New & noteworthy
Rebecca Abergel, associate professor of nuclear engineering and of chemistry; Boubacar Kanté, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences; and Jay Keasling, professor of bioengineering and of chemical and biomolecular engineering, have been awarded the 2024 Bakar Prize, which is designed to give a boost to campus innovators as they translate their discoveries into real-world solutions.
Clarivate has included nine Berkeley Engineering faculty members on its list of “Highly Cited Researchers” for 2023: bioengineering: Paul Adams and Jay Keasling; electrical engineering and computer sciences: Ali Javey; materials science and engineering: Jill Banfield, Gerbrand Ceder (Ph.D.’91 MSE), Kristin Persson, Ramamoorthy Ramesh (Ph.D.’87 MSE) and Junqiao Wu (Ph.D.’02 AS&T);
materials science and engineering/mechanical engineering: Robert Ritchie.
Gopala Krishna Anumanchipalli and Grigory Tikhomirov, assistant professors of electrical engineering and computer sciences; Derfogail Delcassian, assistant professor of bioengineering; and Amy Pickering (M.S.’04 CEE), assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, have been selected as 2023 Hellman Fellows.
Alexandre Bayen, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and of civil and environmental engineering, has been appointed the director of CITRIS.
Colleen Bronner (M.S.’06 CEE) has been honored with UC Davis’ 2023 Women & Philanthropy Impact Award. She is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and vice chair of undergraduate studies at the College of Engineering at UC Davis.
Electrical engineering and computer sciences professor emeritus Constance Chang-Hasnain (M.S.’84, Ph.D.’87 EECS) has won the IEEE Nick Holonyak Jr. Medal for Semiconductor Optoelectronic Technologies.
Alvin Cheung, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, has won the 2023 Very Large Data Bases Early Career Research Contribution Award.
Electrical engineering and computer sciences assistant professor Natacha Crooks has won the IEEE Technical Committee on Data Engineering Rising Star Award “for contributions to distributed data management, and its applications to blockchain technology, security and cloud computing.”
Civil and environmental engineering assistant professor Maria Laura Delle Monache has received the 2023 IEEE ITSS Young Researcher/Engineer Award “for contributions to modeling, control and large-scale testing of intelligent transportation systems.”

Last October, President Joe Biden presented Ashok Gadgil, professor of the graduate school at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. Known as a “humanitarian inventor,” Gadgil has worked for decades to create low-cost, robust solutions to some of the world’s most challenging problems. His work, including safe drinking water technologies and fuel-efficient cookstoves, has proved transformative for low-resource communities, helping more than 100 million people across four continents.
Andrea Goldsmith (B.S.’86, M.S.’91, Ph.D.’94 EECS), dean of Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, has been named to the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her pioneering work in wireless communications and information theory.
UC Berkeley’s Graduate Division announced the recipients of this year’s mentoring awards, including Allen Goldstein, professor of civil and environmental engineering and of environmental science, policy and management; Kara Nelson, professor of civil and environmental engineering; Lisa Yan (B.S.’13 EECS), assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences; and Myoungseok Kim and Federico Mora Rocha, electrical engineering and computer sciences Ph.D. students.
Julia Griswold (M.S.’10, Ph.D.’13 CEE) is the new director of UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, a partnership between the Institute of Transportation Studies and the School of Public Health focusing on transportation, bicycle and pedestrian safety.
Grace Gu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was honored with the Orr Early Career Award at the 2023 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition.
Giulia Guidi (Ph.D.’22 CS), assistant professor of computer science at Cornell University and an affiliate researcher at Berkeley Lab, has been honored with an Early Career Prize from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Activity Group
on Supercomputing for her work in applying high-performance computing to computational genomics.
Dan Gutierrez (M.S.’17 CEE), resident officer in charge of construction at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, has received the Military Engineer of the Year Award from the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic for his exceptional contributions to naval engineering.
John Randolph Haag (B.S.’75 ME/NE) has been appointed president and CEO of Neutrex Inc., the manufacturer of Purgex- brand purging compounds used to remove contamination and colorants from plastic molding machinery. Previously, he was general counsel of Neutrex and a California litigation attorney handling business, technology and other disputes.
Assistant professors of electrical engineering and computer sciences Nika Haghtalab, Preeya Khanna (Ph.D.’17 BioE) and Sophia Shao have been named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows. Additionally, Haghtalab and Jacob Steinhardt, assistant professor of computer science and of statistics, have been named Schmidt Sciences’ AI2050 Early Career Fellows.
Deirdre Hanford (M.S.’85 EECS) has been named the first chief executive officer for Natcast, the new entity created to operate the CHIPS for America National Semiconductor Technology Center.
Electrical engineering and computer sciences associate professor Björn Hartmann has been elected to the Special Interest Group in Computer-Human Interaction Academy, an honorary group of individuals who have made contributions to shaping the field of human-computer interaction.
Bioengineering professor Amy Herr has won the 2023 Microsystems & Nanoengineering/Springer Nature Test of Time Award, which recognizes research presented at MicroTAS within the last 10-15 years that is still impacting research
in microfluidics.
Professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences Chenming Hu (M.S.’70, Ph.D.’73 EECS), former chief technology officer at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, has been awarded the Taiwan Presidential Science Prize.
Rachel Huang (B.S.’17 MSE), Drew Lilley (Ph.D.’23 ME),
Connor Tsuchida (Ph.D.’23 BioE) and Ivana Vasic (Ph.D.’22 BioE) were named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. Huang, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, developed a non-flammable electrolyte for lithium batteries. Lilley is the founder and CEO of Calion Technologies, where he is working to commercialize his doctoral research on ionocaloric heating and cooling. Tsuchida’s research formed the basis for Azalea Therapeutics, a CRISPR delivery startup. Vasic is the founder of Vitra Labs, which is developing therapies to make in vitro fertilization safer and more accessible.
David Jaber (M.S.’95 CEE) is teaching the course “Carbon Management and Business Strategy” at UC Berkeley Extension.
Ari Juels (Ph.D.’96 EECS) published “The Oracle,” a crypto thriller novel, in February. He is a computer science professor at Cornell University, as well as the co-director for the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts.
Dean Tsu-Jae King Liu has won the IEEE Founders Medal “for leadership in the advancement and commercialization of nanometer semiconductor technologies and the promotion of microelectronics workforce development.”
Simge Küçükyavuz (M.S.’00, Ph.D.’04 IEOR), chair and professor of industrial engineering and management sciences at Northwestern University, has been named a 2023 INFORMS Fellow.
Wilbur Lam (Ph.D.’08 BioE), professor of pediatrics and biomedical engineering at Emory University and Georgia Tech, has been named a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Electrical engineering and computer sciences professor emeritus Kam-Yin Lau has won the IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal “for spearheading high-speed semiconductor lasers and RF-over-Fiber Systems, enabling today’s wireline and wireless broadband access.”
Monique Lebrun (M.S.’03 CEE) has been named the director of the Port of Long Beach’s program management division.
Paul Lee (M.S.’16 CEE) is one of the civil engineers featured in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ second IMAX film, “Cities of the Future: Reimagining Our World.” He is currently an energy policy analyst at the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, where he leads work on renewable energy, greenhouse gas monitoring and air quality.
Xiaoye Sherry Li (Ph.D.’96 EECS) has been elected vice president-at-large of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics. She is currently a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab, where she is the lead developer of the SuperLU package, a widely used sparse direct solver.
Linsey Marr (Ph.D.’02 CEE) has been named a winner of the MacArthur Fellowship — often referred to as the “genius grant” — for her research on the transmission of airborne illnesses and effective public health interventions.
Jack Moehle, professor of the graduate school at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was elected to the National Academy of Construction for his work as an influential researcher, author and academician.
Ren Ng, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, has been elected as a 2024 Optica Fellow.
Electrical engineering and computer sciences professors Ali Niknejad (M.S.’97, Ph.D.’00 EECS), Borivoje Nikolic and Kris Pister (M.S.’89, Ph.D.’92 EECS) have won the IEEE SSCS Innovative Education Award for their pioneering efforts in creating an integrated circuit tapeout course. The instructors took a cohort of largely undergraduate students from the design phase of a chip to its manufacture in one semester.
Mario Noble (B.S.’98 MSE/ME) is now the chief operating officer and head of portfolio operations at Red Ball Holding Corporation. He also serves on the board of directors of Ma’alaea Kai Enterprises.
Civil and environmental engineering assistant professor Eyitayo Opabola has received the 2023 Shah Family Innovation Prize from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

Kristin Persson, professor of materials science and engineering, has been elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in its 2024 Class for Chemistry. The academy, consisting of approximately 480 Swedish and 175 foreign members, has awarded the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry since 1901.“It is truly an honor for me to be recognized by the oldest academy of my home country,” said Persson. “The goal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences resonates strongly with me, as I have focused my career on the realization, adoption and democratization of large-scale, computed materials data, for the benefit of engineers and scientists worldwide.”
Mary Ann Piette (M.S.’88 ME) has been appointed associate laboratory director of Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area.
Daryll Pines (B.S.’86 ME), president of the University of Maryland, has been selected as the DC Cal Alumni Club’s 2024 Distinguished Alumni Honoree.
Patricia Quaye (MDevEng ’22) has founded SHE 4 Change, an organization that uses sustainable fashion design to empower women in Africa by paying seamstresses fairly and expanding their market reach.
Industrial engineering and operations research professor Rhonda Righter (M.S.’82, Ph.D.’86 IEOR) has been named a 2023 INFORMS Fellow. The honor is one of the most prestigious in the operations research profession.
Robert Ritchie, professor of materials science and engineering and of mechanical engineering, has been elected as a foreign fellow of the Academy of Athens.
Time magazine’s list of “200 Best Inventions of 2023” included innovations from two alums. Cala kIQ, a wearable device that assists people with essential tremor and Parkinson’s Disease, was developed by Cala Health, founded by Kate Rosenbluth (Ph.D.’09 BioE). Proven 40 OS, a fertilizer using naturally occurring microbes to reduce emissions and pollution while producing higher crop yields, was developed by Pivot Bio, founded by Karsten Temme (Ph.D.’11 BioE).
Aluna, founded by Charvi Shetty (B.S.’12 BioE), has been named a Tech for Global Good Laureate, one of four ventures recognized for using technology to significantly advance health equity and improve lives. Aluna makes hardware and software that helps people with breathing problems.
Joaquin Siques (M.S.’98 CEE) has been selected as the new transportation director for the City of Pasadena, where he has played a critical role in implementing dozens of projects and programs for the past 20 years.
Kenichi Soga, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been selected by the British Geotechnical Association to deliver the next Rankine Lecture, one of the most prestigious lectures in geotechnics. The lecture will be held at Imperial College London in March 2025.
Electrical engineering and computer sciences professor Claire Tomlin (Ph.D.’98 EECS) has won the IEEE Mildred Dresselhaus Medal “for foundational work in the design and verification of cyber-physical systems with applications to safety in autonomous systems.”
Civil and environmental engineering professor Iris Tommelein was honored with the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Construction Management Award for her “groundbreaking research in lean construction and leadership in teaching and advancing state-of-the-art construction management practices worldwide.” She is the first woman to receive this recognition since it was instituted in 1973.
Julea Vlassakis (Ph.D.’18 BioE), assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice University, has received a 2023 National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award.
Amy Wendt (M.S.’85, Ph.D.’88 EECS) has won the 2024 EDGE in Tech Athena Award for Academic Leadership from CITRIS. Wendt is co-director of the Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute and is the associate vice chancellor for research in the physical sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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