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Vibrations
The Newsletter for the EAS Community
Message from the Chair
Welcome back to campus for the start of the new academic year! I hope you've had a restful and productive summer, and that you're ready to dive into the opportunities that this year has in store.
I’d like to highlight an EAS-wide event coming up next Tuesday, October 8th at 4pm in Ramo Auditorium—the Wouk Lecture, which promises to be an engaging conversation about the future of green technology and renewable energy. We are honored to welcome David Welch, co-founder of NosTerra, and Pedro Pizarro (PhD '94), President and CEO of Edison International, as our guest speakers. This is a unique opportunity to hear from leaders who are not only at the forefront of their fields but also deeply committed to making a lasting impact on the world. I encourage all of you to attend.
I look forward to the work and ideas that will emerge from our division this year.
Harry Atwater
Otis Booth Leadership Chair, Division of Engineering and Applied Science
Selected Upcoming Events
Every Wednesday, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm
Walk-In Office Hours with the Director of EAS Programs for Student Success
Location: 149 Earle M. Jorgensen Laboratory
Thursday, October 3, 2024, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
EVOxZANKOU Seminar: "Innovation by evolution: bringing new chemistry to life"- Frances Arnold, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry; Director, Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center, CCE and BBE, Caltech
Location: Chen 100 (Zankou lunch will be served)
Thursday, October 3, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
David G. Goodwin Memorial Lecture: "Protonics for Sustainable Energy Technologies" - Sossina M. Haile, Walter P. Murphy Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University
Location: Gates-Thomas 135
Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Wouk Lecture: Two Engineers and a Whiteboard: Reimagining Clean Energy Systems, featuring Pedro Pizarro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Edison International, and Dave Welch, Co-Founder of NosTerra
Location: Ramo Auditorium
Thursday, October 10, 2024, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Careers in Hardware, Electronics, Aerospace, Robotics , and Mechanical Engineering (HEARME) Industry Day
Location: Moore Walk
PCC-Caltech Lunar Trailblazer Student Collaboration Internship Opportunity
Pasadena City College and Caltech undergraduate students have the opportunity to participate as interns in the development and operations of NASA's Caltech-led Lunar Trailblazer mission, a satellite that will map water on the surface of the Moon. This internship will run from October to mid December. Applications will be reviewed through October 6. Learn more and apply.
New EAS Staff Announcement
Phillip Jaffe is the new research services librarian for EAS. He joins Caltech from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he completed his master's degree in library science while gaining experience in several libraries on campus. Among the libraries he worked in were those dedicated to engineering, health sciences, and aquatic sciences. He holds bachelor's degrees in statistics and linguistics from Rice University in Houston. Phillip is looking forward to collaborating with the students, faculty, and staff of EAS to ensure that the library’s services and collections are best tailored to the research and educational needs of the Division. Phillip may be reached at extension 6659 and at pjaffe@caltech.edu.
Spotlight On Our People
Manny Rodriguez
Undergraduate Student, Computing and Mathematical Sciences
My name's Manuel (Manny) Rodriguez and I'm a rising senior in Page (Whose House?) majoring in CS! Right now, I'm really interested in music and playing guitar, and coming off a summer away without having mine, I'm excited to get back into it. I love classic rock like the Beatles, Queen, and RHCP. If you are too, let's chat! My research last semester that I hope to continue was in EEG signal decoding using machine learning for imagined movements at ARCL under Professor Soon-Jo Chung and my mentor Yujin An. Recently, I've also been tinkering around with an interest in quantitative finance using ML! Lastly, I gotta mention my housemates in some capacity. Writing this in the summer, I'm excited to come back, see everyone, get better at pool, and goon around again. Page house, best house, no questions. And if you don't believe me, come check us out!
Thomas Touma
Research Engineer, Mechanical and Civil Engineering
Hi! I’m Thomas. I’m from the north-west of Melbourne, Australia. After spending many years on a farm in Australia, I am now living in LA. I’m a research engineer working on robotics and AI in Caltech’s Division of Engineering and Applied Science. I came to the US back in 2019 to work on the DARPA Subterranean Challenge at JPL with Professor Joel Burdick and Dr. Ali Agha. I spent a few years at JPL, and following that, for the last couple years I’ve been full time at Caltech in Professor Burdick’s (awesome) Robotics Group. The entire experience has been an incredible blessing. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, including other DARPA Programs for high-speed terrain traversal, ML augmented DoD vehicles, and Navy vessels; the Mars Science Helicopter and NASA’s COLDTech program. I’ve built autonomy hardware for walking robots, test rigs for Martian spacecraft, computer vision algorithms for robotic arms, and most recently developed LLM’s for spacecraft. I like reading, lifting weights, jiu jitsu and steak.
We'd like to feature you!
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.
RSI Explorer Grant Proposal Call
The Resnick Sustainability Institute is offering grants of up to $150,000 for projects that address significant challenges and opportunities associated with climate change and the stewardship of natural resources. The call is limited to lead PIs who have their primary affiliation with one of Caltech's academic divisions and the ability to conduct research on campus. Only one application per lead PI is allowed. The application deadline is Tuesday, October 8. Learn more about the RSI Explore Grant.
Keep your contact info updated at access.caltech.edu.
Division of Engineering and Applied Science
