Notre Dame-California

Many words could describe the home of famed newspaper publisher and businessman, William Randolph Hearst, but "understated" and "minimalistic" are not among them. Our last trip of the semester included a stop at Hearst Castle, the opulent estate designed by Julia Morgan for Hearst and his family in San Simeon, CA. It is here where Hearst hosted the biggest names in Hollywood, sports, politics, and now us!

Photo credits to .alvendia &

Silicon Valley Semester students had a great time exploring the Googleplex and learning about the culture of the company. A huge thank you to our alumni hosts, Maria Aranguren, Alison Lui and Parker Chun!

We enjoyed a fun morning at headquarters in San Jose. A huge thank you to Cisco SVP John Kern '89, Blanca Samano, Ta-Nikka Harrison, Brice Achkir, and the entire team for their engaging presentations, the hands-on demonstrations, and a delicious lunch.

We are beyond proud of the hardworking and talented graduates who were a part of our fall 2021 and spring 2022 Silicon Valley Semester programs, as well as the seniors in the 2021 Summer in Silicon Valley cohort and the MBA students we hosted in fall 2022. Congratulations to each of you. We wish you the very best as you strive to become a force for good in the world, and we are thrilled to welcome many of you to California soon!

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A lovely day hiking through the Berkeley Hills and Tilden Regional Park, despite our ruined shoes!

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Taking a study break to enjoy the beautiful weekend weather and the wildflowers in Edgewood Park!

A big thank you to Mike Clarke ‘08 and Mark Vermeersch ‘08 for sharing their insights and for talking to us about their company, Treasury Prime.

Enjoying this spectacular view of Berkeley, downtown Oakland, and San Francisco.

On our way back to class after having lunch with Professor John McEachen, who is teaching Computer Security this semester. We stopped to take a group photo to send to a student’s parent who is celebrating a birthday.

And don’t worry, ND finance, we didn’t eat at Nobu. We had lunch at the taco place next door! 😇

Silicon Valley Semester students had a great time cheering on the SF Giants in Oracle Park.

We had a great time at the company visit. A big thank you to James, director of engineering, and Santiago, an SVS intern at Bill this semester. We learned a lot!

Silicon Valley semester students posing for a photo with Lizzy Wang, the instructor for our Tech and Innovation Ethics course this semester.

Students taking a stroll through art galleries in downtown San Jose and trying not to think about impending midterms.

Good luck with exams this week, SVS!

All smiles on the California coast while exploring the iconic Highway 1.

Bryan Quinn hosted Silicon Valley Semester students at the Amazon office in downtown Palo Alto. Thank you, Bryan, for your thoughtful and insightful words of wisdom.

It wouldn’t be a proper introduction to California without our inaugural stop at .

It has become a tradition for each Silicon Valley Semester cohort to begin its first trip to SF at The Ferry Building and at Pier 14 with the imposing Bay Bridge in the background.

Despite being nearly 3 times as long and handling more than double the amount of daily traffic as its orange cousin at the other end of the city, the Bay Bridge (officially the "San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge") is arguably the most important bridge in the Bay Area. The Bay Bridge opened 6 months before the Golden Gate Bridge and it connects the city of San Francisco to the city island of Yerba Buena and to Oakland in the East Bay. The bridge underwent repairs and extensive seismic retrofitting after the 1986 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the strongest seismic event in recent Bay Area history.

Trip to Sausalito and Marin

We had a really great time at with our wonderful hosts, David Westendorf '90, CEO Mishelle Westendorf, Kimberlee Weaver, and Blake Kelleher. The team gave us a tour of the distillery, followed by a product tasting and a business discussion with our visiting Mendoza MBA students. We capped off our visit with a walk to Mavericks, the world famous surfing spot located nearby.

Thank you so much for a great afternoon in Half Moon Bay!

Students in the Mod Away in Silicon Valley cohort snapping photos on Pier 14 with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge - known locally as the "Bay Bridge" - in the background.

The ND Tech Forum was founded more than 20 years ago and is led by Amy Guarino, a Notre Dame alum and leader in tech business in the Bay Area. The Tech Forum creates and fosters a community of ND alumni who are active in tech and biotech in Silicon Valley. Since 2020, the Tech Forum has held its monthly meetings over Zoom (and open to everyone), but we were thrilled to host the first in-person Tech Forum last week for the first time in nearly 3 years.

The Tech Forum was a hybrid event - the ND Demo Day featuring startups run by alumni - with a crowd of alumni and Mendoza MBA students gathered in our office in downtown Palo Alto. Thank you to Amy Guarino, moderator Pablo Cruz, and the speakers from these companies:


Aeris Surgical
The Cap Table Coalition
iotis
Streamline AI

Notre Dame-California updated their business hours.

We're so proud of the 2020 graduates, many of whom gathered on campus this weekend for their delayed - and very well deserved - Commencement celebration. We can't believe that it's been 3 years since each of you ended your junior year in California, and we're thrilled to see the wonderful people (and professionals) you've become! We are honored to know you and to have you a part of the Notre Dame-California family.

SVS students spent an afternoon admiring the majestic redwoods in Muir Woods.

Wrapping up the semester with Silicon Valley Semester faculty and delicious Mediterranean food in downtown Menlo Park!

Taking a little study break and enjoying the food trucks at in Menlo Park.

Our day in Berkeley included a stop at the university and a small group hike through Tilden, where Josh found $10!

Hanging out with the city’s namesake, St. Francis, while visiting the SF Mission!

SVS students checking out the Clarion Alley street art and murals in the Mission District.

San Francisco is well known for its many outdoor murals that tell the stories of immigrants, social activists, and politically engaged citizens. The Mission District, in particular, is full of stellar examples of art and home to thriving Hispanic and Latino communities.

Associate Provost Elliott Visconsi visited California and led a group hike on the famous Dipsea and Steep Ravine trails.