News

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.

The 10 best universities for robotics in the U.S.

07/18/14 Business Insider — In a roundup of university robotics options from around the country, UC Berkeley lands at the top of the list, described as "an incredibly robust college for robotics that will likely meet your interests no matter what they are."

A class discovery platform: By students, for students

07/16/14 Forbes — Three Berkeley undergraduates, including EECS junior Noah Gilmore, have created an interactive website designed to help students choose classes. Called Berkeleytime, it gathers all of the school's curricular information in one place, allowing students to filter and sort by thousands of criteria.

Password managers hacked: Researchers find ‘critical’ vulnerabilities

07/15/14 siliconANGLE — Berkeley Engineering researchers have discovered several quickly-patched vulnerabilities in popular password managers that could allow attackers to gain access.

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.

Colleges work to engage women, minorities in STEM fields

07/10/14 U.S. News & World Report — Sheila Humphreys, director of diversity for Berkeley Engineering's electrical engineering and computer science department, talks about efforts in her department to encourage minorities and women breaking into the field.

Blind lead the way in brave new world of tactile technology

07/01/14 — Imagine feeling a slimy jellyfish, a prickly cactus or map directions on your iPad display. Virtual textured touchscreens are where tactile technology is headed. New research has found that people are faster at navigating tactile technology when using both hands and several fingers. Moreover, blind people in the study outmaneuvered their sighted counterparts.

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.

UC now able to invest in homegrown technology

06/27/14 Daily Californian — Thanks to a change in policy, the University of California is now able to invest directly in companies that use and market technology developed at UC facilities, or to accept equity from such companies or from campus-run “incubators” - such as UC Berkeley's SkyDeck, which supports fledgling companies with resources and expertise.

Holistic development engineering on the upswing

06/24/14 SciDev.net — The open access Journal of Development Engineering is due to launch in 2015, a move that could encourage more researchers to enter this nascent and holistic field, where UC Berkeley's Blum Center for Developing Economies plays a leading role.

RadWatch project brings near real-time radiation data to the public

06/19/14 — A team of Berkeley nuclear engineering scientists has launched a project called RadWatch to provide the public online access to a wealth of information - including near real-time readings - on environmental radiation levels. The researchers say the effort is meant to demystify radiation, an often misunderstood subject.

Engineering for all

06/18/14 National Science Foundation — In an article on how the "maker movement" shines a spotlight on DIY design and manufacturing, mechanical engineering professor Paul Wright talks about how more affordable tools, like 3-D printers and design software, are helping young inventors move rapidly from prototype to product.

Rejuvenating innovation

06/17/14 — Conventional wisdom has it that entrepreneurs are born that way. At Berkeley, however, we thrive on proving conventional wisdom wrong. Our talented industry faculty and our hard-working staff have demonstrated that indeed, entrepreneurship can be learned, and that Berkeley can teach it.

The graduate

06/17/14 — Saddiq Nuru, a recent graduate from the Fung Institute's Master of Engineering program, reflects on his education, experience and ambitions. Nuru was chosen to deliver the graduate student address at this year's College of Engineering commencement ceremony.

Breana Kastreba batting in a Cal softball game

Power hitter

06/17/14 — On the surface, the late Orlando Tafoya (B.S'53 ME) and Cal varsity softball player Breana Kostreba may not appear to have much in common. But the two were connected through the Orlando Tafoya Memorial Scholarship, awarded to engineering students interested in athletics.

On the road

06/17/14 — While working in their garage at the Richmond Field Station, the machine shop in Cory Hall, or the Hackerspace, CalSol - the UC Berkeley Solar Vehicle Team - has completely redesigned their competition vehicle. They will have the opportunity to test their new design in an upcoming endurance race that will take them across eight states, from Texas to Minnesota.

The games genes play: Algorithm helps explain sex in evolution

06/16/14 — What do you get when you mix theorists in computer science with evolutionary biologists? You get an algorithm to explain sex, say researchers at UC Berkeley's Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing.

Big to tiny robots on risky ground: You go first

06/13/14 Phys.org — Researchers at Berkeley Engineering's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab and ETH Zurich have suggested an approach for protecting expensive components in big robots when on difficult terrain: Send in little, inexpensively made robots ahead of them as scouts.

Water researcher David Sedlak wins 2014 Clarke Prize

06/13/14 National Water Research Institute — The National Water Research Institute has named David Sedlak, Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering, as the 21st recipient of its Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for his pioneering research on advancing the way water resources and urban water infrastructure are managed.