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Dmitry Yudovsky wins first place in the Biophysics track at the 10th Annual Systemwide Bioengineering Institute of California Symposium
June 24, 2009

Dmitry Yudovsky

Dmitry Yudovsky, PhD student in the MAE Department, has won first place in the Biophysics track at the 10th Annual Systemwide Bioengineering Institute of California Symposium. The goal of this symposium is to increase the synergistic interaction of UC’s vast biomedical engineering research expertise with the practical medical and healthcare engineering undertaken by biomedical firms and a number of agencies in the government including Lawrence Livermore National Labs. The symposium was held at UC Merced on June 19-21, 2009 and hosted 175 participants. Dmitry Yudovsky’s talk was entitled “Optical Model of Human Skin for Biomedical Reflectance Spectroscopy: Application to Diabetes Care”. The project was supported by HyperMed, Inc. from Burlington, MA, under the supervision of Prof. Laurent Pilon (UCLA MAE Dept. and Biomedical IDP) and Prof. Aksone Nouvong (UCLA Surgery).

Symposium Website: https://eng.ucmerced.edu/bioe2009

Rajit Gadh’s SpecimenTrak RFID system being tested by UC’s Anatomical Donation Program
June 18, 2009

Rajit Gadh

UCLA Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Rajit Gadh’s SpecimenTrak RFID system is being tested for use in UC’s Anatomical Donation Program.  Gadh, who is also director of UCLA’s Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium (WINMEC), says SpecimenTrak was designed so that an end user can select any type of passive RFID tag and reader to use with the SpecimenTrak software. The end user will also be able to decide whether to reuse the tags (assuming they are in packaged in a long-lasting, waterproof housing that can be sterilized for multiple uses).  According to Brandi Schmitt, director of the UC Anatomical Services department, the main benefit that the RFID system provides is improved accuracy of the labs' inventory, based on the fact that ID codes are no longer manually logged. The other benefit, she adds, is time-savings, through faster data collection.  WINMEC hopes that additional anatomical labs will begin using SpecimenTrak.

For more in-depth information, please read this article:
California Researchers Tag Cadavers, Body Parts (in RFID Journal).

Mohamed Abdou elected first President of Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders
June 15, 2009

Mohamed Abdou

Mohamed Abdou, distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the Center for Energy Science and Technology Advanced Research (CESTAR) has been elected as the first president of the Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders (CEREL). CEREL is the first multidisciplinary membership organization made up of heads of academic energy research and education centers. CEREL provides the means for leaders in energy research, education, and communication to collaboratively advance the role of higher education in the energy field to improve education, decision-making, and societal well-being.

Energy departments, centers, institutes and programs at more than thirty universities have joined CEREL. NCSE serves as the secretariat for CEREL, while the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU, formerly NASULGC) is a partner. CEREL has issued a white paper on the importance of universities in solving America’s energy puzzle.
For further information see CEREL web site https://ncseonline.org/CEREL/cms.cfm?id=715

Upon his appointment, Abdou said “A key objective of CEREL is to enhance the role and visibility of universities as premier institutions for carrying out cutting-edge fundamental and applied research on all aspects of energy production, transmission, storage, and utilization that can lead to innovative and practical solutions for a sustainable energy future. CEREL also provides an important forum for sharing experience among universities in regards to educating and training the workforce and future leaders of the energy field in the many diverse scientific and social science disciplines involved. CEREL helps enable energy research and education at universities to become larger than the sum of their parts.”

Ann Karagozian receives 2008-2009 MAE Teaching Award
June 11, 2009

Ann Karagozian

Professor Ann Karagozian received the 2008-2009 Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Teaching Award.  This award recognizes contributions to the educational mission of the department, and is based on student evaluations of teaching, contributions to student welfare, and curriculum development.

Congratulations, Professor Karagozian!

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