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Alumnus of the Year Award Recipient Henry
T. Nicholas, III and
UCLA
Engineering Dean Vijay K. Dhir
UCLA Engineering Celebrates
60 Years, Honors Contributions at Annual Awards Dinner
The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and
Applied Science celebrated the remarkable accomplishments of alumni,
students, and faculty at this year's Awards Dinner, held on November
4 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel ballroom. With more than
400 colleagues and friends in attendance, awards were presented
to 11 individuals, including the co-founder of Broadcom, Henry
Nicholas, who was honored as Alumnus of the Year.
KNBC 4 reporter and engineering alumnus Patrick
Healy, along with UCLA Engineering Dean Vijay K. Dhir, emceed
the event, which focused on the School’s 60th anniversary.
A video prepared especially for the dinner highlighted the School’s
early days, and showcased innovative research in alternative energy
and clean water, as well as other interdisciplinary research centers
that will play a major role in the School’s future.
Dean Dhir also shared several statistics from
the past academic year that underscored the School’s increasing
prominence:
- Twenty-two of our affiliated faculty are members
of the National Academy of Engineering, the highest distinction
that can be bestowed on an engineer.
- UCLA Engineering awarded 137 PhDs this year,
placing UCLA within the top two in the country, and more than
17 of the School’s PhD graduates and 6 postdoctoral researchers
received academic positions at universities around the world.
- Government, corporate, and private funding
for research in the School topped $88 million, not only another
record year, but dollars that are critical to ongoing research,
especially in light of shrinking support from the State.
Friend of the School Edward K. Rice, who generously
established an endowed fund last year to support engineering’s
student awards, took to the stage to present this year’s
Edward K. Rice Outstanding Student honors: 2005 Outstanding Undergraduate
Student, Kristina Cydzik, 2005 Outstanding Master’s student,
Philip Wegge, and 2005 Outstanding Doctoral Student, Vijay Raghunathan.
Alumni Board Vice President Coretta Harris presented
the 2005 UCLA Engineering Distinguished Young Alumnus Award to
Vincent Gau and the 2005 UCLA Engineering Alumni Association Service
Award to Aaron Cohen.
Computer science professor Richard Korf received
the 2005 Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award from Lockheed’s
Larry Pellett, and Northrop Grumman’s Gary Ervin presented
the 2005 Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award to electrical
engineering assistant professor Lei He and to Laurent Pilon, assistant
professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Professor George Bekey garnered the 2005 Alumni
Achievement in Academia Award, and the 2005 Professional Achievement
Award went to Jeff Lawrence, founder, president and CEO of Clivia
Systems. The evening’s final honor was given to Broadcom
co-founder Henry Nicholas as Alumni of the Year, presented by
Dean Dhir.
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11.07.05
-M.Abraham
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