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DEAN'S LETTER

I had the pleasure of attending a banquet recently to honor the scholastic achievements of more than 100 young people who are involved in UCLA's Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity (CEED). For the past 19 years, CEED has been awarding undergraduate, graduate and pre-college students in our community with scholarships that help them pursue studies in math and science. More than $235,000 in scholarships was given this year, with funding from a variety of corporate sponsors, the National Science Foundation and the School's own Directors Fund.

These young people represent the future of science and engineering and it is important that UCLA does what it can to help them further their education. CEED programs create opportunities for urban, educationally disadvantaged and underrepresented students to achieve success in math, science and engineering. CEED programs range from career days to summer workshops to mentoring programs to teacher training sessions, impacting students from kindergarten to the university level.

The sooner children are inspired to learn math and science, the greater their opportunities to excel in engineering at the college level. As a School we benefit by creating a larger pool of high-caliber students for admission to our engineering programs, and as a society we will surely benefit from the accomplishments of these future scientific leaders.

Though the State of California continues to face a very serious fiscal challenge that every state institution, including UCLA, must address, I believe we are looking to the future by investing in these young people today.

Volunteers from industry, as well as our faculty and staff, become involved with CEED every year. I encourage you to learn more about existing volunteer opportunities by calling the Center at (310) 206-6493.

Sincerely,

Vijay K. Dhir
Interim Dean

FEATURE STORIES

CONCRETE CANOE: For years, civil engineering students have been taking to the water in canoes made entirely of concrete, designing their own vessels and competing nationally. UCLA alumnus Rich Shimano explains how this particular project teaches students a lesson they'd never get from a textbook.
"Those Crazy Engineers and Their Concrete Canoes"
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/bulletin/2003/1-03/ccanoe.htm

NANOSCIENCE: A new research center involving three University of California institutions will help to realize the potential applications of the nanosciences for the defense sector. The Center for Nanoscience Innovation for Defense (CNID) involves Los Angeles (UCLA), Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Riverside (UCR). Eli Yablonovitch, Professor of Electrical Engineering, leads UCLA's efforts.
"New Center for Nanoscale Innovation Transfers Knowledge From Universities to Industry"
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2002/cnid.htm

AWARDS AND HONORS

Computer science professor Judea Pearl has become a Corresponding Member of the Spanish Academy of Engineering. Pearl heads the UCLA Cognitive Systems Lab and is an expert in artificial intelligence, probabilistic and causal reasoning, nonstandard logics and learning strategies.
Learn more about Pearl's research at http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~judea/.

Computer science professors Milos Ercegovac and Mario Gerla were elected fellows of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE). Ercegovac, who also chairs UCLA's computer science department, was chosen for his contributions to the theory and practice of digital arithmetic. Gerla was recognized for his contributions to ad hoc wireless networks.
Learn more about the UCLA computer science department at http://www.cs.ucla.edu/

UCLA ENGINEERING HISTORY

The 1983 transition from NCP to TCP/IP on the Internet is being remembered this month as a milestone in the evolution of the Internet. The E-Bulletin looks back at where it all began, in a UCLA lab in 1969, when the first message was sent using Internet technology. Read the original news release written July 3, 1969.
"UCLA to be First Station in Nationwide Computer Network"
http://www.lk.cs.ucla.edu/LK/Bib/REPORT/press.html

Want to know about the Internet's early years? Read "A Brief History of the Internet" co-authored by UCLA computer science professor Leonard Kleinrock.
http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml

ON THE WEB

The School has established a new online giving form for donors who wish to give to the Engineering Annual Fund, the Alumni Fund for Student Projects, the Engineering Parents Fund or to support one of the School's departmental programs.
http://www.seasalum.ucla.edu/gift.cfm

MEDIA WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING IN THE NEWS

RECEIVING A CITATION: Electrical engineering professor Vwani Roychowdhury and graduate student Mikhail Simkin released a study that found many scientists do not always read the papers they cite as references in their published work. The story, reported internationally, appeared in New Scientist.
"Misprinted Citations Finger Scientists Who Fail to do Their Homework"
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993168

Read more UCLA Engineering news at http://www.engineer.ucla.edu

The E-Bulletin is produced by the Office of External Affairs in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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