Faculty

Mechanical engineering professor emeritus Erich G. Thomsen dies at 103

02/22/10 — Professor Emeritus Erich G. Thomsen has died at the age of 103. Erich graduated in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, with a B.S. in 1936, M.S. in 1941 and Ph.D. in 1943. After a brief engineering career of some five years in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry, he joined the faculty of the University of California in 1951. He specialized in teaching and research in metal processing and published some 100 technical papers in engineering journals.

TMS 2010: Bone-like structural materials – how can we do them?

02/18/10 Material Views — In his IoM Franklin Mehl Award lecture this morning, Robert Ritchie, professor of materials science at UC Berkeley, took his audience on a tour de force through the cutting edge of scientific research on mechanical behavior of biological materials and the potential to synthetically produce nature-like structural materials

Tim Sands, Berkeley Engineering alum and former faculty member, appointed executive vice president and provost at Purdue

02/11/10 Purdue University — The Purdue University board of trustees has ratified the appointment of Timothy D. Sands as the university's next executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. A native of California, Sands earned a bachelor's degree with highest honors in engineering physics and a master's degree and doctorate in materials science from UC Berkeley, where he was also a professor of material science and engineering prior to coming to Purdue.

When the going gets tough, engineers get going

02/03/10 — I am honored and excited to have been tapped to serve as acting dean while Dean Sastry is on leave this spring to join his wife, EECS professor Claire Tomlin, in Stockholm during her appointment as the Tage Erlander Guest Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology. For those of you who don't know me, I have been on the College of Engineering faculty for 26 years and chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department for the last six. I know we will accomplish a lot during these next six months.

Leaders in science, advocacy, media to judge 2010 Biotech Humanitarian Award

01/05/10 Biotechnology Industry Organization — The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) announced a distinguished panel of judges -- including Jay Keasling, professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley -- to evaluate nominations for The Biotech Humanitarian Award and select the 2010 Honoree. BIO created the award to recognize an everyday hero who has helped to heal, fuel and feed the planet through their work in the broad biotech arena.

Meet the Next Builder of Berkeley Bioengineering

10/08/09 — After 32 years at other universities, Matthew Tirrell joined Berkeley in July, and from his new Stanley Hall office, he ruminates on the job he's just taken, that of Department of Bioengineering chair. "A chair's creativity is needed when faculty members want help getting their ideas enacted -- that's enabling. And sometimes a chair gets a good idea of his or her own and has a chance to lead. Managing is fine, but I like enabling and leading best. I'd like to help this department define what it could be."

Boarding School: Scientist on Wheels

08/03/09 — Daryl Chrzan, a noted researcher in the field of computational materials science, is a diehard skateboarder. Besides carving the bowls at local skate parks, Chrzan loves to think about the science behind the sport. The Berkeley professor of materials science and engineering considers such questions as the physics involved in stunts, the evolution of the skateboard wheel, the limits of a skateboard's strength and even the g-forces experienced in spectacular spills. For the past two years, Chrzan has posed-and tried to answer-those puzzles in a one-unit freshman seminar called Physics and Materials Science of Skateboarding. His hands-on class puts a new spin on a popular, if educationally unsung pastime.

Re-Modeling Our Financial Future

01/01/09 — The turmoil on Wall Street has raised a host of intractable questions. Many of us wonder, for example, if the financial marketplace has become too complex to be properly understood and managed. As The Economist notes, “America's financial system is undergoing a radical reassessment of what are acceptable levels of capital, leverage and interest rates” and – more fundamentally – acceptable levels of risk.

Technology with Impact

12/02/07 — I am pleased to introduce myself as the new dean of engineering. I am also pleased to introduce our new online digest, Innovations, and new website at www.coe.berkeley.edu. I graduated from UC Berkeley in 1981 and in my 30 years here I've seen the College evolve into an institution of impact. Since becoming Dean in July, I have given considerable thought to how we can continue this evolution.