Albert Loekman
As part of IISE’s mission to increase the overall awareness and presence of the IEOR/ORMS community within UC Berkeley, we are currently running a “Monthly Spotlight” series to showcase the experiences and background of students within the IEOR/ORMS community. For our final monthly spotlight of the semester, we had the pleasure of speaking with the IEOR department’s very own, senior Albert Loekman.
Albert Loekman is originally from Southern California. As a junior in high school, Albert was able to work at USC’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Following this experience, he decided to pursue industrial engineering in college and found himself at Berkeley. He has since then picked up an EECS minor well.
After his sophomore year, Albert worked at Accenture Technology Labs as a summer analyst, creating advice-based AI recommendation systems, and further developed his interests in machine learning and software development. He highly recommends everyone to take CS61A if they get the chance!
Albert decided to take last semester off to pursue an internship within Apple’s iPhone Technical Operations division. During this experience, he was using simulation to improve factory optimization and, in the process, worked with developers in India, factories in China, and key stakeholders in Cupertino. He mentioned that IEOR 130, Methods of Manufacturing Improvement, taught him many of the core skills he needed during his internship. In fact, Albert is now the uGSI for IEOR 130, which Professor Leachman is teaching this semester!
This past summer, Albert studied abroad in Singapore where he conducted research at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology. He researched the application of machine learning in factories, and the use of reinforcement learning in controlling energy usage.
In the future, Albert sees himself building tools. During his time at Apple, Albert worked with their recycling technology subdivision. He is curious about the applications of machine learning in the management and sorting of recycling waste, and is interested in potentially developing or working at a start-up in the space.
Outside of school, Albert is heavily involved in the church community and Alpha Pi Mu and enjoys playing badminton and basketball. He also spent time on the UCPD, working as a Community Service Officer (CSO). Albert is currently a senior and is making the decision between attending graduate school and entering the workforce. We wish him the best of luck going into the end of the semester!
