Vibrations

The Newsletter for the EAS Community

Message from the Chair

Dear EAS Community,

This Friday marks Caltech’s 130th Commencement, a significant milestone for many of you as you embark on your next chapter. I hope you carry with you the strong foundation built at Caltech, along with the relationships you've developed with friends, mentors, and advisors. For those of you continuing your studies at Caltech, I look forward to welcoming you back at the start of the next academic year.

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with the recipients of the EAS New Horizons Awards, the Demetriades – Tsafka – Kokkalis Prizes, and the Henry Ford II Scholar Awards. It was incredibly inspiring to hear about their innovative research, impact on the EAS community, and their plans for the future. These awards recognize the outstanding contributions and potential of our students, and meeting these talented individuals was a reminder of the incredible talent we have here in EAS.

Thank you all for an excellent academic year, and congratulations to the graduating class of 2024!

Harry Atwater
Otis Booth Leadership Chair, Division of Engineering and Applied Science

Selected Upcoming Events

Wednesday, June 12, 2024, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Consciousness & Reality Colloquium - "The Neurology of Consciousness: From Recovery after Coma to Meditation" - Steven Laureys, Research Chair in Neuroplasticity, Université Laval
Location: Online

Thursday, June 13, 2024, 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
APhMS Special Seminar: "My 50-year journey in science" - Deborah Chung (BS '73, MS '73), Distinguished Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SUNY Buffalo
Location: Annenberg 105

Thursday, June 13, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
CMS Special Seminar: "Orbital Carrying Capacity and its Implication on Space Sustainability" - Richard Linares, Associate Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: Firestone 384

Friday, June 14, 2024, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Caltech's 130th Commencement Ceremony
Location: Beckman Mall

Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Charge Up! Entrepreneurship Series: Financial Planning for Startups
Location: Jorgensen 109

EAS Seminars & Events Calendar

Spotlight On Our People

Bilgehan Baspinar

Graduate Student, Applied Physics and Materials Science

I am a fourth-year Applied Physics graduate student in Professor Andrei Faraon’s group. My research focuses on optical dielectric metasurfaces made of nano-structures smaller than the wavelength of light. These metasurfaces, with funky patterns, can mimic any traditional optical element despite being super lightweight and thin, and can achieve even more. I got involved in many different projects, yet one of the projects that got me the most excited was a collaboration with NASA-JPL, as I dreamed about working at NASA as a kid! I ended up realizing that my childhood heroes were regular people who could even get lazy sometimes, though — but that’s a story for another time. It was fantastic to see that we can correct the phase aberrations in a coronagraph with our metasurfaces. How exciting is it — even the possibility of contributing to the discovery of a new exoplanet? I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such cool people by coming to Caltech. Outside the lab, I am into traveling, photography, tennis, reading, and singing. Hit me up if you want to jam or do optics together!

Kaushik Tota

Undergraduate Student, Computer Science and Environmental Science

Hey there! My name’s Kaushik, and I’m a third-year undergraduate studying computer science, business, and environmental science and engineering. I’ve spent the past few years working on projects lying at the intersection of sustainability and computer science. This summer, I’m returning to industry as a software engineering intern at Crusoe, a San Francisco and Denver-based unicorn building a high-performance, climate-aligned platform for cloud computing. Throughout my time at Caltech, I’ve also served as Vice President and board member of the nonprofit Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, a youth-led network of over 100 students engaging in environmental policy advocacy, climate literacy campaigns, and climate career education. In the future, I hope to continue utilizing innovative technology and environmental policy to help solve the planet's most pressing sustainability challenges. I love spending my free time learning about new consumer technology (especially electric vehicles), watching Jeopardy! (if a Jeopardy! casting manager is reading this, let me on the College Championship, please), and exploring LA’s vibrant food scene!

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EAS News Highlights

In Other News

Calls for Nomination & Funding Opportunities

Caltech’s Office of Foundation Relations maintains an online database and email subscription service of primarily non-federal funding opportunities as a resource for the Caltech community. Opportunities include calls for proposals released by private foundations, public charities, associations, corporations, internal Caltech opportunities and federal limited opportunities.

Explore Funding Opportunities

EAS Graduate Student Resources

DEI Resources

Keep your contact info updated at access.caltech.edu.

EAS Postdoc Resources

Caltech Cares

eduroam: a free Caltech service

Division of Engineering and Applied Science