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E-BULLETIN
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
October 11, 2006
DEAN'S
LETTER
As a public institution, UCLA Engineering has a responsibility
to raise awareness about important issues. We strive to provide
an environment that is open to the discussion of complex ideas
and to build strong connections with our friends and neighbors
in Los Angeles and beyond.
As you will read in this month's E-Bulletin, the
School actively fosters partnerships with university, industry,
and government colleagues through forums such as those held by
the Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium, and with
multi-institution research programs supported by NASA and the
National Science Foundation. The discoveries our faculty make
through these programs not only further the important mission
of these agencies, but can also transform lives.
On October 27, the Center for Embedded Networked
Sensing, or CENS, will hold its Fourth Annual Research Review
to showcase revolutionary wireless sensor systems and their application
to both scientific and social environments. An NSF Science and
Technology Center, CENS involves hundreds of faculty, engineers,
graduate student researchers, and undergraduate students from
multiple disciplines at six higher education institutions, including
UCLA.
We are delighted that this month, CENS also will
be celebrating the grand opening of a truly remarkable new research
facility here at the School.
On November 3, I hope you'll join us as we honor
the remarkable accomplishments of alumni, faculty, and students
at our annual UCLA Engineering Awards Dinner. The dinner, and
other events we hold during the year to mark our successes, are
a very important celebration of the strong ties that exist between
the School, our alumni and the greater community.
This range of research collaborations, forums,
and events symbolize the culture we strive to foster at our School
– one that engenders a lively sense of partnership, of achievement,
and of celebration with respect to our many endeavors in research,
education, and service.
Sincerely,
Vijay K. Dhir
Dean
FEATURE STORIES
 UCLA
Engineers Pioneer Handheld Lab-On-A-Chip Blood Test for Space
Flight
A team of mechanical and aerospace engineers at UCLA is developing
the tools needed to support NASA's vision of manned space flights
to the Moon and beyond. Professor Chih-Ming Ho and graduate student
researchers Nan Li and Charlotte Kwong in the NASA-sponsored Institute
for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration are developing a system here
on Earth for monitoring astronauts' health on manned space flights.
To read more, click
here.
 Researcher
Uses Plant Virus to Create Memory Chip
By coating 30-nanometre-long chunks of tobacco mosaic virus with
platinum nanoparticles, it’s possible to create a transistor
with very fast switching speed. Millions of these transistors
could eventually be used in a memory chip to replace flash memory
in mp3 players and digital cameras, for example, says UCLA Engineering
Professor Yang Yang. To read more, click
here.
 All
in the Family: Four Siblings, Four Bruin Engineers
It's not often that four members of the same family earn their
degrees in one field especially an area as challenging as engineering.
But four Martinez siblings - Henry '77, Rene '83, Rosanna '84,
and Melissa '92 - can lay claim to a unique record: all four of
them earned undergraduate degrees in engineering from UCLA. To
read more, click
here.
OTHER NEWS
 Center
For Embedded Networked Sensing to Host Annual Research Review,
Open New Building
UCLA Engineering’s Center for Embedded Networked Sensing
(CENS), which focuses on embedded networked sensing systems development
and applying the technology to monitor living and artificial environments,
will host a grand opening celebration for its brand new 6,000
square foot research space on Thursday, October 26. CENS will
continue the celebration on Friday, October 27, by hosting an
overview of its work from the past year at its fourth annual public
research review. For more information, click
here.
 Professor
Emeritus Reaches Out to Local Schools
Mechanical and aerospace professor emeritus D. Lewis (Tino) Mingori,
the first in his family to attend college, is reaching out to
students at his former high school and middle school. A graduate
of Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, Mingori was inspired by
his upcoming 50th reunion to visit the campus. He recalled, “My
parents did not complete high school, but they always encouraged
me to study hard.” To read more, click
here.
Engineering Faculty and Staff Win Awards
and Honors
Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Ann Karagozian
recently testified on behalf of UCLA's aerospace engineering programs
and outreach at the hearing for the California Assembly's Select
Committee on Aerospace.
Computer science professor Judea Pearl
has been awarded the inaugural "Purpose Prize" (jointly
with American University's Akbar Ahmed) by Civic Ventures, a San
Francisco think tank that sponsors the prize as a reward to American
individuals or teams who have worked to solve society's problems.
The prize acknowledges recipients for using their midlife experience
in creative and innovative ways. Professors Pearl and Ahmed were
honored for their work in promoting Muslim-Jewish understanding
and encouraging peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Associate Dean Gregory Pottie
testified on sensor networks at a Capitol Hill Hearing on Border
Security and Technology in September. Pottie talked about the
advantages and challenges in utilizing sensor networks along the
country’s border to detect movement.
Civil and environmental engineering professor
Jonathan Stewart has been awarded the 2006 Shamser
Prakash Research Award for ground failures related to strength
loss from liquefaction of sands, and cyclic softening of clays.
The award is given to engineers, scientists and researchers under
40 years of age, and candidates are chosen from all over the world.
Nominations are reviewed by a judging committee of international
experts from Canada, Greece, Japan, and United States.
Electrical engineering professor Kang
Wang has co-authored a handbook on nanotechnology with
UC Riverside professor Alexander Balandin. The book, five volumes
and approximately, 2,500 pages in length, is called “The
Handbook of Semiconductors Nanostructures and Nanodevices,”
and is published by American Scientific Publishers.
MEDIA WATCH:
UCLA ENGINEERING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
United Press International
Plant
Virus Used To Create Memory Device
A team of U.S. scientists says it has used a plant virus to construct
a memory device. The device developed by Yang Yang and colleagues
at the University of California-Los Angeles’ School of Engineering
is based on the tobacco mosaic virus, which is best known for
infecting the leaves of tobacco plants. The team coated the virus
with a layer of platinum nanoparticles, embedded that in a polymer
and sandwiched the resulting nanostructure between two electrodes.
When a voltage was applied, the device displayed an "on"
state that remained stable until the voltage fell below a certain
value, resulting in an "off" state.
The Washington Post
Plenty
of Holes Seen In a 'Virtual Fence'; Border Sensors Not Enough,
Experts Say
The selection of Boeing Co. to erect a "virtual fence"
along 6,000 miles of U.S. border marks a potential turning point
in the government's long quest to stop illegal immigration, but
its success hinges on overcoming obstacles that doomed past efforts,
funding shortages and other problems with the country's immigration
controls, according to experts and former U.S. officials. Gregory
J. Pottie, a UCLA Engineering professor who specializes in sensor
technology, testified to the House last week that "if we
want to solve this in three years, it could cost us a fortune
and we're going to make a lot of mistakes."
US States News [Link unavailable]
University Of California at Los Angeles Engineering Launches New
Online Master's Degree Program
Online learning has never been more accessible, and a new degree
program at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied
Science will allow top notch engineers to join in reaping the
benefits. Applications are now being accepted for UCLA engineering's
online Master of Science degree program, launching in spring 2007.
The program will enable engineers and computer scientists the
needed flexibility to enhance their skills -- and they won't have
to quit their jobs to do it.
India Post
Improving
Quality of Life Through Technology
Special guest speaker professor Vijay Dhir, dean of UCLA Henry
Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, described some
of the emerging technologies at UCLA for alternative energy solutions
such as plastic solar cells, hydrogen fuel and fusion and expressed
that the future of engineering will have an "emphasis on
interdisciplinary research and education."
New York Times
A
Chip That Transfers Data Using Laser Light
Researchers plan to announce on Monday that they have created
a silicon-based chip that can produce laser beams. "This
is a field that has just begun exploding in the past 18 months,"
said Eli Yablonovitch, a professor of electrical engineering at
the University of California, Los Angeles, and a leading researcher
in the field. "There is going to be a lot more optical communications
in computing than people have thought."
ComputerWorld
Subatomic
IT
Although it encompasses several projects and goals, the Western
Institute of Nanoelectronics as UCLA Engineering primarily aims
to find an alternative to conventional CMOS semiconductor technology.
"The major reason for spintronics is clearly anticipation
that there are really no solutions below 20 or 30 nanometers,
particularly in terms of power dissipation," says Kang Wang,
WIN's director and an engineering professor at UCLA. "Today
we use electron charge, but we are looking for alternatives."
US States News [Link unavailable]
UCLA Engineering's Eddie Kohler Chosen as One of the 'TR 35' Top
Innovators Under Age of 35 By MIT's Technology Review Magazine
Eddie Kohler, assistant professor of computer science at the UCLA
Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and an
innovator in the field of computer software, has been selected
as one of the prestigious annual “TR35.” The list,
which appears in the current issue of MIT’s Technology Review
magazine, features 35 of the top innovators in science and technology
under the age of 35. Kohler’s research spans computer systems,
networks and sensor networks.
Electronic Design
Military
R&D 101
Another energy-related research project is under way at the University
of California, Los Angeles. Bahram Jalali, a UCLA electrical engineering
professor, has developed a process that enables silicon optical
amplifiers to produce power that's normally wasted as heat.
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The E-Bulletin is produced by the Office of External
Affairs in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied
Science, and distributed on the second Wednesday of each month.
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