Roland Saekow received his bachelor's degree in Science, Technology and Society through the Interdisciplinary Field Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley. His thesis, The Transforming Role of Timelines in the Study of History, investigated the educational utility of online timelines against their traditional paper-based counterparts. At Berkeley, Mr. Saekow led the student-run product design team called ‘Berkeley Innovation’. Proudly wearing the team's bright orange shirts (a color chosen to represent new ideas), he and his teammates sought out ways of improving student life through creativity techniques, brainstorming sessions and rapid prototyping. During his senior year, Mr. Saekow developed ChronoZoom, an interactive timeline that shows all of Big History in collaboration with Professor Walter Alvarez and Microsoft Research. Mr. Saekow continues to develop ChronoZoom as part of the Earth and Planetary Science research staff at Berkeley.
From left to right: Paula Metallo, Milly Alvarez, David Shimabukuro (in the back), Walter Alvarez, Alessandro Montanari, Roland Saekow (in the back)
ChronoZoom. Early prototype / original proof of concept video (2009)