Faculty

Rep. Scott Peters and Jay Keasling at House committee hearing

On Capitol Hill, Keasling calls for ‘national initiative’ to boost bioengineering

07/21/14 — UC Berkeley professor and synthetic-biology pioneer Jay Keasling was on Capitol Hill Thursday, stressing the need for a federal strategy to ensure continued U.S. leadership in a field he said can yield significant medical benefits for people throughout the world.

Tiny laser sensor heightens bomb detection sensitivity

07/20/14 — UC Berkeley researchers, led by mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang, are developing ultra-sensitive bomb detectors using tiny laser sensors that could detect incredibly minute concentrations of explosives.

Nanolasers on silicon to provide faster data transmission

07/14/14 LiveScience — New technology in development at Berkeley Engineering promises to ensure that fiber optic networks will be able to keep pace with consumer demand for speed and seamless data flow. The work, led by EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain, involves growing lasers (called nanoneedles) on silicon , the base layer of choice for electronic devices.

Databricks Spark plans: Big data Q&A

07/01/14 Information Week — Ian Stoica, computer science professor and CEO of Databricks, talks about his company's bold vision to make Databricks and its Apache Spark core, developed in UC Berkeley's AMPLab in 2009, into big data's epicenter of analysis.

Slides of young and old blood, showing the effect of adding oxytocin

‘Trust hormone’ oxytocin helps old muscle work like new

06/10/14 — Berkeley researchers, led by Irina Conboy of bioengineering, have discovered that oxytocin – a hormone associated with maternal nurturing, social attachments, childbirth and sex – is indispensable for healthy muscle maintenance and repair. It is the latest target for development into a potential treatment for age-related muscle wasting.

Science Goes to the Movies: ‘Transcendence’

05/12/14 National Public Radio — In a conversation with NPR's Science Friday, EECS professor Stuart Russell explains what it would take to “upload” a mind to the Internet, and what is really worrisome about strong artificial intelligence.

Jacobs Hall, the Laus, Coleman Fung and Lydia Sohn

Campaign site tells 40-plus stories of philanthropy and its impact

05/12/14 University Relations — The recently concluded Campaign for Berkeley looks back at its $3.13 billion success by telling the stories of donors and the fruits of their generosity, including the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, Bakar Fellow (and mechanical engineering associate professor) Lydia Sohn, the entrepreneurial Coleman Fung, and energy research chairs endowed by Katherine and James Lau.

Engineering social justice

05/02/14 — In a new course, "Engineering, the Environment and Society," Khalid Kadir is challenging his students to build more just and equitable systems by rethinking the role engineers play in social issues.

Water 4.0

05/02/14 — An excerpt from civil and environmental engineering professor David Sedlak's new book, Water 4.0: The Past, Present and Future of the World's Most Vital Resource, which calls for major changes in urban water systems.

The last firewall

05/01/14 — Implantable medical devices, brain-machine interfaces and wearable technology all present intensifying privacy and security challenges. Better to build security into such devices rather than trying to layer it over them later.

By Jupiter

05/01/14 — Recent work from Philip Marcus, professor of mechanical engineering, in collaboration with Pedram Hassanzadeh (Ph.D'13 ME), may explain the longevity of Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Q+A on L.A. seismic study

05/01/14 — Jack Moehle, professor of civil engineering, talked to Berkeley Engineer about his recently completed seismic study of unreinforced concrete buildings in Los Angeles, and its impact.

Art imitates academia

05/01/14 — EECS professors Jose Carmena and Michel Maharbiz served as technical consultants to Transcendence film director Wally Pfister and answered questions about the film at a campus screening.

Analysis of shadows in moon landing photo

Moonshadow

05/01/14 — Computer science professor James O'Brien, who began tinkering with code while in elementary school, has helped design a technique for detecting altered photographs.

crystal orientations of 2D semiconductor membranes

Research on the literal edge of 2D semiconductors

05/01/14 Berkeley Lab — Researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, led by Professor Xiang Zhang of mechanical engineering, have recorded the first observations of a strong nonlinear optical resonance along the edges of single layers of molybdenum disulfide. The existence of these edge states is key to the use of molybdenum disulfide in nanoelectronics, as well as a catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction in fuel cells, desulfurization and other chemical reactions.

Farewell

05/01/14 — Obituaries for Berkeley Engineering faculty and alumni

EECS professor emeritus George Turin dies at 84

04/22/14 Daily Californian — George Turin, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus and former chair of the department of electrical engineering and computer sciences, died in mid-March. He was 84.

Neuroengineers bring science cred, Berkeley feel to ‘Transcendence’ film

04/18/14 — When Hollywood knocked on the doors of UC Berkeley engineering professors Michel Maharbiz and Jose Carmena, the researchers answered. Director Wally Pfister tapped the researchers' expertise in neural engineering and brain-machine interfaces during the filming of his movie, “Transcendence.”

More woes for high-speed rail

03/31/14 San Francisco Business Times — The $68 billion cost estimate for a Los Angeles-to-San Francisco high-speed rail network is far too low, and the system may be eclipsed by emerging technologies before the 30-year project is completed, civil engineering professor C. William Ibbs warned the state Senate transportation committee last week.

Berkeley scientists advance on-chip inductor technology

03/21/14 EE Times — Berkeley scientists led by mechanical engineering professor Liwei Lin report they have found a way to advance on-chip inductor technology, a breakthrough that could lead to a new generation of miniature electronics and wireless communications systems.