News & Events

12-02-09

A recent Economist article entitled "Lagrangian Coherent Structures: The skeleton of water" draws on the work of alumni George Haller (PhD '94 in Applied Mechanics) and Francois Lekien (PhD '03 in Control and Dynamical Systems), as well as John Dabiri, Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Bioengineering and Jerrold Marsden, Carl F Braun Professor of Engineering, Control and Dynamical Systems, and Applied and Computational Mathematics. [Economist Article]

Tags: GALCIT John Dabiri CMS Jerrold Marsden alumni

12-02-09

The collaboration of Pietro Perona, Allen E. Puckett Professor of Electrical Engineering, Michael Dickinson Esther M. and Abe M. Zarem Professor of Bioengineering, and David J. Anderson, Seymour Benzer Professor of Biology, is highlighted in a Nature article entitled "Flies on film". [Nature Article]

Tags: EE Michael Dickinson Pietro Perona

11-30-09

John Dabiri, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Bioengineering, Beverley McKeon, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics, and Joel Tropp, Assistant Professor of Applied and  Computational Mathematics, will be recieving the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) at a special White House ceremony in January 2010. 

Tags: honors GALCIT John Dabiri CMS Beverley McKeon Joel Tropp PECASE

11-24-09

Congratulations to Ali Hajimiri, Professor of Electrical Engineering, who has been named Fellow of IEEE for development of high-speed silicon integrated-circuit oscillators, power amplifiers, and phased arrays. Elevation to IEEE Fellow is one of the most prestigious honors given by the IEEE which is the world's largest professional association.

Tags: EE honors research highlights Ali Hajimiri

11-12-09

Harry A. Atwater, Jr., Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, and Nathan S. Lewis, George L. Argyros Professor and Professor of Chemistry, are leading a new solar-research collaboration between Caltech and Dow Chemical Company aimed at developing the use of semiconductor materials that are less expensive and more abundant than those used in many of today's solar cells. In addition, they announced the creation of the Dow Chemical Company Graduate Fellowship in Chemical Sciences and Engineering. [Caltech Press Release]

Tags: APhMS energy research highlights Harry Atwater

11-10-09

Hareem T. Maune, a graduate student studying carbon nanotube physics, and Si-ping Han, a graduate student investigating the interactions between carbon nanotubes and DNA have developed DNA origami nanoscale breadboards for carbon nanotube circuits. "This collaborative research project is evidence of how we at Caltech select the top students in science and engineering and place them in an environment where their creativity and imagination can thrive," says Ares Rosakis, chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at Caltech and Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics and Professor of Mechanical Engineering. The work of these students was supervised by: Erik Winfree, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Computation and Neural Systems, and Bioengineering; William A. Goddard III, Charles and Mary Ferkel Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Applied Physics; Paul W.K. Rothemund, Senior Research Associate, and Marc Bockrath, Associate Professor of Physics at University of California Riverside. [Caltech Press Release]

Tags: APhMS research highlights CMS Erik Winfree William Goddard Paul Rothemund Si-ping Han

11-04-09

Congratulation to Julia R. Greer, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering, for been selected to participate in the DARPA Young Faculty Award program. She is among 33 "rising stars" from 24 U.S. universities who each will receive grants of approximately $300,000. Greer's project is aimed at understanding and subsequently mimicking the superior mechanical robustness and strength of naturally occurring protective layers—such as nacre, or mother of pearl, a composite produced by some mollusks to line their inner shell—to create strong, ductile, damage-tolerant materials that maintain a relatively low density. [Caltech Press Release]

Tags: APhMS honors MCE Julia Greer

11-04-09

Sergio Pellegrino, Professor of Aeronautics and Civil Engineering and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Senior Research Scientist, has received the NASA Robert H. Goddard Exceptional Achievement Award as a member of the superpressure balloon team. The award is for sound engineering and operational development, outstanding teamwork, and perseverance in building a new scientific balloon capability for NASA.

Tags: honors research highlights GALCIT MCE Sergio Pellegrino

11-04-09

Timothy E. Colonius, Professor of Mechanical Engineering has been elected Associate Fellow of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as being chosen by the membership to serve on the executive committee of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society.

Tags: honors MCE fluid dynamics Timothy Colonius

11-02-09

Qian Xuesen (also known as Tsien Hsue-Shen) (Aeronautics PhD '39), passed away on October 31, 2009. He was a student of Professor Theodore von Kármán and one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Dr. Tsien Hsue-Shen was one of the great scientist-engineers of the past century. He played an important role in the history of Caltech and the development of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We are also very proud of his many accomplishments in China." said President Chameau. [Caltech Archives]

Tags: GALCIT EAS history alumni Qian Xuesen Tsien Hsue-Shen