Dean's
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DEAN'S LETTER
I recently joined my fellow deans in looking to
the future of engineering education at the Engineering Deans Institute
meeting sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education.
We focused on how to utilize the latest advances in information
and instructional technologies to improve student learning, retention
and outreach. We explored what a college of engineering will look
like in 20 years, and what we can do to create the most productive
learning environment possible for our students.
We can all catch a glimpse of the future during
UCLA's Engineers Week, April 14-18, a period of exhibitions and
demonstrations that reveals the value of engineering in an accessible,
lighthearted way. Find out what E-Week organizers have planned
later in the E-Bulletin.
A number of student groups are competing in design
competitions across the country this spring. Their creations,
from concept cars to concrete canoes, will be on display during
E-Week and you can read more about them in the article below.
If you are interested in learning more about the
research that our students and faculty are pursuing, I encourage
you to attend one of our research reviews. They are an excellent
opportunity to get an up-close and personal perspective on the
cutting-edge research we are doing. Please see our E-Bulletin
calendar for reviews taking place soon.
Sincerely,
Vijay K. Dhir
Dean
FEATURE STORIES
Quantum Dots 'Draw' Circuits for Future
Molecular Computers
By using tiny quantum dots to create trails of altered molecules,
UCLA researchers are developing a method of producing nanoscale
circuitry for the molecular computers of the future - computers
that will use molecular switches in place of transistors.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/qdots.htm
Natural Approach to Clean Up Toxic Freeway
Runoff Urged
Taking a clever, low-cost and natural approach to the problem,
UCLA researchers hope to prevent storm water runoff from washing
thousands of pounds of pollutants into the ocean each time it
rains.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/runoff.htm
Engineers Week Promises a Mix of Education
and Lighthearted Fun:
Games, Demonstrations and Exhibitions, April 14 to 18
Engineers Week (E-Week) is a combination of the educational and
the playful, an intriguing mix of science lesson and carnival
attraction. Balloon launches and pie-eating contests are side-by-side
with optical communication link demonstrations and a discussion
panel on "Engineering Your Career."
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/eweek03.htm
Springtime: Flowers, Romance ... and Student
Design Competitions
Spring is one of the busiest times of the year for many engineering
students as they crisscross the country to take part in a variety
of design competitions. Concrete canoes, remote-controlled airplanes,
off-road vehicles and steel bridges -- whatever the design challenge,
months of toil and sweat will soon pay off for dozens of UCLA
students as they unveil their own modern marvels.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/design.htm
William C. Meecham, UCLA Engineering Professor
and Activist Against Airport Noise, Dies
William C. Meecham, UCLA professor of mechanical and aerospace
engineering and an outspoken authority on the effects of airport
noise, died March 11 from heart failure. He was 77.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/meecham.htm
UCLA Engineering Professor Bruce Dunn
Named Holder of the Nippon Sheet Glass Company Chair in Materials
Science
Bruce Dunn, professor of materials science and engineering, was
selected from an international group of applicants, and is considered
a preeminent scholar in the field of sol-gel technologies and
their use in synthesizing electronic and opto-electronic materials.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/nippon%20chair.htm
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor
Ajit Mal Wins Best Paper Award 2002
The International Society for Optical Engineering has awarded
the Best Paper Award 2002 to Ajit Mal. He shares the honor with
student Feng Feng, professors Michael Kabo and Jeffrey Wang from
UCLA Orthopedic Surgery and Yoseph Bar-Cohen from the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. The paper was titled "Interaction of Focused
Ultrasound with Biological Materials." The award was presented
at the Annual International Symposium on Health Monitoring and
Diagnosis in San Diego, March 2003.
Learn more about Mal's research at http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ajit/.
Computer Science Professor Joseph DiStefano
III Wins Multiple Teaching Honors
UCLA's Academic Senate Committee on Teaching has awarded the Eby
Award for the Art of Teaching to Joseph DiStefano III, a faculty
member at the School of Engineering and the School of Medicine.
He is also one of only five recipients of a Distinguished Teaching
Award, which will be presented to him at an awards ceremony May
17.
Learn more about DiStefano at http://www.cs.ucla.edu/csd/people/faculty_pages/distefano.html.
MEDIA WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING
IN THE NEWS
Leading Computer Science Professional
Organizations to Present MobiSys '03
Deborah Estrin, UCLA computer scientist and director of the Center
for Embedded Networked Sensing, was quoted in a press release
on the upcoming First International Conference on Mobile Systems,
Applications and Services -- MobiSys '03 -- May 5-8.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030319/sfw064_1.html
Riding On Air
An article appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer March 20 discussing
research by Professor Tsu-Chin Tsao, mechanical and aerospace
engineering. Tsao and graduate student Chun Tai are working on
an air-hybrid car design that combines traditional internal combustion
engine technology with a compressed air storage system.
( Story is no longer available online.)
Read more UCLA Engineering news at http://www.engineer.ucla.edu
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