Engineering and Information and Computer Sciences Schools Induct Six Alumni into 2025 Hall of Fame
By Cassandra Nava, UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering
To celebrate a decade of excellence, the UC Irvine engineering and information and computer sciences Alumni Hall of Fame made its way back to Irvine. Past and present Anteater engineers gathered at the Beckman Center to celebrate six new inductees on May 2, 2025.
Over 200 faculty, alumni, students, friends and family attended the 10th annual event that honors alumni who have significantly impacted their profession or brought distinction to their alma mater. Sixty-seven engineering alumni and 55 ICS alumni have now been inducted.
Information and Computer Sciences Inductees
Kenneth M. Anderson, B.S. 1990, M.S. 1992, Ph.D. 1997 – Information and Computer Science
Kenneth M. Anderson, a professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering & Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder, received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at UCI. His fields of interest include software engineering, hypermedia, computer-supported cooperative work and human-computer interaction. Anderson’s research contributed to Project EPIC, a research project of crisis informatics. His work springboarded the creation of Project EPIC’s data collection infrastructure, which gathered social media data on hundreds of national disasters over 10 years. This led to details and data on the public use of social media during crises. While at UCI, Anderson played trombone and baritone in the wind ensemble and basketball band. He stopped with the band to focus on completing his Ph.D.
“I started at UC Irvine in 1986 and was there for 12 years, getting those three degrees,” Anderson said. “And I just remember it was a time of opportunity. There were so many things going on in computer science and computing. And the skills I learned at UC Irvine equipped me to have a very successful research career at Colorado University.”
Punit Niranjan Shah, B.S. 2003 – Information and Computer Science
Punit Niranjan Shah began his career in software development and the SMS marketing industry after receiving a bachelor’s degree in information and computer science in 2003. Three years later, in 2006, Shah co-founded CalFire Inc., now called EZ Texting. It is the number one text marketing platform, designed to deliver mass texts and Multimedia Messaging Services
(MMS) messages, with over 230,000 customers. Shah is hemi-paretic with limited use of his left hand. At UCI he contributed to advancements in stroke rehabilitation technology. His work led to the patent “Method and Apparatus for Automating Arm and Grasping Movement Training for Rehabilitation of Patients with Motor Impairment.”
In his speech, Shah gave special thanks to UCI engineering professor David Reinkensmeyer for giving him his first job.
“At the start, I was a skinny, paralyzed from the neck down, 3-year-old,” Shah said. “Now I’m standing here at the UCI Engineering and ICS Hall of Fame — it’s pretty wild. Moments like this are not self-made, they’re family made, friends made, they’re community made. The person who gave me my first job is here today, professor [David] Reinkensmeyer gave me my first job helping people just like me —victims of stroke. Thank you for taking the chance on an overconfident, one-handed coder, who at the time really thought he knew everything.”
Jagannathan Thinakaran, B.S. 2001, M.S. 2005 – Information and Computer Science
Jagannathan Thinakaran earned his UCI bachelor’s degree in 2001 and master’s degree in 2005, both times majoring in computer science. He is the founder and CEO of CasselRoad, a Santa Monica-based Strategy Consulting firm. He is also a co-founder of the company EZ Texting, growing the group of five employees to over 100. Thinakaran also serves as a faculty adviser at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
“It’s been really great to be here,” Thinakaran said during his speech. “Nothing can be more rewarding than the idea that you’re recognized by your peers and the folks that taught you everything you know about computer science.”
Learn more in an article published by the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering.