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E-BULLETIN
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
March 14, 2007
DEAN'S
LETTER
Our greatest resource at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering
and Applied Science is our people – the faculty, students,
and the staff who contribute to our research and educational programs
on an ongoing basis.
However, it is our faculty who form the front
line in delivering a meaningful educational and research experience
for our students. A diverse faculty with a wide range of cultural
and professional experience determines, in a crucial way, the
quality of UCLA Engineering's education.
When I meet with faculty, it becomes clear to
me what a vast number of innovative research initiatives they
are working on daily – the creation of highly sensitive
biomolecular sensors, analyzing the physics behind aquatic movement
to inspire human engineered systems, and the development of groundbreaking
semiconductor technology are a few among many projects being explored
that will ultimately benefit society.
I am pleased to note this month that electrical
engineering professor Asad Abidi has received one of the highest
professional distinctions engineers can be given – he has
been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering,
or NAE, for his contributions to the development of integrated
circuits for wireless communication in complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor
(CMOS) technology. As a special side note, I'd like to mention
that engineering alumnus Simon Lam also has been elected to the
NAE this year.
In addition, bioengineering professor Jacob Schmidt
and mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Jeff Eldredge
have earned the National Science Foundation's 2007 Faculty Early
Career Development award, the NSF's most prestigious junior faculty
award.
We are incredibly proud of all of our distinguished
faculty. The awards and acknowledgements they receive are a testament
to their extraordinary individual accomplishments and their important
contributions to research and education at UCLA Engineering. Their
work helps to ensure that current students, like those before
them, will continue to be leaders and visionaries in both academia
and industry.
Sincerely,
Vijay K. Dhir
Dean
FEATURE
STORIES
 Connecting
Online: UCLA Engineering Launches Virtual Tutoring Program
In an effort to boost declining interest in math and science among
U.S. students, UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering
and Applied Science is launching an innovative pilot tutoring
program called the Engineering and Science Corps. Unlike conventional
tutoring programs, however, this one is entirely virtual. To read
more, click here.
OTHER NEWS
 New
Accelerator Technique Doubles Particle Energy in One Meter
Imagine a car that accelerates from zero to sixty in 250 feet,
and then rockets to 120 miles per hour in just one more inch.
That’s essentially what a collaboration of accelerator physicists
have accomplished, using electrons for their racecars and plasma
for the afterburners. Because electrons already travel at near
light’s speed in an accelerator, the physicists actually
doubled the energy of the electrons, not their speed. The researchers’
achievement —from the Department of Energy’s Stanford
Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), the UCLA Henry Samueli School
of Engineering and Applied Science, and the University of Southern
California Viterbi School of Engineering—demonstrates a
technology that may drive the future of accelerator design. To
read more, click
here.
 Professor
Asad Abidi Elected to the National Academy of Engineering
UCLA Engineering professor Asad Abidi has been elected into the
National Academy of Engineering, the highest professional lifetime
distinction accorded to an American engineer. Honored for contributions
to the development of integrated circuits for wireless communication
in complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)
technology, Abidi is now among a select 2,217 members nationwide,
along with 188 foreign associates. To read more, click
here.
 Two
Engineering Faculty Members Garner NSF Early Career Development
Awards
With prestigious awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF),
two UCLA Engineering faculty members are tackling issues ranging
from the creation of highly sensitive biomolecular sensors to
using the physics behind aquatic movement to inspire human engineered
systems. The two researchers, bioengineering professor Jacob Schmidt
and mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Jeff Eldredge,
have earned NSF's 2007 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER)
award, the NSF's most prestigious junior faculty award, which
recognizes a young researcher's dual commitment to scholarship
and education. To read more, click
here.
Engineering Faculty Win Awards and Honors
Computer science professors Alfonso Cardenas
and David Smallberg partnered with electrical
engineering professor William J. Kaiser, CEED Director Enrique
Ainsworth, and Associate Dean Stephen Jacobsen to garner a new
three-year National Science Foundation grant for $597,000 that
aims to increase the diversity in computer science students.
Computer science professor and Center for Embedded
Networked Sensing (CENS) Director Deborah Estrin
has been awarded the Anita Borg Institute’s Women of Vision
award for Innovation. Established in 2004 in memory of the late
Dr. Anita Borg, The Anita Borg Awards honor outstanding leaders
who embrace Borg’s lasting vision to increase the positive
impact of technology on women.
Assistant professor of computer science Eddie
Kohler is among this year's 118 national winners of prestigious
Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Sloan Fellows are engaged in research at the frontiers of physics,
chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer
science, economics, mathematics, and neuroscience.
The University of Toronto will grant computer
science professor Judea Pearl an Honorary Doctorate
degree, Doctor of Science, at their Convocation ceremony on June
21.
MEDIA
WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
ABC National News
Wireless
Sensory Technology That Links Computers Extends Reach of Internet
Into Real World
Behind the glass-and-steel facade of UCLA Engineering’s
Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) building, dozens
of miniature, low-resolution cameras and sensors are wirelessly
linked to computers throughout the 6,000-square-foot space, keeping
tabs on traffic flow in public areas and monitoring temperature,
humidity and acoustics.
USA Today
Internet's
Behind-The-Scenes Protectors Foil Attack
On February 6, 2007, three of the 13 computers that help direct
all Internet traffic were hit with a flood of data requests. Although
it's not yet clear where the torrent came from, adjunct associate
professor of computer science Peter Reiher explains how it was
most likely designed to overwhelm the computers. The technical
groups that quietly run the Internet behind the scenes have built
a system designed to reroute traffic during an attack –
and it appeared to have worked, says Reiher, since few users noticed
any slowdown.
CNN American Morning
Daylight
Savings Y2K Dilemma
Daylight Savings time provides for an extra hour of daylight to
run, ride and play. It all sounds good, but where specifically
can we see the problems? Computer science professor emeritus Leonard
Kleinrock of UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering explains
how even the most sophisticated technology can get tripped up
by a time change.
PhysOrg.com
New Accelerator
Technique Doubles Particle Energy in Just One Meter
Imagine a car that accelerates from zero to sixty in 250 feet,
and then rockets to 120 miles per hour in just one more inch.
That's essentially what a collaboration of accelerator physicists
from the Department of Energy's Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
(SLAC), the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied
Science, and the University of Southern California Viterbi School
of Engineering have accomplished. Their achievement demonstrates
a technology that may drive the future of accelerator design.
Los Angeles Times
Sheldon
K. Friedlander, Developed Method to Find Sources of Smog Particles
Sheldon K. Friedlander, a professor of chemical and biomolecular
engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and
Applied Science, passed away of complications from pulmonary fibrosis
Feb. 9. After joining UCLA in 1983, Friedlander founded the school's
Air Quality and Aerosol Technology Laboratory and became its director.
In the mid-1980s, the lab's pollution detectives were searching
for easier and cheaper ways to trap smokestack emissions.
ZDNet
RFID Sensor Technology–Not
Ready For Prime Time
RFID has been a much hyped technology over the last several years.
Rajit Gadh, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering,
director of WINMEC (Wireless Internet for the Mobile Enterprise
Consortium) and an expert in RFID, provides a succinct overview
of what is going on with RFID in this five-minute interview.
Newsweek
The
Mini Fingers
A new microscopic robot hand developed by UCLA Engineering professor
Chang-Jang Kim, made of silicon and plastic balloons, could help
perform surgery at the microlevel or even defuse bombs. Kim’s
"microhand" is so tiny that when clenched into a fist
it measures a little over one millimeter across, or roughly as
thick as a dime. It's made using silicon finger bones and balloons
for joints that inflate and deflate to flex the fingers.
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