News

Video clip of Kara Nelson in water testing lab

Berkeley team detects omicron in Bay Area wastewater

12/09/21 — ABC7 News: A team led by Kara Nelson, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has identified the COVID-19 variant in samples of sewage from two California sites, one of them in the Bay Area.

A first look inside the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub

12/09/21 — The wait for Berkeley’s bold new home for research and innovation is nearly over, with the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub, led by bioengineering professor Amy Herr, scheduled to open in February 2022

QB3 director David Schaffer elected to National Academy of Inventors

12/07/21 — One of 164 new NAI fellows, Shaffer holds appointments at UC Berkeley in chemical and biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, and molecular and cell biology

Boubacar Kante, superimposed over an illustration of a BICSEL laser

Making lasers more efficient, versatile and compact

12/07/21 — With support from his Bakar Fellowship, EECS associate professor Boubacar Kante is preparing to fabricate a prototype of a new laser with a range of applications from microsurgery to satellite telemetry.

An Intel Corp. chip manufacturing technician in a clean room

Opinion: U.S. must train semiconductor workforce

12/01/21 — San Jose Mercury News: In the face of a global chip shortage, the country’s loss of its world leadership role is a threat to national security that Congress has a chance to fix, Dean Liu writes. (Subscription may be required)

Fall magazine is here

11/22/21 — Berkeley Engineer explores sustainable plastics, bats and the brain, leaping squirrels, engineering better health and more.

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.

AI-directed legged robot in uneven terrain

Awesome agility

11/15/21 — AI algorithms are equipping legged robots with an enhanced ability to navigate and adapt to unfamiliar terrain in real time.

Dean Tsu-Jae King Liu with Oski and students on Wozniak Terrace

Dean’s note: Engineering better health

11/15/21 — We’ve launched the Health Technologies Collaborative Lab to develop devices and systems that transform the way healthcare is managed and delivered.

The art of engineering

11/15/21 — Mechanical engineering alum Alireza Lahijanian is the co-founder of Rbhu, a company that specializes in large-scale artwork and entertainment structures.

Put to the test

11/15/21 — A method that uses a common machine learning algorithm can help detect cancer from a simple blood test, well before the first symptoms are present.

Space Technologies and Rocketry team members

New aerospace major launched

11/15/21 — To meet the growing demand for researchers in aviation, defense and space exploration, Berkeley Engineering has added a new aerospace engineering major.

Dream on

11/15/21 — Researchers have developed a low-cost, non-electric, reusable warming device that can reduce infant mortality rates.

Illustration of heart tissue in isochoric chamber

Super cool

11/15/21 — Using a method called isochoric supercooling, researchers revived human heart tissue after it had been preserved in a subfreezing state for days.

Leaps and bounds

11/15/21 — The extraordinary agility of squirrels is tied to the many split-second decisions they make while leaping across tree canopies.

San Francisco skyline seen through brown haze

Where there’s smoke

11/15/21 — On wildfire days, taking steps like closing up houses and using indoor filtration can cut the infiltration of PM2.5 particulate matter into homes by half.

Dr. Fill team: Nicholas Tomlin, Dan Klein and Eric Wallace

The language of probabilities

11/15/21 — An AI system took first place in the 2021 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, besting more than a thousand human contestants.

Block by block

11/15/21 — Research shows that levels of air pollution vary not only by region, such as between urban and rural areas, but by city block.

Archie Williams racing in the Berlin Olympics

High school named in honor of alum

11/15/21 — Archie Williams, a mechanical engineering alum, was recognized for his achievements in education, national service and athletics.