Professor Hou Featured in Quanta Magazine
01-14-20
The Quanta Magazine has featured Thomas Y. Hou, Charles Lee Powell Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics, for his work in Euler singularity. Mathematicians and physicists have used Euler equations to model how fluids evolve over time. If you toss a rock into a still pond, how will the water be moving five seconds later? The Euler equations can tell you. Hou provided a numerical description of the initial state of a fluid and used a computer to apply the Euler equations to determine the fluid’s motion in the future. “From the top the fluid is spiraling down, and from the bottom it is swirling up in the opposite direction,” said Professor Hou. [Quanta article]
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Thomas Hou
Making a Better Match
01-14-20
Professor Adam Wierman worked with a cross-disciplinary team to improve the Pasadena Unified School District's open-enrollment algorithm. Wierman knew from experience that the district's open-enrollment process was not optimal. "I couldn't help but notice that it wasn't particularly well designed," says Wierman. "There was a huge opportunity, I thought, to improve." With the team's new and improved algorithm, families are more likely to get their top match and are also more likely to keep their children in the school district rather than enrolling them in private or charter schools. [Caltech story]
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Adam Wierman
EAS Remembers Donald S. Cohen
01-13-20
Donald S. Cohen, Charles Lee Powell Professor of Applied Mathematics, Emeritus, passed away on January 9, 2020, at the age of 85. Cohen was one of the first faculty members recruited for Caltech's newly formed applied mathematics program in 1965. He was named associate professor of applied mathematics in 1967 and earned tenure in 1971. His research covered a variety of topics, including early work in the theory of reaction-diffusion equations. His later research in nonlinear differential equations, pattern formation, stability, and bifurcations had a significant impact on mathematical biology and chemical engineering. Cohen was a popular teacher who received awards for undergraduate teaching excellence in 1979, 1987, and 1998; in 2000, he was awarded the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching. [Caltech story]
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Donald Cohen
Joel Tropp Elected Fellow of IEEE
01-08-20
Joel A. Tropp, Steele Family Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics, has been elected as a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for his contributions to sparse signal processing. The IEEE Fellow is one of the most prestigious honors of the IEEE, and is bestowed upon a very limited number of Senior Members who have contributed importantly to the advancement or application of engineering, science and technology.
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Joel Tropp
EAS Remembers Yuan-Cheng "Bert" Fung
12-23-19
Yuan-Cheng "Bert" Fung passed away on December 15th, 2019, at the age of 100. Dr. Fung received his Ph.D. (1948) in Aeronautics from Caltech and served on the GALCIT faculty until 1966. He then joined the faculty at the University of California, San Diego where he founded the Bioengineering program. He made ground-breaking contributions to our understanding of the mechanics of living tissues and is known as the father of Biomechanics. He was an elected member of all three branches of the National Academies: Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Fung received Caltech’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1994. Among his many honors, he was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2000. [Full obituary, UCSD]
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Yuan-Cheng Fung
Researchers Develop New Quantum Algorithm
12-19-19
Austin Minnich, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics, Fernando Brandão, Bren Professor of Theoretical Physics, and Garnet Chan, Bren Professor of Chemistry, have developed an algorithm for quantum computers that will help them find use in simulations in the physical sciences. The new algorithm allows a user to find the lowest energy of a given molecule or material. Many people are interested in how to simulate the ground states of molecules and materials. "If we want to do a simulation of water, we could look at how water behaves after it has been blasted into a plasma—an electrically charged gas—but that's not the state water is usually found in; it is not the ground state of water. Ground states are of special interest in understanding the world under ordinary conditions," says Chan. [Caltech story]
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Austin Minnich
Fernando Brandão
Garnet Chan
