Sanjana Gurram
University of California-Berkeley, Haas School of Business
“Materials and design nerd creating greener solutions that actually work.”
Fun fact about yourself: I’ve been playing golf since middle school and got my dad into it!
Hometown: San Diego, CA
High School: Westview High School
Major: Bioengineering + Business Administration (via Berkeley M.E.T.)
Minor: N/A
Favorite Business Course: UGBA 190T: Equitable Design
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:
Undergraduate Researcher, Ting Xu Group: Created enzyme-embedded plastics that fully degraded in 24 hours and assessed proposed degradation mechanisms.
Undergraduate Researcher, Pickering Lab: Created human-centered design recommendations for passive chlorination device installation in Kenyan hospitals.
UC Berkeley Deplastify the Planet – Course Coordinator, Materials Advisor: Advised seven student consultant teams on prototyping with sustainable materials and design to improve clients’ products.
Organizations: Biodesign at Berkeley, Cloud at Cal, Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholarship
Where have you interned during your college career?
EquiPad – Berkeley, CA – Co-Founder, Engineer: Prototyped cost-effective biomaterials to replace plastics in period products.
USDA – Research Intern: Modifying biopolymers for industrial fertilizer and coating applications.
Teralytic – Berkeley, CA – Research Engineering Intern: Improved the sustainability and efficiency of soil conditioning and nutrient sensor calibration.
Beiersdorf – Berkeley, CA – Contract Materials Researcher: Prototyped a high performance, sustainable bandage that saves 20% of materials use and reduces 70% of carbon footprint.
Where will you be working after graduation?
EquiPad – Co-Founder, CTO: I’ll be working on my startup full time with my co-founder! We’re making comfortable and sustainable period products free and available in public spaces, just like toilet paper.
Who is your favorite business professor? Janet Brady, who I had for Business Communications. Ms. Brady made it way less intimidating to fail, improvise and learn, which was refreshing and super useful in public speaking.
What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? Successful business communication is a lot about who you talk to and how well you resonate with them.
What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? Talk to people doing things that are exciting to you! They’re usually willing to help, and you’ll learn a lot.
Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? Reach out to my professors sooner for advice. Haas faculty members are incredibly experienced and insightful.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What is one insight you gained from using AI? I’ve seen an AI-tolerant policy that encourages us to use AI to generate an overview of a topic before using credible sources to learn about it. One insight I’ve gained from using AI is that it’s important to do your own research.
Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I got the opportunity to present my biomaterials work and represent EquiPad at COP28, the UN Climate Conference held in Dubai. It was surreal to be surrounded by that amount of influence as a student.
Which classmate do you most admire? Mia Wesselkamper, BS 25, one of my good friends and peers in the Berkeley M.E.T. (Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology) program. She has also combined bioengineering and business to work on impactful biodesign projects, and she’s very humble about it. I’m excited to see what she does next!
Who would you most want to thank for your success? My brother. He’s pushed me to do better and have higher expectations of myself all my life, which I definitely owe my work ethic to.
What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Traveling and doing a six-month biome preservation fellowship and designing a bio-inspired, self-sustaining home.
What made Sanjana such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?
“I met Sanjana as a first-year student who was committed to working in the area of plastics reduction/sustainability. We spoke about her vision, discussed internships and career direction, all with her focus on sustainable biomaterials deduction. She dove into research at various labs on campus, utilized all the tools that UC Berkeley had to offer while seeking out international networking opportunities, all while starting her own company, EquiPad. She is a humble, delightful force. It has been an honor to watch her lead with authenticity and intentionality. She embodies confidence without attitude, doing it all with a smile.”
Chris Dito
Executive Director, M.E.T. program
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