Pocket-sized docent tours
09/24/15 — For years, Arthur Bart-Williams (B.S'88 CE) had plans to build better tour-guide technology. Now he's done just that.
Alumni
Spinning synthetic spider silk
09/21/15 MIT Technology Review — A California company founded by UC Berkeley alumni may have figured out how to use genetic engineering to make extremely versatile fibers the way spiders can.
Stethoscope meets smartphone and the heart knows it’s right
09/08/15 LA Times — The Eko Core digital stethoscope, developed by a trio of Berkeley alumni, aims to bring auscultation - the ancient medical practice of listening to a patient's heartbeat - squarely into the 21st century. It was cleared for sale in the U.S. this month.
Eko’s digital stethoscope green-lighted by FDA
09/02/15 — The digital stethoscope startup Eko Devices, co-founded by Berkeley Engineering graduates and nurtured by SkyDeck, the campus accelerator, has won federal permission to enter the medical device market.
Time-lapse analysis offers new look at how cells repair DNA damage
09/01/15 Berkeley Lab — Time-lapse imaging can make lengthy, complicated processes easier to grasp. Now Berkeley Lab scientists led by Sylvain Costes (Ph.D'99 NE) are using a similar approach to study how cells repair DNA damage.
Why not convert waste heat into power?
08/26/15 NPR — What if there were a way to take the waste heat that spews from car tailpipes or power plant chimneys and turn it into electricity? Matt Scullin (M.S.'07, Ph.D.'09 MSE) thinks there is, and he founded Alphabet Energy to turn that idea into a reality.
Entrepreneur and alumna Rikky Muller named a top Innovator under 35
08/18/15 Berkeley Research — Rikky Muller (Ph.D.'13 EECS), co-founder of the medical device start-up Cortera Neurotechnologies, has been named one of 35 Innovators Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review. Muller's research into hardware that buzzes the brain at the right moments could help treat debilitating mental disorders.
Get this show on the code
08/17/15 Insight@Berkeley — As vice president of design and engineering at TiVo, Margret Schmidt (B.S'92 EECS) is passionate about the dynamic and fulfilling nature of product creation. She got a dose of that in her favorite Berkeley class, an E110 Venture Design course that required creation of a business plan and a final idea presentation.
Modern-day Edison creates design innovation fund
07/27/15 — Jack McCauley's (B.S'86 EECS) has been a lifelong tinkerer, inventor and modern-day Edison whose inventions have spanned several disciplines and industries.
Improving the work of silkworms and spiders, with yeast
07/23/15 — Where some people see mere cobwebs, David Breslauer sees nature's most robust fiber. Now the bioengineering Ph.D.'s company, Bolt Threads, has learned how to mimic spider silk in the lab - without spiders.
Steve Wozniak receives top alumni honor
06/29/15 Cal Alumni Association — The Cal Alumni Association presented Steve Wozniak ('86 EECS) with its most esteemed honor, the 2015 Alumnus of the Year award, at a gala event at Memorial Stadium's University Club.
New Sandia director will be first woman to lead national security lab
06/23/15 Sandia National Lab — Jill M. Hruby (M.S.'82 ME) has been named the next president and director of Sandia National Laboratories, the country's largest national lab. She will be the first woman to lead a national security laboratory when she steps into her new role July 17.
Designer of scrolling mouse and Oculus Rift funds design innovation
06/16/15 — Prolific inventor and designer Jack McCauley (EECS '86) has made a $2.5-million gift to establish the McCauley Family Fund in Design Innovation, which will support programs within the Jacobs Institute.
Google engineer Eve Andersson working to empower people with disabilities
06/10/15 EFE/Fox News Latino — Eve Andersson (M.S.'98 ME) leads the Google team tasked with developing new products for the disabled, and dreams of helping those with disabilities "work at whatever they want, study what they like, travel wherever they wish, feel free and empowered."
Bay-Area startup spins lab-grown silk
06/04/15 Bloomberg Business — David Breslauer (Ph.D'10 BioE) is the chief scientific officer of Bolt Threads, a startup company developing technology to genetically modify yeast to produce silk-like proteins - a potentially revolutionary development for the apparel industry.
Throw this camera drone in the air and it flies itself
05/15/15 Wired — The Lily is a drone that doesn't need a controller, or a pilot; it just follows you. It's the first product from Lily Robotics, founded by a pair of recent UC Berkeley graduates including CTO Henry Bradlow (B.S.'13 EECS).
Award-winning computer scientist opening doors for fellow Latinas
05/05/15 — Data scientist and University of Washington professor Cecilia Aragon co-founded Latinas in Computing, an international professional association that mentors Latinas working in technology, because she believes in numbers.
Alumni notes
05/01/15 — Stay caught up with Berkeley Engineering alumni.
Farewell
05/01/15 — Obituaries for Berkeley Engineering faculty and alumni
Super-cute robot bug gets $1.4M to teach kids to code
04/27/15 Venture Beat — Dash Robotics, which began as a research project at Berkeley Engineering and CITRIS, has secured $1.4 million in seed funding to help refine and market its small bio-inspired origami robots that teach kids how to program while they play.