News

Seafloor carpet catches waves to generate energy

01/28/14 — UC Berkeley mechanical engineers are developing a seafloor carpet system to capture ocean wave energy and convert it into usable electricity. The system could eventually help lower the cost of converting seawater into fresh water, easing the pressure during periods of drought.

Costas Spanos of EECS appointed new CITRIS director

01/27/14 Berkeley Research — Costas Spanos, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, has been named the fourth director of the multi-campus CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society). Spanos, who joined the Berkeley faculty in 1988, succeeds Paul Wright of mechanical engineering, who has led CITRIS since 2007.

Turkeys inspire smartphone-capable early warning system for toxins

01/21/14 — UC Berkeley bioengineers looked to turkeys for inspiration when developing a new type of biosensor that changes color when exposed to chemical vapors. They mimicked the way turkey skin changes color to create easy-to-read sensors that can detect toxins or airborne pathogens.

What if robots had whiskers?

01/21/14 Berkeley Lab — Researchers with Berkeley Lab and Berkeley Engineering have created e-whiskers – highly sensitive tactile sensors made from carbon nanotubes and silver nanoparticles that should have a wide range of applications including advanced robotics, human-machine interfaces, and biological and environmental sensors.

Undergrads tackle security projects to battle cyber criminals

01/16/14 USA Today College — In an era when billions are stolen by hackers every year, UC Berkeley and other universities are training students to be the next generation of cyber warriors.

CEE’s Sally Thompson on NSF-funded team studying watershed’s critical zone

01/15/14 — A team of UC Berkeley scientists, including Sally Thompson of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will receive $4,900,000 from the National Science Foundation to study the Eel River watershed in Northern California and how its vegetation, geology and topography affect water flow all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Researchers launch ‘Kelp Watch’ to determine extent of Fukushima contamination

01/14/14 Berkeley Lab — California researchers, including nuclear engineering's Kai Vetter, have launched “Kelp Watch 2014,” a scientific campaign to determine the extent of radioactive contamination of the state's kelp forest from Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant following the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.

Cleantech to Market team lead Michael Lebow and College of Engineering Ph.D. candidate Sibel Leblebici demonstrate an innovative new fuel cell

Symposium spotlights clean-technology solutions

01/10/14 — Through the Cleantech to Market program, UC Berkeley students work with campus and Berkeley Lab scientists to bring new, environmentally friendly innovations to the world via commercialization.

Kumar and Murthy get Keck grant for cancer cell research

01/10/14 — Bioengineering professors Sanjay Kumar and Niren Murthy have been granted a $500,000 research award from the W.M. Keck Foundation for their research, which aims to develop an assay platform that will allow researchers to routinely perform single-cell proteomic experiments.

Engineers create light-activated ‘curtains’

01/09/14 — A research team led by UC Berkeley's Ali Javey, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, used carbon nanotubes and plastic polycarbonate to create a new material that moves in response to light. The material can be used to create “smart curtains” that open or close with the flick of a light switch.

MTM article in Science Translational Medicine

01/08/14 — In a Focus article for the journal Science Translational Medicine, leaders of the joint Berkeley Engineering-UCSF Master of Translational Medicine program explore how the innovative program helps scientists and physicians cross the gap from lab bench to patient bedside.

Chris Ategeka named to Forbes 30 Under 30

01/08/14 Forbes — Christopher Ategeka (B.S. '11 ME), founder of CA Bikes, which builds bike and motorcycle ambulances for those in need in his native Uganda, has been selected as one of Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs.

Suburban sprawl cancels carbon-footprint savings of dense urban cores

01/07/14 — According to a new study by UC Berkeley researchers, led by professor Daniel Kammen of the Energy and Resources Group and Nuclear Engineering, population-dense cities contribute less greenhouse-gas emissions per person than other areas of the country, but these cities' extensive suburbs essentially wipe out the climate benefits.

VIRES Engineering: Revolutionizing power of all kinds

01/06/14 Inc. — VIRES Engineering, a startup founded by a slew of undergraduate Berkeley engineers, mathematicians and business majors, already has four products in the works: a high-efficiency transmission, a plastics recycling machine, a novel drone wing design, and a high-power, low-cost wind turbine. "It's like a think tank of engineers," says co-founder Jordan Greene of the company, which has been named one of America's coolest college startups by Inc. magazine.

Two Berkeley engineers win presidential early-career awards

12/23/13 White House Press Office — Four young Berkeley professors – including Benjamin Recht of electrical engineering and computer science and Junqiao Wu of materials science and engineering – were among 102 researchers named Monday by President Obama as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.

Engineering leads campus in energy savings

12/23/13 Energy Incentive Program — The College of Engineering topped all other campus operating units in saving electricity in 2013, cutting consumption by more than 1.3 million kilowatt hours and earning a $134,358 incentive rebate. College leaders credited more-efficient light fixtures and sensors and timers that turn off lights and fans when not needed.

Dreams of the world: Flight simulation of robotic birds

12/18/13 National Geographic — Cameron Rose, an EECS grad student whose research focuses on flapping-winged robots in flight, dreams of one day helping the field of robotics achieve "something even close to the level of maneuverability and control that animals possess," he told National Geographic. "I also dream to use my knowledge and passion for robotics to encourage other African American students to pursue similar paths."

Sculpting geometry: The art of math (and vice versa)

12/17/13 California magazine — Carlo Séquin lives in a world of impossible objects and mind-bending shapes. The computer science professor emeritus's office resembles an artist's studio - which makes perfect sense, given that he is both an engineer and an artist, simultaneously.

AIA salutes architect (and Berkeley engineer) Julia Morgan with 2014 Gold Medal

12/13/13 San Francisco Chronicle — One of Northern California's most beloved architects, Julia Morgan (B.S. 1894 CE), has received the top honor that an American architect can win - 56 years after her death.

Do-it-yourself cellular coverage for remote places

12/12/13 MIT Technology Review — With Swedish telephone numbers, a tree-bound base station, and help from a team of Berkeley engineers, a remote Indonesian village is running its own telecommunications company.