UCLA Engineering: UCLA Engineer Fall 2002

Letter from the Dean

As we begin the new academic year, we have the opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments from the previous year - and last year was a banner year for the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, both for our educational programs and our research.

We were awarded one of six National Science Foundation Science and Technology Centers - the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), which is expected to receive $40 million over the next ten years. CENS will involve approximately 20 UCLA faculty from engineering, the physical sciences, and education. We were also awarded one of five NASA-sponsored University Research, Engineering and Technology Institutes - the Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration (CMISE). CMISE is a $40 million institute that brings together a broad coalition of faculty in engineering, biology, chemistry, and medicine. These two research centers, together with the California NanoSystems Institute, reflect the incredible talent and resources available at UCLA, and our firm commitment to cross-disciplinary research and collaboration.

Recognizing the great advances that are taking place in bioengineering and the need for trained professionals in the future, we have added a seventh department - Bioengineering. Initially the department will have only graduate programs, but within one to two years undergraduate students will have the opportunity to enroll in our new department. Both our Chemical and Electrical Engineering Departments have existing undergraduate minors in bioengineering, and we have a strong Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering. We are also considering new initiatives within the School to revamp the curricula to ensure that our graduates are well prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century.

In the last five years, we have increased enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students by more than 30 percent. This enrollment growth will allow us to add about 40 new faculty positions in the next three years, increasing the strength of the School to about 175 full-time faculty. The quality of the students admitted to the School is also continuing to rise as even more students apply for admission. We received more than 6,000 freshman applications and nearly 3,000 graduate applications for the 2002-03 school year, and expect to enroll approximately 500 freshmen and 300 graduate students.

We have accomplished a great deal this year, but I believe we can achieve even more. The quality of our faculty, our students, and our research centers is unrivaled, and we share a renewed commitment to pioneering and advancing technologies that will improve our world. We are among the leaders in micro-and nanoelectromechanical systems, embedded networking, biomedical engineering, and wireless communications research.

This issue of UCLA Engineer showcases several current wireless research projects in the School, as well as our new NASA Institute and CENS. There is an article on a multidisciplinary project in autonomous intelligent networks and systems supported by the Office of Naval Research. There are also articles on the Institute for Cellular Mimetic Space Exploration that is led by Professor Chih-Ming Ho, and Professor Deborah Estrin's Center for Embedded Networked Sensing. Professors Mario Gerla and Rajit Gadh are exploring ways to enhance the educational experience through wireless technologies, aided by a grant from Hewlett-Packard.

I hope you share our excitement as we prepare to meet the new demands of the 21st century by advancing the frontiers of engineering education and research.

Sincerely,

Vijay K. Dhir
Interim Dean