Faculty

Pravin Varaiya, pioneer in smart transportation, dies at 81

06/23/22 — Credited with spearheading the self-driving car revolution in the 1990s, Varaiya brought an economist's grounding to research on the internet, energy and transportation systems and urban environments

Karl Pister sitting inside the Faculty Club.

Former UC Santa Cruz chancellor, Berkeley Engineering dean Karl Pister has died

05/16/22 — Pister, a structural engineering professor who devoted more than 70 years to the university, to higher education and to expanding educational opportunities for students from kindergarten to graduate school, was 96.

Farewell

04/15/22 — Obituaries for Berkeley Engineering alumni, faculty and students.

New & noteworthy

04/15/22 — Updates about Berkeley Engineering alumni, faculty and students.

Abbeel hosts AI robotics podcast

04/15/22 — EECS professor sits down with top experts and entrepreneurs for “The Robot Brains Podcast.”

Examining the effects of chlorinated drinking water on the gut microbiome

04/14/22 — New research shows no negative impact on children's digestive bacteria from chlorinated drinking water

Robots, AI and podcasting: a Q&A with Pieter Abbeel

03/18/22 — Professor Pieter Abbeel has launched “The Robot Brains Podcast,” featuring discussions with leading AI experts and entrepreneurs.

Amy Herr named chief technology officer of CZ Biohub Network

02/28/22 — Berkeley bioengineering professor will help lead Chan Zuckerberg group's efforts to advance technologies to observe, measure, and analyze human biology in action

Slicing the way to wearable sensor prototypes

02/11/22 — A $200 vinyl cutter can replace a multistep clean room technique to churn out the prototypes researchers need to rapidly test new stretchable sensors.

Veteran campus leader Catherine Koshland to retire

02/03/22 — Koshland, the Wood-Calvert Professor in Engineering, has held many senior positions in her 38 years at Berkeley, culminating in her current service as interim executive vice chancellor and provost.

Head shot of Ikhlaq Sidhu, SCET faculty director

Ikhlaq Sidhu named dean of Spain’s IE School of Technology

12/13/21 — The founding faculty director and chief scientist of Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology to remain in current position until June 2022.

Photo illustration of Michael Yartsev and a flock of bats

Right off the bats

11/15/21 — Researchers at the NeuroBat Lab are learning more about the brain by studying the world’s only flying mammal.

Illustration of hourglass, containing plastic transforming into compost

Back down to earth

11/15/21 — Materials science professor Ting Xu is re-engineering plastics for the age of sustainability.

New & noteworthy

11/15/21 — Updates about Berkeley Engineering alumni, faculty and students.

Farewell

11/15/21 — Obituaries for Berkeley Engineering alumni, faculty and students.

Daniel Kammen named senior adviser to USAID

10/21/21 — Kammen, who holds joint appointments in energy and resources, public policy and nuclear engineering, will serve as senior adviser for energy, climate and innovation for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Kathy Yelick standing in Hearst Memorial Mining Building

Kathy Yelick named vice chancellor for research

09/30/21 — UC Berkeley computer scientist, an active scholar, teacher and leader on campus and at Berkeley Lab for three decades, will assume her new role on Jan. 1, 2022

Lessons from Hurricane Ida

09/21/21 — Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, associate professor of civil engineering and co-leader of an NSF-funded geotechnical reconnaissance team that traveled to Louisiana, shares her observations about the impact of Hurricane Ida

San Francisco skyline seen through brown haze

New study shows how air pollution varies block by block

09/07/21 — Researchers used Google Street View cars to show that levels of air pollution vary not only by region, such as between urban and rural areas, but also by city street

With a damp TV, Berkeley engineers demonstrate the potential of a green energy harvester

09/06/21 — Researchers report that moisture-induced energy harvesting could be a potential new source of power, particularly in areas of naturally high humidity