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DEAN'S LETTER
Many of the greatest innovations in our history have occurred through research partnerships that reach across traditional boundaries. I have often said the most promising discoveries have yet to be realized at the intersection of these interdisciplinary collaborations. Our faculty reflect this future in their truly collective approach to solving research challenges.

In this issue of the E-Bulletin, I invite you to learn more about professor Ben Wu and his partnership with professor Kang Ting in the School of Dentistry. By isolating and developing a new protein that regenerates human bone, they are working together to make a major impact on our lives.

I am extremely proud of the incredible work all of our faculty undertake, and the recognition they have achieved. The awards, appointments and other honors that are bestowed upon them regularly should not be taken for granted – they are a testament to their extraordinary individual accomplishments and their important contributions to research, to education, to our School, and to our society.

As the end of the academic year approaches, I encourage you to take the time to reconnect with a favorite faculty member and with the School. Help us to create another unique partnership by joining in the continued celebration of the School’s 60th Anniversary with a variety of free lectures, research reviews and alumni events throughout the summer and fall. For a full schedule of upcoming events, visit http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/ and click on “upcoming events.”

We look forward to seeing you on campus.

Sincerely,

Vijay K. Dhir
Dean

FEATURE STORIES
UCLA Researchers Discover New Method to Generate Human Bone
By studying diseases in which the human body generates too much bone, UCLA researchers have discovered and isolated a natural molecule that can be used to heal fractures and generate new bone growth in patients who lack it. Bioengineering professor Ben Wu at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Thomas R. Bales Professor Kang Ting at the School of Dentistry are developing potential applications for the protein they’ve named UCB, or University of California Bone. To read the full story, click here.

Engineering New Opportunities
Members of the Society of Women Engineers at UCLA - led by president Baley Fong - made presentations to students at junior high and high schools during the Winter and Spring Breaks this year. Their visits were designed to spur interest and awareness in engineering among young women and to inspire them to consider careers in engineering or the sciences. To read more about their efforts, as well as those in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, click here.

OTHER NEWS
Materials Science to Host Inaugural Nippon Sheet Glass Lecture
Materials science and engineering will host an Inaugural Nippon Sheet Glass Lecture on Friday, June 3, in the Boelter Hall Penthouse beginning at 10:30 a.m. The lecture is intended to recognize individuals who have conducted renowned research in the field of materials science. The inaugural speaker will be professor John D. Mackenzie, who will discuss “Pre-2000 Nanotechnologies Based on Glass Science.” Mackenzie is recognized for his seminal contributions to the field of glass science, and was the initial holder of the Nippon Sheet Glass Chair from 1990 to 2002. To attend the lecture, please RSVP to Mitch Moore at mitch@ea.ucla.edu.

Internet Co-Inventor Leonard Kleinrock Shares “The Internet Vision: Then and Now”
Professor Leonard Kleinrock, one of the original founders of the Internet, delivered a lecture on “The Internet Vision: Then and Now” in late April to a full house. Kleinrock, a computer science professor, created the basic principles of packet switching – the technology underpinning the Internet – while still a graduate student at MIT. His work served as the precursor to the birth of the Internet, which occurred nearly a decade later in September 1969 when Kleinrock’s host computer at UCLA became the first node of the Internet. To read more, click here.

International Union of Radio Science Bestows Booker Award on Electrical Engineering Chair
Professor Yahya Rahmat-Samii, chairman of the electrical engineering department, has been chosen to receive the prestigious Booker Gold Medal from the International Union of Radio Science (URSI). URSI is the largest international scientific body on all aspects of radio science, from fundamentals of wave propagation to radio astronomy and communications. Rahmat-Samii was selected for his contributions to reflector antenna design and practice, near-field measurements and diagnostic techniques, handheld antennas and human interactions, genetic algorithms in electromagnetics, and the spectral theory of diffraction. The URSI General Assembly is held once every thee years and is the leading event for radio scientists. For more information on URSI, click here.

Electrical Engineering Professor Awarded 2005 Brian P. Copenhaver Award
Electrical engineering professor William J. Kaiser has been awarded the 2005 Brian P. Copenhaver Award for Innovation in Teaching With Technology. Kaiser was chosen for his development and instructional use of a tool, Individualized Interactive Instruction (3I), to facilitate a new level of student-instructor interaction. 3I provides real-time feedback into the instruction process, enabling the instructor to target areas of deficiency for the whole class while giving students a private mechanism to convey their understanding to the instructor. Recipients were selected by the Faculty Committee on Educational Technology and prior award recipients. For more about his work, click here.

School of Engineering and the Vietnam Education Foundation Collaborate on Graduate Training in Science and Technology
The School of Engineering and the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) have entered into an agreement to allow top scholars from Vietnam to enter UCLA for graduate training in science and technology. These VEF Fellows will be jointly supported by the School and VEF. VEF is a special initiative by the U.S. Congress to bring the U.S. and Vietnam closer through educational exchanges. The Foundation is in its second year of operation and receives the full support of the U.S. National Academies in its fellowship selection process. Currently, VEF has more than 100 Fellows at 37 top U.S. graduate institutions, mostly for doctoral degrees. For more about VEF, visit www.vef.gov.

MAE Professor Appointed Vice Chair of Scientific Advisory Board for US Air Force
Ann Karagozian, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been appointed by the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, Gen. John Jumper, to serve as the Vice Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. The term officially starts Oct. 1 for a period of three years. The Board reviews, evaluates and advises senior Air Force leadership on matters of science and technology for continued air and space dominance. The SAB’s membership of 50 consists of retired general officers of the Air Force and representatives of industry, academia and federally funded research and development corporations. Karagozian joins UCLA engineering alumna Heidi Shyu (MS ‘81, ENG ’82) who will chair the Board. For more about Karagozian’s research, click here.

MEMS Second in Total Publication Cites
The Microelectromechanical Systems or MEMS team at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has been ranked number two in total publication cites by ISI Essential Science Indicators. The website also currently features an interview with MEMS professor and Director of the Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration, Chih-Ming Ho, whose work ranks at number 7, with 26 papers cited a total of 255 times to date. His paper, “Micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) and fluid flows,” (C.M. Ho and Y.C. Tai, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 30: 579-612, 1998) is the third most-cited paper in this field for the past decade, with 153 citations at the time of the analysis. To read the interview with Ho, click here. To view the listing of top MEMS departments, click here.

Yang Wins 2005 IEEE Outstanding Branch Counselor and Advisor Award
Electrical engineering professor Ken Yang has been awarded the 2005 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Outstanding Branch Counselor and Advisor Award, which recognizes the unusual and dedicated efforts of Student Branch Counselors and Branch Chapter Advisors. There are 10 IEEE regions worldwide, with each region giving one award per year. For more about UCLA’s IEEE Chapter, click here.

Civil/Environmental Engineering Professor Garners American Concrete Post
Professor Woody Ju of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department was appointed as the Chairman of the American Concrete Institute’s Committee on Fracture Mechanics of Concrete for a multi-year term. The ACI is considered the authority on concrete behavior, design and performance. For more about Ju’s research, click here.

Internet Architecture Board Chooses Computer Science Professor
Computer science professor Lixia Zhang has been chosen to serve on the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). The IAB is chartered both as a committee of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and as an advisory body of the Internet Society (ISOC). Its responsibilities include architectural oversight of IETF activities, Internet Standards Process oversight and appeal, and the appointment of the RFC Editor. The IAB is also responsible for the management of the IETF protocol parameter registries. For more information, click here.

MEDIA WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING IN THE NEWS
The New York Times
A Web of Sensors, Taking Earth’s Pulse
In the wilds of the San Jacinto Mountains, along a steep canyon, scientists are turning 30 acres of pines and hardwoods in California into a futuristic vision of environmental study. They are linking up more than 100 tiny sensors, robots, cameras and computers, which are beginning to paint an unusually detailed portrait of this lush world, home to more than 30 rare and endangered species. Click here to read more.

The Daily Bruin
Innovative Instruction
Think of all the "stupid" questions students never ask in class. Now, imagine a tool that allows students to anonymously interact with their professors during class, so that there is no fear of a stupid question. Electrical engineering Professor William Kaiser did just that, and then he developed that tool – Individualized Interactive Instruction, or 3I. Click here to read more.

The Daily Bruin
Engineering a Fuel Alternative
UCLA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science is not a foreign player in the search for alternative fuel sources. For the past 30 years, it has conducted in-depth research regarding hydrogen fuel. With the prices of gasoline on the rise and the knowledge that fossil fuel sources cannot be replenished, companies such as Daimler Chrysler are taking note and designing and manufacturing "hybrid vehicles" that combine the traditional use of fossil fuel as a source of energy with more environmentally friendly methods. Click here to read more.

The Daily Bruin
Ragobots Scale Frontier Of Strategy Games
The wars of the future are becoming more real and closer to home than ever before ... for fantasy role players and tabletop generals, that is. A team of UCLA graduate students developed a system of robots based on mobile sensor technology at UCLA's Networked & Embedded Systems Laboratory. The project, Real Action Gaming Robots, or Ragobot, involves using a group of small sensor-equipped robots to scale terrain and communicate in real time, as well as to interact with users without technical training. Click here to read more.

The Washington Times (UPI wire)
Molecule can help heal broken bones
UCLA researchers have discovered and isolated a natural molecule that can be used to heal fractures and generate new bone growth. Click here to read more.

Forbes (The Associated Press International Wire)
Wanted: Original Copy of 'Moore's Law'
After decades of gathering dust on library shelves, the April 19, 1965 issue of Electronics magazine has suddenly become a very hot commodity. And it's not because vacuum tubes are making a comeback. In that issue, future Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore declared the integrated circuit was the future of the electronics and predicted the rate of improvement for the semiconductor industry. The 40th anniversary of what was later coined “Moore's Law” is Tuesday. Click here to read more.