News

Optical nanoscopy, which uses laser beams to strike free electrons, scattering light and providing insights into electron distribution and dynamics within semiconductor materials. (Image courtesy of Laser Thermal Lab/UC Berkeley)

Researchers develop innovative tool for measuring electron dynamics in semiconductors

02/02/23 — Insights may lead to more energy-efficient chips and electronic devices

Photo of Kristin Persson, Daniel M. Tellep Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering at UC Berkeley and a senior faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Kristin Persson among 11 Berkeley faculty elected to AAAS

01/31/23 — Professor of materials science and engineering and director of Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry elected a lifetime fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her work on the Materials Project

Energized for real-world impact

01/25/23 — Founded by Berkeley Engineering alumni, Gridware uses sensors to tackle the threat of wildfires

From Ethiopia to Berkeley and back again

01/17/23 — EECS Ph.D. student Tsegereda Esatu, a UC-HBCU Initiative fellow, shares her educational journey and her hopes for bringing semiconductor research to students in Ethiopia

Three of the 11 members of the Yankho women’s co-op (left), the backbone of and inspiration for Umodzi, along with Brian Ndongera (third from right), an advisor to Umodzi, Mathews Tisatayane (second from right), founder and president, and Sean Mandell, co-founder and CEO.

Berkeley engineer brings sustainable development to Malawi

01/13/23 — Mathews Tisatayane (M.DevEng’22) applies his knowledge of development engineering and social entrepreneurship to provide fellow Malawians clean energy and new economic opportunities

ME Ph.D. student takes the road less traveled to UC Berkeley

01/10/23 — Alexander Alvara pushes past life's obstacles and sets his sights on new frontiers in engineering

Graphic collage depicting an air conditioning unit, the earth, a spilled salt container, an arm spraying an aerosol can and various ions and arrows in front of an orange and blue gradient background.

Scientists develop a cool new method of refrigeration

01/04/23 — Berkeley Lab: Berkeley engineers Drew Lilley and Ravi Prasher hope ionocaloric cooling can someday replace current refrigerants and provide safe, efficient cooling and heating for homes

Photo of the Master of Development Engineering Class of 2022.

Development Engineering master’s program celebrates first graduating class

12/22/22 — Berkeley's newest engineers — the first in the country to receive the M.DevEng degree — reflect on the importance of working together to develop global solutions

hohlraum converting laser energy into X-rays

Berkeley Engineering alumni help achieve decades-long quest for nuclear fusion

12/22/22 — Andrea Kritcher (M.S.’07, Ph.D.’09 NE) and Brian Spears (Ph.D.’04 ME) share their thoughts on the future of fusion research and how their time at Berkeley shaped their careers

Community members from Bolinas, California, play an evacuation-simulation board game

Researchers to help reduce wildfire risk with dynamic modeling, serious games

12/20/22 — CITRIS: With a $2.5 million NSF grant, an interdisciplinary UC team led by civil engineering professor Kenichi Soga is partnering with Bay Area communities to help residents respond to natural disasters more quickly — and more safely.

Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees Jiachen Li and Alison Borklund

Two from Berkeley Engineering named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list

12/09/22 — Magazine cites Ph.D. candidate Jiachen Li for work on an all-season, smart-roof coating, and MEng alumna Alison Burklund of Nanopath for diagnostics that speed treatment of pelvic and gynecologic infections

UC Berkeley physics and engineering professor Ramamoorthy Ramesh has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors.

Ramamoorthy Ramesh elected to the National Academy of Inventors

12/08/22 — Berkeley engineer and physicist receives the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors for his pioneering work in materials science

Close-up image of a mechano-node pore sensing (NPS) device.

The power of simplicity

12/08/22 — Professor Lydia Sohn’s microfluidic device may help solve some of the most complex mysteries in cell biology.

$Microscopy-generated images of a fracture in CrCoNi alloy$

Say hello to the toughest material on earth

12/08/22 — Berkeley Lab: A new study co-led by Berkeley Engineering materials scientist Robert Ritchie reveals the profound properties of a simple metal alloy

Photo illustration of the process for converting carbon dioxide into solar fuels

To battle climate change, scientists tap into carbon-hungry microorganisms for clues

11/30/22 — Berkeley Lab: Scientists led by Peidong Yang have developed a nature-inspired technique for converting carbon dioxide into solar fuels

Photo from 1992 of David Hodges, engineering dean, speaking at a Sproul Asoociation Luncheon

David Hodges, former dean of engineering and pioneer in integrated circuit design, dies at 85

11/29/22 — His work contributed to the rapid growth of the tech industry

Researchers viewing multiple video screens showing field test of AI-powered cruse control system

Massive traffic experiment pits machine learning against ‘phantom’ jams

11/23/22 — CIRCLES Consortium field trial shows AI-powered cruise control system could help smooth traffic flow, improve fuel economy

Illustration of wave-scattering phenomenon with EM coupling.

Under the radar

11/18/22 — Engineered piezoelectric materials achieve new levels of wave-scattering performance

Michael Yartsev in his lab with blue and yellow light simulating bat flight paths.

Yartsev wins Neuroscience Young Investigator Award

11/14/22 — Bioengineering professor Michael Yartsev named 2022 Young Investigator by the Society for Neuroscience in recognition of his work on the neural complexity of free-flying bats

A patient who lost the ability to speak due to severe paralysis uses a brain-computer interface to silently spell out sentences from a vocabulary of more than 1,000 words.

Giving a voice to all

11/08/22 — Advances in brain-computer interfaces may soon make communication easier for those who have lost the ability to speak