labs in San Diego. Zachary Letcher is continuing his studies at USD to complete the combined Master of Science program in Cyber Security Engineering in May 2026. In his senior year, he became Security+ certified and created The MathArt

service dogs during college: Yukon, an “angelic” Golden Retriever, and Cal, a spirited black Lab. Balancing Cal’s training with a demanding EE curriculum and graduate school applications presented a significant challenge. However, Berkowitz prioritized helping others over his own academic standing, and ultimately maintained his impeccable GPA. Today, Berkowitz is pursuing a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, specializing in computer architecture. “If I connect with a professor at Michigan who inspires me, I am open to pursuing my PhD,” he says. In his valedictory address, Berkowitz emphasized the collective nature of earning an engineering degree: “It's about helping each other.” He attributes his success at USD to “the perfect storm” of factors, concluding, “I would never have become an engineer if I didn’t come to USD.” Jack Berkowitz’s journey is a powerful testament to embracing unexpected paths. From initial doubts to becoming valedictorian, his story reminds us that with resilience, grit and a willingness to help others, anything is possible.

semester dual BS/BA engineering degree in four years, Berkowitz chose electrical engineering (EE), believing it offered the greatest impact. “I picked EE because it was the hardest one ... If I didn’t have that physics class and those roommates, I wouldn’t have landed here,” says Berkowitz, acknowledging the serendipitous turns that shaped his path. Berkowitz thrived in the rigorous EE curriculum, graduating summa cum laude. He credits his success to USD’s exceptional EE faculty, singling out Mikaya Lumori, PhD, for his impactful teaching and “genuine care for his students.” He also praised Ernie Kim, PhD, Kathleen Kramer, PhD, and Venkat Shastri, PhD, for their guidance. Beyond academics, Berkowitz maximized his USD experience through a study abroad program in Italy, intramural soccer, leadership roles in Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu and two summer internships at Northrop Grumman. Remarkably, he achieved all of this while graduating in four years. A deeply impactful aspect of his time at USD was his involvement with Canine Angels Service Dogs, a nonprofit organization that trains puppies to assist individuals with autism. Berkowitz trained two

exemplifies a remarkable blend of academic excellence, personal resilience and an unyielding commitment to service. His journey, marked by initial uncertainties, culminated in a 4.0 GPA and the honor of addressing his graduating class during the commencement ceremony on May 26, 2025. Growing up in the competitive Bay Area, Berkowitz initially doubted his aptitude for engineering. “I wasn’t at the top of my high school class and I didn’t have the highest scores in math. I didn’t think I could be an engineer — I didn’t think it was a possibility,” he reflects. At the University of San Diego, incoming students don’t declare a major immediately. His initial plan for a business degree, followed by an MBA, shifted after finding economics unchallenging and physics intellectually stimulating. This, combined with the discovery of higher MBA admission rates for STEM majors and a coincidental housing arrangement with engineering roommates, sparked his interest in engineering. Despite his advisor’s caution about the difficulty of completing the nine

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