When Erdan Gu (second from left) arrived at Penn Engineering from China to begin a Ph.D., she brought only $2,000 and a passion for computer science. The education, mentorship and community she found at Penn not only helped her launch a career as a software engineer at Google and Airbnb, but also transformed her life. In this Q&A, Gu (GEng’04, GrEng’06) reflects on the mentorship she received from Norman Badler, her path from China to Silicon Valley, and why giving back to Penn Engineering has become an important part of her story.
Tell us about your time at Penn Engineering as a student.
I joined Penn Engineering in 2002, as a doctoral student in the Center for Human Modeling and Simulation (HMS) under Professor Norman Badler. Our lab was in the historic Moore Building, next to the birthplace of ENIAC, the world’s first general-purpose electronic computer, which constantly reminded me of Penn’s remarkable legacy of innovation and engineering excellence.
Coming directly from China, everything was new to me: the language, culture and academic environment. Our cohort was small, with only about 20 to 30 doctoral students, creating a close-knit and supportive community. The first two years were especially intense, as we completed the core coursework and qualification requirements for the doctoral program. We formed study groups to help one another through those challenging classes, and the experience taught me the importance of collaboration and perseverance. By 2004, fewer than two-thirds of our original cohort remained on the Ph.D. track.
