E-BULLETIN
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
September 13, 2006

DEAN'S LETTER
As we begin the new academic year, it’s a good time to reflect on our accomplishments from the previous year and plan for the months ahead.

Last year was a groundbreaking year for the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, both for our educational programs and our research, and this year holds even greater promise.

Important collaborations with all of our stakeholders continue to enhance our mission of education, research, and service. In the previous academic year, our faculty secured more than $91 million in gifts, contracts, and grants to support interdisciplinary research activities. We now have 155 full-time faculty, and more than twenty of our faculty hold joint appointments in other disciplines, creating an environment that fosters a free exchange of ideas and new discoveries in both the laboratory and classroom.

The undergraduate rankings recently released by US News and World Report show that others recognize that UCLA Engineering is on the move. Overall, the School is now ranked among the top 20 engineering schools nationwide in undergraduate education. This year, we had three programs that were previously unranked jump onto the rankings charts: civil and environmental, materials science and engineering, and mechanical engineering are now recognized as among the top programs in the nation. Our aerospace engineering, computer science and electrical engineering programs continue to excel when compared to other top institutions.

We are also among the top 15 graduate schools in the nation, nine among public universities. We are a leader in micro-and nanoelectromechanical systems, embedded networking, biomedical engineering, and wireless communications research.

The number of student applicants seeking to be part of UCLA Engineering is at its highest level ever. For Fall 2006, our freshman enrollment is already up 10 percent over last year, and our graduate student enrollment has increased 20 percent over last year. The number of entering transfer students is up 25 percent as compared to the same time last year. We expect that these numbers will increase even more as the academic year gets underway and we have final totals.

The School continues to seek new ways to enhance the education and experiences of our both our students and our alumni.

To help our alumni thrive in their careers, we are launching a new online Master of Science in Engineering program, with courses taught by our distinguished faculty. The online program will serve highly qualified engineers interested in augmenting their engineering expertise. You can read more about the program below.

We have accomplished a great deal this past year, but we can achieve even more. The excellence of our faculty, our students, and our research centers is unrivaled, and we are committed to pioneering and advancing technologies that improve our world. I hope you will share our excitement as we continue to meet the demands of tomorrow by advancing the frontiers of engineering education and research today.

Sincerely,

Vijay K. Dhir
Dean


FEATURE STORIES
What’s Shaking? UCLA Engineers Demolish Full-Scale Bridge Foundation Near LAX for Earthquake Safety Research
A group of engineers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are shaking things up here in Los Angeles in the name of earthquake safety. Civil and environmental engineering professors Jonathan Stewart and John Wallace and their team of researchers laterally loaded a full-scale $1 million bridge foundation near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the point of failure recently in a quest to improve engineers’ knowledge about how bridges react in earthquakes. To read more, click here.

UCLA Engineering Launches New Online 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 is finally allowing 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 January 2007. The program will enable fully employed engineers and computer scientists the needed flexibility to enhance their skills – and they won’t have to quit their jobs to do it.
To read more, click here.

OTHER NEWS
Engineering’s Eddie Kohler Chosen as One of the “TR35” Top Innovators Under the Age of 35 By MIT’s Technology Review Magazine
Eddie Kohler, an innovator in the field of computer science, is included in the annual 2006 TR35 list, published in new issue of MIT’s Technology Review magazine. The list features 35 of the top innovators in science and technology under the age of 35. To read more, click here.

Engineering Faculty and Staff Win Awards and Honors
Dean Vijay K. Dhir was a featured speaker at the 23rd ASEI National Convention held at in Cerritos in early September. Dhir spoke about his vision of "Improving the Quality of Life through Technology," the theme of the conference. ASEI SoCal is a local chapter of the international non-profit professional organization of Indian engineers, students and professionals.

Researchers, practitioners, students, and executives will gather at MobiCom’06, the Twelfth Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, from September 24-29. Computer science professor Deborah Estrin will deliver an address on “Wireless Sensing Systems: From Ecosystems to Human Systems. Computer science professor Mario Gerla will serve as the general chair of the conference, and computer science researcher Giovanni Pau will participate as financial chair and local arrangement chair.

Electrical engineering professor Chandrashekhar J. Joshi has been chosen to receive the prestigious 2006 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for his “insight and leadership in applying plasma concepts to high energy electron and positron acceleration, and for his creative exploration of related aspects of plasma physics." The prize, awarded annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of plasma physics, was established in 1975 by the Maxwell Technologies, Inc., in honor of the Scottish physicist, James Clerk Maxwell and is currently sponsored by General Atomics.

MEDIA WATCH: UCLA ENGINEERING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Los Angeles Times
UCLA to Protect Animal Research
The acting chancellor says the university will defend against 'domestic terrorism' directed at faculty engaged in scientific studies. "The chancellor is right to take these bold moves to protect the campus community from harassment and violence," said Adrienne Lavine, a UCLA engineering professor who also heads UCLA's faculty senate.

Technocrat.net (Boston, MA)
Spin Buses Proposed to Provide Low Power Massively Parallel Chip Interconnections
Researchers at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have announced three designs for interconnecting chip components using a "spin wave bus" that acts as a waveguide for electron spin rather than the current flow other spintronic devices employ, and their devices will work at room temperature.

Los Angeles Times
Seeking Better Ways to Test Quake Safety
California has spent billions retrofitting freeway overpasses and public buildings to make them safer in earthquakes. But in the absence of a real quake to test their strength, it has been impossible to say for certain how the structures would hold up. In a recent test, UCLA Engineering professor John Wallace was surprised to find that the partial freeway foundation researchers had built to California Department of Transportation construction standards held up better than expected. "Things were starting to crack up and get damaged but it was still taking more force," Wallace said.

ABC 7 News [Link no longer available]
Quake Safety
Lead News story at 11:30 am
Engineers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science plan to laterally load a full-scale $1 million bridge foundation near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the point of failure in a quest to improve engineers’ knowledge about how bridges react in earthquakes.

NBC 4 TV News
Researchers Test Overpass Foundations (Video)
Engineers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are set to shake things up here in Los Angeles in the name of earthquake safety. Civil and environmental engineering professors Jonathan Stewart and John Wallace and their team of researchers plan to laterally load a full-scale $1 million bridge foundation near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the point of failure in a quest to improve engineers’ knowledge about how bridges react in earthquakes.

MSNBC [Link unavailable]
Researchers Test Bridge Foundation's Reaction to Quake
Engineers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are set to shake things up here in Los Angeles in the name of earthquake safety. Civil and environmental engineering professors Jonathan Stewart and John Wallace and their team of researchers plan to laterally load a full-scale $1 million bridge foundation near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the point of failure in a quest to improve engineers’ knowledge about how bridges react in earthquakes.

KNX Radio 1070 AM [Archived story unavailable]
News: Testing Quake Safety
Engineers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are set to shake things up here in Los Angeles in the name of earthquake safety. Civil and environmental engineering professors Jonathan Stewart and John Wallace and their team of researchers plan to laterally load a full-scale $1 million bridge foundation near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the point of failure in a quest to improve engineers’ knowledge about how bridges react in earthquakes.

Biotech Law Weekly
University of California, U.S.; Stem Cells From Fat Tissue May Be New Source For Smooth Muscle Cells
Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at University of California, Los Angeles announced they have transformed adult stem cells taken from human adipose - or fat tissue - into smooth muscle cells, which help the normal function of a multitude of organs like the intestine, bladder and arteries.

KNBC “Today in L.A.”
Biodiesel Provides Alternative for Diesel Vehicles (Video)
Rising prices at the pump is a consequence of what President Bush calls our “addiction to oil.” NBC takes a look at a biodiesel alternative and talks with UCLA professor Vasilios Manousiouthakis about the pros and cons of biodiesel, and the future of hydrogen cars.

Stem Cell Week
Stem Cells From Fat Tissue May Be New Source For Smooth Muscle Cells
Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at University of California, Los Angeles announced they have transformed adult stem cells taken from human adipose - or fat tissue - into smooth muscle cells, which help the normal function of a multitude of organs like the intestine, bladder and arteries. The study may help lead to the use of fat stem cells for smooth muscle tissue engineering and repair.

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