Dr. Zhang was selected to participate in the Google Faculty in Residence program at Google’s Mountain View headquarter in June 2019. During this 4-week program, 21 computer science faculty members from 19 minority-serving institutions across the country explored hands-on workshops and resources to augment industry-informed, project-based learning into their curricula. They gained insights into industry expectations and hiring processes, immersed themselves in Google’s engineering culture, and created project-based learning materials that will be incorporated into their classrooms upon their returns to campus. The faculty participants also provided important insights to Googlers on the challenges the students face and how the company and the institutions could continue to advance their commitments to diversity and inclusion.

Photo 1: Dr. Zhang at the 2019 Google FIR event

Photo 2: The 2019 Google Faculty in Residence cohort

Photo 3: Dr. Zhang (left) and Dr. Mike Wu (right; Assistant Professor in Computer Science, San Jose State University) practicing whiteboard coding, a common technical interview format in the industry