Ting Chih Lin

Double Major: Data Science & Molecular and Cell Biology 

Domain Emphasis: Computational Biology Methods

For Ting Chih Lin, data science with an emphasis in computational biology, along with a double major in molecular cell biology made perfect sense. This unique combination of studies will help him achieve his ultimate goal of creating a data-driven biotech startup. After graduating in December 2018, he joined the Insight AI Fellowship program. The day after commencement, he starts a job as a software engineer for the Machine Learning Platform team at Affirm in San Francisco. 

I was already planning on pursuing data science in a masters program; however, when I learned about the possibility of data science as a undergraduate degree, I jumped at the opportunity, hoping to get ahead of the trend and also to save some money. I would like to thank Professor [John] DeNero because he was one of the professors who I bothered during office hours even though I wasn't in his class that semester. Because of him, I was able to get an idea of what the major requirements might be so I could take the chance and work towards the major even before it was approved. Now that it's finally becoming reality, I'm really grateful for everyone who helped me along the way and encouraged me to pursue this despite so many uncertainties.

My first feeling is excitement because of all the doors that have now opened because of this major.

I also feel really honored to be the first graduating cohort, but my next feeling is a bit of fear. Because an undergraduate degree in data science is so rare, I definitely raised a lot of eyebrows when telling people that there is a new data science major at Cal. Although faced with initial skepticism, most people are also excited when talking to me about the new opportunities this degree brings.