Dean's Letter • Feature Stories • Media Watch • Archive

DEAN'S LETTER

As a public institution, our School has a responsibility to raise awareness about important issues that affect the community. We have a public service mission to provide an open forum for the discussion of complex ideas, and to build strong connections with our friends and neighbors in Los Angeles, the state and beyond. This mission is the driving force behind two special events that took place last week: a symposium on Homeland Security: Safeguarding Civil Infrastructures, and the UCLA Engineering Awards Dinner.

The symposium brought together members from the Westwood and Los Angeles communities to come and learn more about the School of Engineering's research efforts in civil infrastructure protection. They were joined by university professors, business leaders and policy experts for an informative look at how university-based research can best be used to protect our bridges, ports, buildings and roadways. Collectively, they offered insightful perspectives about the critical role that both industry and educational institutions must play in safeguarding civil infrastructures.

The School also celebrated the remarkable accomplishments of our alumni, students, faculty and friends at this year's UCLA Engineering Awards Dinner. The nine people we honored represent the strong bond we all share through our association with UCLA. We are truly privileged to have so many distinguished and accomplished people representing our School. I am proud to recognize their achievements and thankful for the strong local industry support for this event.

We presented the Alumnus of the Year award to Vint Cerf, senior vice president of technology strategy for MCI; the Engineering Alumni Association Service award to alumnus Richard Gay; a Lifetime Contribution award to Professor William Van Vorst; Edward K. Rice Outstanding Student awards to Jeremy Elson, Emily Guglielmo, Robert Lobbia, and Arthur Torosyan; and Northrop Grumman Teaching Awards to professors Jonathan Stewart and C.K. Ken Yang. Please read the article in this issue of the E-Bulletin to learn more about these award recipients.

Public exchanges like our symposium and awards dinner are a strong reminder of the integral partnership that exists between the School, its alumni and the community-at-large. We hope to offer more opportunities for greater engagement between the School and its friends in the future.

Sincerely,

Vijay K. Dhir
Dean

FEATURE STORIES

Technology Experts Lead Forum on Protecting the Nation's Civil Infrastructure
Academic, government and business leaders came together last week to consider how university research can be implemented to enhance the safety of our nation's infrastructure. UCLA researchers, as well as representatives from Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, RAND and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offered insightful perspectives about the critical role that industry, government and educational institutions must play in safeguarding civil infrastructures.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/homeland_security.htm

Friends of School Honored at UCLA Engineering Awards Dinner
Nine people with close ties to the UCLA Engineering community - alumni, students and faculty - were acknowledged for their contributions to the Engineering School at an awards dinner held November 7. Honorees included Vint Cerf, Jeremy Elson, Richard Gay, Emily Guglielmo, Robert Lobbia, Jonathan Stewart, Arthur Torosyan, William Van Vorst and C.K. Ken Yang.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/awards2003.htm

A Page from History: UCLA Engineer Says Hydrogen Didn't Cause Hindenburg Fire
Professor William Van Vorst, who this month received a Lifetime Contribution award from the UCLA School of Engineering, is known for debunking the myth that hydrogen caused the disastrous fire aboard the famous Hindenburg zeppelin. From a long career marked by many achievements, Van Vorst's 1998 report was one of the more intriguing studies he produced. Read the original press release.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/releases/blimp.htm

UCLA Professor Carlo Montemagno Receives Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology
Carlo Montemagno, UCLA professor and chair of bioengineering, received the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (Experimental) on Oct. 11 at the 11th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology. Montemagno is co-director of the UCLA Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration (CMISE) and also holds the Roy and Carol Doumani Chair in Biomedical Engineering.
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?menu=fullsearchresults&id=4615

Computer Competition a Battle of Logic and Creativity
Imagine completing a semester's worth of computer programming in one afternoon. Three powerhouse computer programming teams from UCLA will do just that at the 28th Association for Computing Machining (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Contest. Organizers bill it as "the battle of the brains." The regional round takes place November 15.
http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/stories/2003/icpc.htm

MEDIA WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING IN THE NEWS

Nanotechnology Research is Wave of the Future
In an editorial published in the UCLA Daily Bruin, electrical engineering professor Kang Wang describes UCLA's leadership role in nanotechnology research a position made even stronger by the recent establishment of a new research center Wang directs, called the Functional Engineered Nano-Architectonics Focus Center. http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?ID=25891

Air Aces Show Fame is not Fair
Newspapers are filled with storiesabout minor celebrities, so you might think it is easy to become famous. But a theory of fame developed by UCLA Professor Vwani Roychowdhury and Mikhail Simkin suggests people are far more likely to languish unrecognized while a few become more famous than they deserve.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994273

NanoTurf in the Spotlight
UCLA professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering C.J. Kim and professor James Gimzewski from the chemistry department took part in a BBC World Service Discovery series on nanotechnology. The first installment of the series, which aired Oct. 8, focused on the work of these two UCLA researchers. A news article about Professor Kim's NanoTurf research was published on the BBC's web site.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3178136.stm

Happy Birthday, Internet turns 34
At 10:30 p.m. on October 29, 1969, UCLA computer scientist professor Leonard Kleinrock and student Charley Kline sent the first message 600 kilometers from Los Angeles to Palo Alto, California. The message: "lo." They were trying to type "login," but only got as far as the "o" when the system crashed. Read the CBC News story:
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/29/internet_031029
The CBC also published a timeline of the Internet's development:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/internet/

Wildlife's Trial by Fire Is Just Beginning
Keith Stolzenbach, UCLA professor of civil and environmental engineering, was quoted in two newspaper accounts about the effects of the California fires on wildlife and the environment. The articles appeared in the Los Angeles Times and North County (San Diego County) Times.
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-wildlife2nov02,1,1868103.story
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/11/09/news/top_stories/11_8_0316_47_32.txt

Compressed Air Drives Prospective Hybrid
There are two certainties of living in Los Angeles: traffic and air pollution. Though it seems there will be no immediate end to the traffic, hybrid vehicles powered by gas and compressed air may reduce smog levels. The UCLA Daily Bruin reports on mechanical and aerospace engineering professor T.C. Tsao's work on an air hybrid engine design.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?ID=25712

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.

If you have comments or a story you think our subscribers would like to read, tell the E-Bulletin about it at media@ea.ucla.edu.

View past e-Bulletins: