E-BULLETIN
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
June 10, 2009 DEAN'S
LETTER
The greatest responsibility
of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
is to offer our students the very best education for a fruitful
career in engineering.
Our students are challenged with a rigorous curriculum designed
to give them the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in
their career path. Completing this academic journey with a UCLA
degree is certainly one of their most important achievements,
but it is also a launching pad for the next stage of their life.
On Saturday, June 13, we will celebrate the Class of 2009 at the
school’s commencement, to be held at 12:30 p.m. at Pauley
Pavilion. This year we expect to award approximately 500 bachelor's,
400 master's and 170 doctoral degrees. And on behalf of the school,
I would like to congratulate all of our graduates on their accomplishment.
The speaker is John J. Tracy, senior vice president of Engineering,
Operations & Technology and chief technology officer for The
Boeing Company. Throughout his distinguished engineering career,
Dr. Tracy has demonstrated outstanding leadership and I am looking
forward to hearing his message for our graduates.
Sincerely,
Vijay K. Dhir
Dean
FEATURE
STORIES UCLA
names Soon-Shiong executive director of Wireless Health Institute
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder and chairman
of Abraxis BioScience and executive chairman and CEO of Abraxis
Health, has been appointed executive director of the UCLA Wireless
Health Institute. He has also accepted a position as a visiting
professor of bioengineering and of microbiology, immunology and
molecular genetics.
UCLA
researchers develop new method for producing transparent conductors
Researchers at UCLA have developed a new method for producing
a hybrid graphene–carbon nanotube, or G-CNT, for potential
use as a transparent conductor in solar cells and consumer electronic
devices. These G-CNTs could provide a cheaper and much more flexible
alternative to materials currently used in these and similar applications.
OTHER
NEWS
Student honorees
at the 2009 UCLA Engineering Commencement have been announced.
Outstanding Bachelor of Science: Nicholas Anthony Kusnezov,
'09. Harry M. Showman Prize: Neal Jacob Hutchinson
'09 and Kevin Kin-Man Tsia PhD, '09. Russell
R. O'Neill Distinguished Service Award: Nicole Elaine
Galloway '09. Departmental Scholars: Drew Alexander
Kirkpatrick '08 and Stephen Joseph Oakley
'09. Student Speaker: Jonathan George Chew '09.
National Anthem Vocalist: Halie Aimee Lane.
For a complete list of the 2009 Commencement award winners, please
click here.
Intel
awarded UCLA Engineering’s Center for Excellence
in Engineering and Diversity (CEED) $25,000 for its students’
impressive accomplishment of the Intel Innovation Challenge last
month. The project asked the undergraduate team to utilize computer
technology to develop creative solutions that could mitigate losses
from catastrophic natural disasters.
To read more, click
here.
Materials
science and engineering professor Bruce Dunn
leads a brief tour of his lab on UCLA's Youtube channel. Professor
Dunn introduces current research into three-dimensional batteries,
and fuel cells powered by sugar. To view the video, click
here.
Puneet
Gupta, assistant professor of electrical engineering,
and Terri S. Hogue, assistant professor of civil
and environmental engineering, have each received
a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. The awards program
supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars
through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration
of education and research within the context of the mission of
their organizations. Gupta received the award for "Co-optimization
of Integrated Circuit Design and Manufacturing."
Hogue received
the award for her project on modeling of land-atmosphere interactions
over the Los Angeles basin and other western U.S. cities and the
sensitivity of regional water and energy budgets to climate extremes
and land cover change.
The
American Society of Gene Therapy has honored Tatiana Segura,
assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering,
as an Outstanding New Investigator in the field of gene therapy
research.
The award is an annual feature of the ASGT Annual Meeting and
recognizes contributions from researchers in their first seven
years of a career. Segura received the honor for her work engineering
nonviral vectors for gene delivery.
Mohamed
Abdou, Distinguished Professor and director of the Center
for Energy Science and Technology Advanced Research has been elected
as the first president of the Council of Energy Research and Education
Leaders (CEREL). The organization includes leaders of university-based
energy centers and programs, as well as national laboratories
and related research and education units.
Chemical
and biomolecular engineering professor Yoram Cohen
has been elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (AIChE). Election as an AIChE Fellow recognizes professional
attainment, and significant accomplishment in engineering. Cohen
has also been appointed as a UCLA Luskin Scholar in the Luskin
Center for Innovation. The Luskin Center for Innovation is a special
initiative of UCLA supported by the Chancellor's Office and made
possible by an endowment from Meyer Luskin. The Luskin Center
focuses on urban pollution and sustainability issues.
Alumnus
Asad M. Madni ‘69, M.S. ‘72, former president,
COO and director of BEI Technologies, Inc. in Sylmar, Calif.,
will present the commencement address and receive the honorary
Doctor of Science degree at the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture
and Science graduation ceremony on June 12 at Ryerson University
in Toronto, Canada. Madni was the 2004 UCLA Engineering Alumnus
of the Year. To read more, click
here.
Engineers Without Borders-UCLA
has
made a short Youtube video about the group's water project in
Guatemala. To view the video,
click here. The group is also working on projects in Nicauraga
and is posting entries on their blog. To view the blog, click
here.
The Cognitive Systems Laboratory at UCLA, headed
by computer science professor Judea Pearl, received
a $632,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research, Mathematics,
Computers and Information Research Division. The purpose of this
three-year research project is to develop computer systems capable
of fusing information from both physical sensors and the verbal
interpretation of events and scenarios.
The
Master of Science in Engineering Online Program has significantly
expanded its course offerings, adding both Aerospace Engineering
and Systems Engineering programs of study. For
more information please attend one of the information sessions.
Sign up at: msol.ucla.edu
Donald
K. Edwards, a professor at UCLA Engineering from 1959
to 1981 and an
internationally recognized expert in radiation heat transfer and
in the development of heat pipes, passed
away on May 6 of complications from cancer. He was 76. To read
more click
here.
Walter C. Hurty, a UCLA Engineering professor
emeritus who was an early pioneer in the aircraft industry and
taught at UCLA from the 1940s to the 1970s passed away in January.
He was 98. To read more, click
here.
MEDIA
WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING IN THE NEWS Live
Science Cell phones allow
everyone to be a scientist
Researchers at the UCLA's Center for Embedded Networked
Sensing, or CENS, are working to make cell phones a powerful
and accessible research tool for everybody.
History
Channel Life
After People
Civil and environmental engineering professor Jonathan
Stewart appeared on the History Channel program "Life
After People" describing the effects on the built environment
of a "no people" condition. In particular, Stewart's
comments were focused on the Library Tower and Disney Hall in
downtown Los Angeles.
Technology Review Making
Fat Disappear
Can burning excess fat be as easy as exhaling? That's the finding
of a provocative new study by researchers at the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who transplanted a fat-burning
pathway used by bacteria and plants into mice. The genetic alterations
enabled the animals to convert fat into carbon dioxide and remain
lean while eating the equivalent of a fast-food diet.
June 16 MAE
Distinguished Speaker Series
"Magnetoelastic/piezoelectric bimorph composites"
Peter Finkel, Sensors and Sonar Systems
Department, Naval Undersea Warfare Center
11 a.m., 37-124 Engineering IV
June 26 MAE
Research Seminar
"Microfluidics by electrowetting and beyond"
Shih-Kang Fan, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
3 p.m., 38-138 Engineering IV
---
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us
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder and chairman
of Abraxis BioScience and executive chairman and CEO of Abraxis
Health, has been appointed executive director of the UCLA Wireless
Health Institute. He has also accepted a position as a visiting
professor of bioengineering and of microbiology, immunology and
molecular genetics.
Intel
awarded UCLA Engineering’s Center for Excellence
in Engineering and Diversity (CEED) $25,000 for its students’
impressive accomplishment of the Intel Innovation Challenge last
month. The project asked the undergraduate team to utilize computer
technology to develop creative solutions that could mitigate losses
from catastrophic natural disasters.
To read more, 
Materials
science and engineering professor Bruce Dunn
leads a brief tour of his lab on UCLA's Youtube channel. Professor
Dunn introduces current research into three-dimensional batteries,
and fuel cells powered by sugar. To view the video, 
Puneet
Gupta, assistant professor of electrical engineering,
and Terri S. Hogue, assistant professor of civil
and environmental engineering, have each received
a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. The awards program
supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars
through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration
of education and research within the context of the mission of
their organizations. Gupta received the award for "Co-optimization
of Integrated Circuit Design and Manufacturing."
Hogue received
the award for her project on modeling of land-atmosphere interactions
over the Los Angeles basin and other western U.S. cities and the
sensitivity of regional water and energy budgets to climate extremes
and land cover change.
The
American Society of Gene Therapy has honored Tatiana Segura,
assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering,
as an Outstanding New Investigator in the field of gene therapy
research.
The award is an annual feature of the ASGT Annual Meeting and
recognizes contributions from researchers in their first seven
years of a career. Segura received the honor for her work engineering
nonviral vectors for gene delivery. 
Mohamed
Abdou, Distinguished Professor and director of the Center
for Energy Science and Technology Advanced Research has been elected
as the first president of the Council of Energy Research and Education
Leaders (CEREL). The organization includes leaders of university-based
energy centers and programs, as well as national laboratories
and related research and education units.
Chemical
and biomolecular engineering professor Yoram Cohen
has been elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (AIChE). Election as an AIChE Fellow recognizes professional
attainment, and significant accomplishment in engineering. Cohen
has also been appointed as a UCLA Luskin Scholar in the Luskin
Center for Innovation. The Luskin Center for Innovation is a special
initiative of UCLA supported by the Chancellor's Office and made
possible by an endowment from Meyer Luskin. The Luskin Center
focuses on urban pollution and sustainability issues.
Alumnus
Asad M. Madni ‘69, M.S. ‘72, former president,
COO and director of BEI Technologies, Inc. in Sylmar, Calif.,
will present the commencement address and receive the honorary
Doctor of Science degree at the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture
and Science graduation ceremony on June 12 at Ryerson University
in Toronto, Canada. Madni was the 2004 UCLA Engineering Alumnus
of the Year. To read more, 
Engineers Without Borders-UCLA
has
made a short Youtube video about the group's water project in
Guatemala. To view the