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Vibrations
The Newsletter for the EAS Community
Selected Upcoming Events
Monday, May 8, 2023, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Caltech Everhart Lecture Series: "Imaging the Beginning of Time from the South Pole" - Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Soliman, Applied Physics, Caltech
Location: Guggenheim 133 (Lees-Kubota Lecture Hall)
Tuesday, May 9, 2023, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Charge Up! Entrepreneurship Series: Patenting Your Innovation - Smart Strategies, Smart Execution
Location: Online (Register using the link above)
Wednesday, May 10, 2023, 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Watson Lecture: Making Wearable Materials Smarter, featuring Professor Chiara Daraio
Location: Beckman Auditorium and Online
Thursday, May 11, 2023, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar: "Additive Manufacturing: Machine Learning, Mechanics, and Metallurgy" - Allison Beese, Associate Professor, Penn State University
Location: Gates-Thomas 135
Thursday, May 11, 2023, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Medical Engineering Distinguished Seminar Series, Harvard Professor Samir Mitragotri: "A Hitchhiker's and Backpacker's Approach to Drug Delivery"
Location: Annenberg 105
Thursday, May 11, 2023, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
KISS Lecture: ESA's Vision for Mars Exploration, presented by Dr. Albert Haldemann, Mars Chief Engineer, Mars Exploration Group, ESA
Location: Chen 100
Monday, May 15, 2023, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Womxn in EAS: Imposter Phenomenon Workshop (lunch provided)
Location: Brennen Conference Room, 3rd Floor CSS (RSVP using the link above)
Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Wouk Lecture: "Rethinking Evaporation: Thermal and Optical Evaporation from Pure Water and Hydrogels" - Gang Chen, Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering, MIT
Location: Ramo Auditorium
Thursday, May 18, 2023, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
CMS + IST Meeting of the Minds: Research Showcase and Graduation Celebration
Location: Moore Walk
Friday, May 19, 2023, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
James K. Knowles Lectures and Caltech Solid Mechanics Symposium, featuring R. Narasimhan, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Location: 135 Gates-Thomas
Tuesday, May 23, 2023, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Womxn in EAS Workshop: The Art of Research Presentations, with Robyn Javier (lunch provided)
Location: Jorgensen 109 (RSVP using the link above)
Spotlight On Our People
Hamidreza Akbari
Graduate Student, Applied Physics and Materials Science
I am a PhD candidate of applied physics in Professor Harry Atwater's lab. I am interested in applications of quantum mechanics—specifically, the applications of quantum light. I perform research on the topic of single photon emitters in two-dimensional materials and my focus is on removing sources of decoherence from the photon emission process to obtain coherent and indistinguishable single photons, which are useful for applications like quantum communication, quantum sensing, and photonics quantum computing. Before joining Caltech in 2018, I received my BSc and MSc form Sharif University of Technology in Iran. I enjoy stargazing in Joshua Tree National Park whenever there is a new moon and the stars align! I love the LA metropolitan area because I get to try different cuisines, interact with different cultures and experience different climates within 1 hour drive!
Gabriella Twombly
Undergraduate Student, Computer Science
Hello! I’m a third-year undergraduate from Weston, FL pursuing Computer Science with a minor in Information & Data Science. My interests lie in machine-learning and data analytics. Throughout my time at Caltech, I’ve explored intersections between CS and other areas of science by participating in planetary and economics research. I’ve also explored predictive analytics in gene sequencing devices through my last internship and look forward to continuing my work in industry as a software engineer. I serve as the UG Academics and Research Committee Chair and VP of Academic Affairs on ASCIT where I’ve been spearheading the organization of the 2023 Student-Faculty Conference. As a committee, the ARC has focused on supporting students and faculty with the transition to in-person academics and the renewal of student-faculty relations. My hobbies include playing on the Caltech intercollegiate women’s volleyball team, mentoring through the Caltech Y, and checking out the surrounding areas like downtown LA.
We'd like to feature you!
FSRI: Seeking Summer Research Mentors
The First-Year Success Research Institute (FSRI) seeks mentors for Summer 2023. FSRI is designed to introduce incoming historically excluded and/or marginalized first-year students to Caltech's research, curriculum, academic rigor, and student support services. Mentors should have a project available for students and dedicate 2+ hours/week to in-person lab work and meetings with students. Dates of research: July 31 - September 8. View the Interest Application to learn more about the program details and timeline. Deadline: Open until filled with a priority deadline of end of June.
EAS News Highlights
- Condensed Matter Physics Inspires a New Model of Cellular Behavior
- Quantum Entanglement of Photons Doubles Microscope Resolution
- Newly Observed Effect Makes Atoms Transparent to Certain Frequencies of Light
- Niyati Desai Wins First Place at the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
- Watson Lecture on May 10: Chiara Daraio on Developing Wearables That Can Help Us Monitor Our Health, Communicate, and More
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.
Volunteer Opportunity - UNESCO Ocean Best Practices System Project
A Caltech alumnus involved with the UNESCO Ocean Best Practices System Project, would like to engage early career ocean professionals (undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars) as the next generation of leadership to expand globally the use of common methods (best practices and standards) to observe, model and analyze the oceans as part of the UN Ocean Decade on ocean science and sustainability. If you are interested in volunteering for this work, please send your name and contact info to provostoffice@caltech.edu by Friday, May 19, 2023.
2023 Chapman Memorial Award - Call for Nominations
We are soliciting nominations for the 2023 Richard Bruce Chapman Memorial Award, a $1,500 prize to be awarded at Commencement. The prize is for "a graduate student who has distinguished him/herself in research in the field of hydrodynamics." The original records of the fund mention Chapman’s interests in the fields of "Free-surface phenomena, free-surface waves, cavities and jets, and ship hydrodynamics." Nominations should include a copy of the student’s thesis (electronic version) and a brief letter of support from the thesis advisor. If a student is expecting to finish soon, a preliminary draft can be considered. Please submit the nominations to Melissa Hill in the EAS Division office by Monday, May 15, 2023.
2023 Demetriades-Tsafka-Kokkalis Prizes - Call to Submit Nominations
The Demetriades-Tsafka-Kokkalis Prizes consist of four prizes (Biotechnology or Related Fields; Nanotechnology or Related Fields; Environmentally Benign Renewable Energy Sources or Related Fields; and Seismo-Engineering, Prediction, and Protection) are awarded to a Ph.D. candidate for the best thesis, publication or discovery. The prize for Entrepreneurship or Related Fields is awarded to a graduate or undergraduate student for the best business plan, proposal, start-up or related efforts at Caltech. The prizes are open to the entire Institute. Nominations from faculty should be submitted by email to Melissa Hill by sending the name and the thesis of the nominee. The deadline for nominations has been extended to Thursday, May 18, 2023. For the Entrepreneurship prize, please provide the name, CV and business plan of the nominee. The announcement of the prizes will be included in the commencement brochure. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Melissa Hill with any other questions.
EAS New Horizons DEI Award - Submit Nominations
The Division of Engineering and Applied Science seeks nominations to recognize and honor individuals who have contributed to EAS’ goal to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive engineering community while maintaining excellence in their campus roles and/or academic and research goals. The award is available to members of the EAS community, including current students, postdoctoral scholars, staff, and faculty. Nominations are accepted from anyone in the EAS community, EAS alumni and members of the Caltech community. Nominations will be considered for three years; new materials may be submitted for prior nominees.
To nominate an individual or group, please submit a letter of nomination (up to 1 page in length); multiple letters can be submitted in support of one nomination. In the letter, please outline the contributions made by the individual or group and the impact that the activities have had on the community. The deadline for nominations is May 10, 2023. Send nominations to dei.eas@caltech.edu and contact Melany Hunt with any questions
Merkin Institute Grants
Merkin Innovation Seed Grants
These awards provide early support for translational projects, emphasizing partnerships between Caltech labs and clinicians, who will typically be from outside Caltech. Projects developed from the Bob Grubbs Medical Innovation Symposia are encouraged, but projects and clinical partnerships developed in other ways are equally welcome. Funding amount: up to $100k. Submission deadline: Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
Merkin Spark Grants
The project is to be conceived and driven by graduate student applicant(s). It should not be an immediate or obvious extension of ongoing or proposed research in the host lab or labs. Novel applications of methods and variations across labs are encouraged. The project should be designed to generate go/no-go data for an innovative direction or novel technology that will ultimately translate to improve human health. These projects can be at any stage on the path toward translation, as long as the purpose and vision for translation is clearly stated. Collaboration between students in different labs to create project proposals is encouraged, but not required. Funding amount: $10k. Submission deadline: Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
2023 Senior Thesis Prize: Call for Nominations
This prize recognizes senior theses that exemplify research and the effective use of the scholarly record and has been awarded each year since its founding in 2010. Prize winners receive acknowledgment of their prize on their official transcript. The citation is accompanied by a $1200 honorarium and appears in the Commencement program. Read more about the prize and evaluation criteria.
Nominate your students’ theses for consideration for the prize by filling out the Faculty Nomination Form. Nominations are accepted through Wednesday, June 7, 2023
COVID Updates: Visit together.caltech.edu for the latest communications from the Institute.
- As of Monday, April 17, 2023, masking is recommended, but no longer required in instructional spaces. This change does not alter other health and safety requirements related to the use of masks in research settings as part of traditional laboratory protocols, or public health requirements for masking as part of an individual’s isolation period. Please continue to respect others’ preferences for mask use.
Effective Friday, March 17, the last day of winter term, the Institute will close its Caltech-sponsored surveillance testing program, and suspend the current twice-weekly testing requirement for students and employees. Read the full update.
- Voluntary surveillance testing is available to all (more info).
- Masks at no charge are available to persons with a Caltech ID at the Bookstore.
Division of Engineering and Applied Science
