Alumni

When the car is the driver

02/17/12 National Public Radio — This week the state of Nevada finalized new rules that will make it possible for robotic self-driving cars to receive their own special driving permits. Do people notice a self-driving car and gawk? "We get a lot of thumbs up," says Berkeley Engineering alum Anthony Levandowski (M.S.'03 IEOR), one of the leaders of Google's self-driving car project. Google's fleet of robotic cars has driven more than 200,000 miles over highways and city streets in California and Nevada.

A bridge built to sway when the earth shakes

02/06/12 The New York Times — Venture deep inside the new skyway of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and it becomes clear that the bridge's engineers have planned for the long term. The new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is meant to last at least 150 years after its expected opening in 2013. "We wanted to make this bridge flexible so that when the earthquake comes in, the flexibility of the system is such that it basically rides the earthquake," said its lead designer, Berkeley Engineering alumnus Marwan Nader (M.S.'89, Ph.D.'92 CE).

New research shows engineers far more likely than MBAs to start, run companies

01/31/12 Wall Street Journal MarketWatch — In the latest edition of its "Revenge of the Nerds" white paper research series, Identified has discovered that company founders and CEOs today more than three times more likely to hold advanced engineering degrees than MBAs and that the overall age of business leaders is steadily trending downward. This shift could have a significant impact on corporate culture with younger, more technically inclined entrepreneurs at the helm.

Berkeley Engineering alum’s designs help Santiago’s skyscrapers endure earthquakes

01/03/12 Bloomberg — Civil engineer Juan Carlos de la Llera, president and co-founder of the engineering company Sirve, designed the quake-resistant technology that helped save Santiago's tallest skyscraper, the 52-story, $200 million Torre Titanium La Portada office building, during the 8.8-magnitude Chilean quake in February 2010. De la Llera earned his doctorate in civil engineering from UC Berkeley.

A Cal ‘Kinect-ion’

11/29/11 — In the fall of 2008, Jack Kang (B.S'04 EECS) was settling into a new marketing position at Marvell, a Santa Clara-based semiconductor company, when Microsoft came knocking with a mysterious assignment for the company. Working on an undisclosed product, the computing giant needed a team to design a complex chip for manufacture on a massive scale. “This project was very secretive,” recalls Kang. Many months into the development of a specialized microprocessor, he got his answer. The mystery chip was destined for Kinect, Microsoft's controller-free and immensely popular electronic game sensor device.

The partnership at the heart of heart-monitoring technology

11/25/11 The Atlantic — We have the diagnostic tools to monitor our hearts thanks to the work of two creative and persistent men, Berkeley Engineering alumnus Bruce Del Mar (B.S.'37 ME) and Norman "Jeff" Holter. Their collaboration, which spanned two decades, produced a commercially viable heart monitor known as the Holter Monitor Test.

The electric Leaf’s true believers won’t leave well enough alone

10/14/11 The New York Times — Within weeks after Nissan first began delivering the Leaf to buyers last December, do-it-yourselfers were looking for ways to make the new electric car -- an engineering marvel from one of the world's leading automakers -- even better. Among those applying their engineering skills to the task was Berkeley Engineering alum Gary Giddings, a passionate supporter of electric vehicles. "At this point in my life, my goal is to spend whatever time I have trying to help E.V.'s become successful," Mr. Giddings said.

In vino veritas

09/12/11 — As any wine-sipping oenophile knows, the quality of a wine is influenced, among other things, by the geography, geology and climate of the specific vineyard in which the grapes are grown. The French even have a word for it - terroir - which can be loosely translated as “a sense of place.” For Berkeley Engineering alum Jason Mikami, whose boutique winery produces a handcrafted Zinfandel wine using grapes from his family's estate, the terroir of the vineyard is not only evident in his wines, but also in his own journey as a winemaker.

The World Trade Center: Work of genius, undone by the unthinkable

09/10/11 New Jersey Star-Ledger — With a career spanning five decades, UC Berkeley alumnus Leslie Robertson was the lead structural engineer of the World Trade Center, responsible for conceiving and executing the design and overseeing the work of engineers, draftsmen and technicians that allowed the towers to rise higher than any building before them. Ten years after the buildings were lost, he quietly carries with him an unresolved anguish. "I was ready to pack my bags, not because I felt I let anybody down, but simply due to the suffering associated with my work," he said. But Berkeley Engineering professor Robert Bea, one of the country's leading forensic engineers, describes Robertson's design as excellent.

Keith Tantlinger, inventor of cargo container, dies at 92

09/06/11 The New York Times — Nearly six decades ago, Keith W. Tantlinger, who studied mechanical engineering at Berkeley, built a box -- or, more accurately, the corners of a box. It was a seemingly small invention, but a vital one: it set in motion a chain of events that changed the way people buy and sell things, transformed the means by which nations do business and ultimately gave rise to the present-day global economy. Mr. Tantlinger's box is known as the shipping container.

President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness announces industry leaders’ commitment to double engineering internships in 2012

08/31/11 Whitehouse.gov — The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness has announced that 45 industry leaders have committed to double the engineering internships available at their companies in 2012. "For America to stay competitive in the global market, we must train and retain the world's best engineers," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. Intel CEO and Berkeley alumnus Paul Otellini stated, "Looking forward, this nation is at risk of a significant shortfall of qualified experts in science and math to meet the country's needs. Today's announcement is about inspiring and encouraging our next generation of engineers."

How the private sector can help curb our engineering shortage

08/04/11 The Washington Post — Berkeley alumnus and Intel CEO Paul Otellini, now serving on President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, explains how a chronic shortage of engineering students threatens America's role as the world's leading innovator and continues to impede our nation's fragile economic recovery. The council's high-tech education task force is focused on programs that will yield 10,000 more engineering graduates in the United States each year.

Preflight interview: Rex Walheim, Mission Specialist

07/08/11 NASA — Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off July 8 on the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135, a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis carries a crew of four and the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module containing supplies and spare parts for the space station. The STS-135 astronauts are: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Berkeley Engineering alumnus Rex Walheim. Read a pre-flight interview with Rex Walheim here.

Berkeley Engineering alum Anantha Chandrakasan named head of MIT electrical engineering and computer science

06/13/11 MIT News — Anantha P. Chandrakasan, the Joseph F. and Nancy P. Keithley Professor of Electrical Engineering, has been named the next head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. "As the largest academic department in the School of Engineering, and at MIT, EECS and its faculty are involved in an exceptional range of intellectual, educational, and research activities," MIT School of Engineering Dean Ian Waitz said. "I welcome the new ideas that Anantha will bring to leading EECS and his dedication as he assumes this role." Chandrakasan earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley; he joined the MIT faculty in 1994.

At Qualcomm, rise of founder’s son defies hazards of succession

06/12/11 The New York Times — When Paul E. Jacobs took over from his father as chief executive of the chip maker Qualcomm in 2005, mobile phones were just beginning their transition from tools for talking to hand-held computers delivering data and entertainment. "We talk about the future of computing being mobile, but I don't feel that way," said Mr. Jacobs, 48. "I feel the present of computing is mobile." Mr. Jacobs received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley and is the current chairman of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering Advisory Board.

Graduation walk, reinvented

06/07/11 — Last month, on May 14, my faculty colleagues and I watched with great pride as more than 1,100 graduates crossed the Greek Theatre stage and walked into the world. Some will go on to more schooling, others to new careers, but all shared a cool, dry Saturday afternoon to mark this major milestone in their lives.

Obituary: Alexander Murray Wilson

05/28/11 San Francisco Chronicle — Berkeley Engineering alumnus Alexander Murray ("Bud") Wilson, one of the premier figures in the mining industry throughout the world, has died. Bud Wilson was a significant supporter of the University of California during his life and was active as a member of the Hearst Mining Dean's Committee, a volunteer in the Berkeley Engineering Fund, the Engineering Advisory Board, and the Mineral Engineering Advisory Committee.

N.C. A&T names Berkeley Engineering alumna as new engineering dean

05/20/11 Greensboro News & Record — Robin N. Coger has been named dean of N.C. A&T's College of Engineering. Coger is the founder and director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering Systems at the UNC-Charlotte and a professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department at William States Lee College of Engineering. Coger earned her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, and received a master's and doctorate in that field from UC Berkeley.

Berkeley Engineering alum Gary May named dean of engineering at Georgia Tech

05/06/11 Technique — Gary May, professor and chair of the School of ECE at Georgia Institute of Technology, was named Dean of the College of Engineering on May 6, 2011, following an international search. "I am very excited. I think this a dream job. Who wouldn't want to be the Dean of Engineering at school where they sing about engineering in the fight song?" May said. May completed his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of California, Berkeley.

This is your brain on neuromarketing

02/02/11 — When it comes to the quest for a better potato chip, a sleeker cell phone or a knockout TV ad, A.K. Pradeep (Ph.D'92 ME) believes in digging deep. A leading figure in the emerging field of neuromarketing, he conducts market research by studying how the subconscious mind responds to a variety of flavors, designs and sales pitches. His Berkeley-based company, NeuroFocus, advises companies on everything from developing a new product to packaging, marketing and advertising.