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Vibrations
The Newsletter for the EAS Community
Message from the Chair
EAS Community,
Happy New Year! As we enter 2024, I want to warmly welcome back each member of the EAS community, and I hope the holiday season was relaxing and rejuvenating for you and your loved ones. As we get back to research and teaching in 2024, many exciting initiatives are unfolding within the Division, ranging from artificial intelligence to robotics, quantum engineering, photonics, medical engineering, environmental sciences, new materials, and advanced space structures and technology, to name a few.
I offer congratulations to Tom Hou, Charles Lee Powell Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics, who was recently selected to receive the 2024 William Benter Prize in Applied Mathematics. This prize “recognizes outstanding mathematical contributions that have had a direct and fundamental impact on scientific, business, finance and engineering applications,” and comes a year after Professor Hou received the 2023 Ralph E. Kleinman Prize from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
Hearty congratulations also goes to Anima Anandkumar, Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, for being recently elected as a fellow to the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), a leading scientific society in the field of artificial intelligence. Professor Anandkumar was elected for her “significant contributions to machine learning including neural operators for scientific machine learning and tensor methods for probabilistic models.” Congratulations again to Professors Anandkumar and Hou!
On a more somber note, I want to mark the passing of two members of the EAS community: Professor Theodore Y. Wu (PhD '52) and Professor Fred E. Culick, both of whom passed away in December. Professors Wu and Culick were giants in their respective fields and made a huge impact on generations of Caltech students. I extend condolences to their families on behalf of the entire EAS community.
Harry Atwater
Otis Booth Leadership Chair, Division of Engineering and Applied Science
Selected Upcoming Events
Wednesday, January 10, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar : "Data-driven constraint of cloud microphysics uncertainty at global and process-level scales" - Marcus Van Lier Walqui, Columbia University & NASA/GISS
Location: South Mudd 365
Wednesday, January 10, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Materials Science Research Lecture: "From functional oxides to qubits, how electron ptychography is opening new avenues to characterize materials" - James LeBeau, Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
Location: Noyes 153 (J. Holmes Sturdivant Lecture Hall)
Thursday, January 11, 2024, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar: "Adaptive Data-Driven Modeling of Complex Systems" - Jose E. Andrade, George W. Housner Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Caltech
Location: Gates-Thomas 135
Thursday, January 11, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Medical Engineering Distinguished Seminar Series, Professor Na Ji, UC Berkeley: "Imaging the brain at high spatiotemporal resolution."
Location: Moore B270
Tuesday, January 16, 2024, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Charge Up! Entrepreneurship Series: NSF ZAP Program Lunch & Learn
Location: Jorgensen 224
Thursday, January 18, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Medical Engineering Seminar Series, Assistant Professor Wei Gao, Caltech: "Skin-Interfaced Wearable Biosensors."
Location: Annenberg 105
New EAS Staff Spotlight
Jeffrey F. Gold
STEM Communication Specialist and Lecturer,
EAS
Jeffrey Gold comes to EAS and Caltech having braided a career encompassing research, film, theatre, music, and communications. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, a chemist working under Sir William H. Bragg at the Davy Faraday Research Lab in London (1931–33), Jeffrey received his undergraduate degree in Physics and a minor in Mathematics from the University of Utah. He was an undergraduate research assistant in thermoacoustics, magnetoencephalography, and polymer electroluminescence, and published eight conference papers as an undergraduate based on original research in vector algebra and especially number theory (Twin Prime conjecture, Erdös covering sets, linear congruences) alongside his mentor, mathematician Dr. Don H. Tucker. Around this time, he caught the film bug; but continued his academic career in microelectronic engineering and semiconductor physics at Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. Subsequently, he switched gears, received a Master of Professional Communication (MPC) from Westminster College and worked in communications through his own enterprise, Corpus Polymedia, and later as a creative manager for Harman International, Inc. (Samsung, Inc.). Jeffrey has been an adjunct professor for over 18 years, teaching film, screenwriting (story, dramatic structure, dialogue), visual communication (graphic design, color theory, information design) and communication (strategic copywriting, narrative design, brand storytelling). Outside of the pursuits of science and communication, Jeffrey is an award-winning film composer and dramatist (playwright, screenwriter).
Spotlight On Our People
Saren Daghlian
Undergraduate Student, Electrical Engineering
Hello there, I am a fourth-year undergraduate studying Electrical Engineering. I am interested in analog and radio frequency (RF) engineering, particularly in the intersection of microwave engineering and astronomy in the field of radio astronomy. To this end, I have been doing research in Professor Hallinan's group working on the design of multi-pole, band-reject filters for the analog front-end of the DSA-2000 radio telescope array, a 2000-element radio telescope array with fast survey speeds over a wide frequency band. In my spare time, I enjoy playing the violin in the Caltech Orchestra and in Caltech's Chamber Music program and enjoy going on hikes in the Altadena/Eaton Canyon area. In my remaining free time, I enjoy roaming around campus, collecting e-waste from various buildings on campus, and rolling them back to my room on a loud cart to try and fix and repurpose them.
Alessio Tamborini
Postdoctoral Scholar, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering
I am a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Medical Engineering at Caltech, working in the lab of Professor Mory Gharib. I joined Caltech in October 2018 for my PhD in Medical Engineering with Professor Gharib, graduated in May 2023, and continued my research as a Postdoc. My work focuses on improving the accuracy and reliability of non-invasive diagnostic techniques by implementing novel engineering approaches. During my PhD, I focused on the field of cardiology and redesigned the conventional blood pressure cuff device to capture the dynamics of the cardiovascular pressure waveform. As a Postdoc, I am translating my knowledge of cardiovascular diagnostic devices and methods into the world of ophthalmology. I am Italian and moved to the U.S. to receive my BS in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University in 2018. In my free time, I enjoy surfing, sailing, skiing, traveling the world, and discovering new places for good food and wine.
We'd like to feature you!
EAS News Highlights
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.
2024 RSI Pioneer Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Resnick Sustainability Institute's (RSI) Pioneer Postdoctoral Fellowship recruits outstanding recent PhD graduates to pursue research and training in exciting areas relevant to sustainability at Caltech. This fellowship will afford researchers access to cutting edge facilities, training, and broad expertise in the science and engineering needed to tackle pressing challenges in sustainability. RSI anticipates making up to 3 awards and welcomes applicants with exceptional backgrounds in research and who are committed to diversity and creating an inclusive, equitable culture. Candidates must secure a commitment from one or more Caltech faculty members to serve as a mentor and to provide office/lab space for the fellowship. Mentors will be expected to provide a 50% cost-share for the fellowship. Application deadline: Friday, January 12, 2024. Learn more and apply.
Division of Engineering and Applied Science
