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DEAN'S LETTER

Just within the last two weeks, electrical engineering professor Eli Yablonovitch was elected into the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and computer science professor Leonard Kleinrock was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). Their elections mark two important achievements for the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Yablonovitch is the first current faculty member to be elected to the NAS, while Kleinrock becomes the second person from our School to join the AAAS. Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who is also a member of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department, was elected to the AAAS in 1996.

This tremendous news comes just two months after three of our faculty were elected into the National Academy of Engineering, including Yablonovitch, who is now a member of both distinguished academies. Professors Tatsuo Itoh and Henry Samueli were also elected in February. They, like Yablonovitch, are both from the electrical engineering department. It is a rare accomplishment to have three professors from one institution chosen; it is rarer still for them to work in a single department.

Once again, I am extremely proud of the recognition our faculty have achieved. It is a testament to their extraordinary individual accomplishments and their important contributions to research and education at our School.

In this month's E-Bulletin, I encourage you to read about an exciting event the School of Engineering is hosting on May 19 and 20. The fourth Wireless Internet Conference is a forum for some of the most influential industry leaders and university researchers to chart a course for the future of this far-reaching technology.

Wireless Internet technology is one of today's most promising areas of research and our engineers are actively shaping how the world understands and benefits from it.

Just as UCLA was the first node on the ARPANET, a computer network that was the precursor to the Internet, future incarnations of the Internet are being developed at research centers such as the UCLA Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, where a total communications system permeating the physical world is being made a reality. Many of our researchers are testing new and intriguing wireless applications. Read the features below to learn more about our School's wireless research efforts.

Sincerely,

Vijay K. Dhir
Dean

FEATURE STORIES

Electrical Engineering Professor Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Eli Yablonovitch becomes the first person currently at the School of Engineering to be elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Earlier this year, Yablonovitch was one of three UCLA engineering school professors to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/yablonovitch.htm

Computer Scientist Leonard Kleinrock Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Leonard Kleinrock, known for creating packet switching, the basic Internet technology still used today, has been elected to the Academy. He joins three other UCLA scholars in the 2003 class.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/kleinrock.htm

UCLA Hosts Wireless Internet Conference
Leading experts from industry and academia meet this month to explore the future of wireless technology and how it will change the way people live and work. The conference takes place May 19-20.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/winmec.htm

Next Generation Wireless Education
A new program at UCLA gives engineering students hands-on design experience in wireless systems through a series of experimental lab courses, providing them with the necessary technical depth and breadth to succeed in this growing field.
http://www.engineeringalum.ucla.edu/magazine/wireless.asp

The Next Killer App in Wireless?
Rajit Gadh, mechanical and aerospace engineering professor and director of the UCLA Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium, looks at the future of one of the most talked about wireless applications, mobile multimedia messaging, in a recent editorial posted to AlwaysOn.
http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=P199_0_4_0_C

UC System Leads Patent Race
For the ninth consecutive year, the University of California ranked first in the number of patents received by universities nationwide, according to the Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office. UCLA ranks second in R&D support.
http://www.larta.org/LAVOX/ArticleLinks/030414_patents.asp

Two Engineering Professors Win Teaching Awards
Jonathan P. Stewart, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Chih-Kong Ken Yang, electrical engineering professor, are recipients of the 2003 Northrop Grumman Teaching Award. The two were selected for exhibiting professionalism and demonstrating outstanding teaching capabilities inside and outside of the classroom.
Learn more about Stewart at http://www.cee.ucla.edu/faculty/stewart.htm
Learn more about Yang at http://www.ee.ucla.edu/faculty/bios/yang.htm

Scholarships, Awards Presented at MAE Research Review
Several students and faculty members from the mechanical and aerospace engineering department received scholarships or awards for their work. Professors Adrienne Lavine and Robert M'Closkey were winners of this year's Henry and Susan Samueli Teaching Award.
http://support.mae.ucla.edu/news/index.htm

UCLA Alumna Named Director at National Laboratory
Kathryn McCarthy, (PhD ’89) has been named director of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL).
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/mccarthy.htm

Donald Arnush, UCLA Engineering Adjunct Professor and Physicist, Dies
Donald Arnush, UCLA adjunct professor of electrical engineering and a respected authority on plasma physics, died April 24 from cancer. He was 67.
http://www-ferp.ucsd.edu/FPA/fpn03-24.shtml

MEDIA WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING IN THE NEWS

UCLA School of Engineering Lab Studies Nature’s Secret Weapons
Professor C.J. Kim's lab was featured in a recent National Geographic Explorer/MSNBC production, “Secret Weapons,” which focused on animals and plants that have evolved to be “nature's warriors.” Kim, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been developing micro-devices inspired by the insects that flourish in the miniature world. Watch an excerpt of the program.
http://cjmems.seas.ucla.edu/

Snaky Tape May Enliven Computer Interactions
Leonard Kleinrock, computer science professor and inventor of the Internet technology, commented on the development of “smart spaces” that connect the physical world to the Internet. His remarks appeared in a recent Newsfactor article.
http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21314.html

Lab-on-a-chip Tech Goes Reconfigurable
EE Times reports on mechanical and aerospace engineering professor CJ Kim’s development of a programmable-array approach to microfluidics that could greatly simplify the field of lab-on-a-chip technology.
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030407S0049

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

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