Faculty

New technology could wean battery world off cobalt

04/11/18 — A research team led by Gerbrand Ceder, professor of materials science and engineering, has devised a way to build lithium battery cathodes using materials that have greater capacity, and a far lower price, than the traditional cobalt.

Tiny StimDust device shown atop a dime, and schematic drawing detaililng its components

Tiny nerve stimulator gains sophistication

04/10/18 — Berkeley engineers, led by EECS professors Rikky Muller and Michel Maharbiz, have taken implanted neural dust sensors forward by building the smallest, most efficient wireless nerve stimulator ever.

Mo Zhou and Yonatan Mintz at track field with blurred runner in background.

New exercise app uses machine learning to keep goals within reach

03/05/18 — Berkeley researchers are using machine learning to encourage people to get more exercise. They have developed an algorithm for an exercise app that automatically adjusts goals to keep them within reach and to keep users motivated.

Cheap, efficient cookstoves are small-tech solution with big payoff

02/13/18 — Ashok Gadgil, professor of civil and environmental engineering, redesigned a simple technology - the wood cookstove - to help women in refugee camps in Darfur, Sudan. The inexpensive and efficient Darfur stove not only reduced the danger of gathering firewood in the war-torn region, it also reduced health and climate risks from excessive smoke.

Stephen Mahin, earthquake engineering expert, dies at 71

02/13/18 — Civil and environmental engineering professor emeritus Stephen A. Mahin, former director of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, passed away on February 9. He was a world-renowned expert in earthquake engineering, with wide-ranging teaching, research and professional contributions to the field.

Teaching AI about human values

02/08/18 Forbes — Computer scientist and robotics engineer Anca Dragan has a cool name, an impressive CV and an important job: ensuring that our interactions with robots and other artificially intelligent agents are positive ones.

Why traffic apps make congestion worse

01/30/18 — Has your smartphone traffic app ever led you into a traffic jam? Professor and traffic engineer Alexandre Bayen, director of UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, is working on smarter apps that will actually talk to one another to prevent clogged freeways and city streets.

Keeping watch on nuclear weapons

01/22/18 — With her hand in a few different research projects, ranging from nuclear weapons detection to war-game simulations on social media, Bethany Goldblum also finds time to direct and establish groups whose aim is to shape nuclear security policy.

Slide containing cesium-doped perovskite that is transparent at room temperature but turns dark at high temperatures

Study shows solar power potential for smart window material

01/22/18 — Smart windows that automatically adjust their transparency in response to light conditions could potentially generate power as well, according to a new study led by Berkeley researcher Peidong Yang, who holds a joint appointment in materials science and engineering. The new study shows that perovskite can switch back and forth between transparency and non-transparency while retaining its electronic properties.

New research centers to help usher in future of microelectronics

01/19/18 — The Semiconductor Research Corporation announced six new multi-university research centers, and Berkeley Engineering faculty are leading partners in three of them. The centers aim to jump-start future technologies for the microelectronics industry.

AI innovation at The House

01/17/18 — In collaboration with several Berkeley Engineering faculty, the Berkeley-based startup institute The House has formed a new AI-focused startup accelerator.

Radical new battery technology for a $130,000 electric sedan

01/12/18 LA Times — Solid-state automotive batteries, like those being designed for Fisker Inc.'s all-electric EMotion supercar, will eventually exist, says materials science and engineering professor Gerbrand Ceder, but “it's not going to happen as fast as people think.”

University of Hong Kong names Xiang Zhang as new leader

12/15/17 — Mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang has been named the 16th president and vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, among the most prestigious universities in Asia.

Computer scientist Randy Katz named vice chancellor for research

12/06/17 — EECS professor Randy Katz, who helped develop many of the wireless tools and fast, reliable computer storage we take for granted today, has been appointed vice chancellor for research at Berkeley, effective Jan. 1, 2018.

Mark Asta appointed Materials Sciences Division Director at the Berkeley Lab

11/28/17 — Mark Asta has been appointed Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division Director. Asta will step down from his current position as chair of the department of materials science and engineering on January 1, 2018, in order to begin the new position.

Case studies in forward thinking

11/01/17 — Nine Berkeley Engineering faculty members share some of their forward-looking work and how it might impact what's to come.

Comparing potential solar fuel materials

Materials genome to solar fuels

11/01/17 — Berkeley Lab's Materials Project was deployed with great success in an effort to find new materials that hold promise for capturing more of the sun's energy.

Pete Bragg, materials science pioneer, dies at 98

10/20/17 — Robert Henry “Pete” Bragg, Jr., professor emeritus of materials science and engineering, passed away on Oct. 3 at the age of 98. Bragg joined the Berkeley faculty in June 1969, one of six African American faculty on campus at the time.

Shafi Goldwasser appointed director of Simons Institute

10/18/17 — Turing Award-winning computer scientist Shafi Goldwasser will become the new director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing on January 1, 2018.

Lotfi Zadeh and old TV screen reading "What

Golden Goose Award for fuzzy logic’s clear impact

09/29/17 AAAS — The late EECS professor Lotfi Zadeh's 1965 concept of "fuzzy sets" has received a 2017 Golden Goose Award, bestowed by group of science societies to honor seemingly obscure, federally-funded research that had led to major breakthroughs.