HOME / News Archives - October 2005
News Archives - October 2005 |
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Professor Ann R. Karagozian has been selected to chair a new study for the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board October 27, 2005
Professor Ann R. Karagozian has been selected to chair a new, high level study for the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board on the subject of Technology Options for Improved Air Vehicle Fuel Efficiency. This study was commissioned by the White House and Department of Defense through the Acting Secretary of the Air Force, Mr. Pete Geren, and the Under Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. Ronald Sega. The study will have a great deal of visibility due to the timely nature of the issue of energy efficiency faced by our country. |
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Professor Nasr Ghoniem has been selected as a member of the International Advisory Oversight Committee for the European Project "PERFECT" October 25, 2005
Professor Nasr M. Ghoniem has been selected to be one of five members of International Advisory Oversight Committee for the European Project "PERFECT: for Prediction of Irradiation Damage Effects on Reactor Components." In nuclear power reactors, materials may undergo degradation due to severe irradiation conditions that limit their operation life. Continuous progress in the physical understanding of the phenomena involved and in computer sciences has made possible the development of multi-scale numerical tools able to simulate the effects of irradiation on mechanical and corrosion properties of materials (see figure below). PERFECT aims at developing such predictive tools for reactor pressure vessels and internal structures.
The main objective of PERFECT is to build 2 'Virtual Reactors' simulating the effect of irradiation respectively on reactor pressure vessels and on internal structures. Specific modules – dealing with mechanical and corrosion phenomena induced by irradiation – will complement each of these Virtual Reactors. The resulting 4 numerical tools will be integrated in a Software Integration Platform under Quality Assurance. Thus, the need for experimental data will be reduced – and complemented by numerics – for a large community: nuclear organizations, manufacturers, utilities, regulators, universities, etc. The consortium comprises 12 organizations involved in nuclear R&D: 1 manufacturer, 1 electric utility and 8 nuclear research centers operating hot cell facilities (incl. 3 operating test reactors). Up-to-date skills required by the project in physics, irradiation effects, numerical simulation and advanced techniques of material characterization are brought by 16 universities and research centers. Total project cost: is 18.5 million Euros (≈22.3 million USD). |
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UCLA Aerospace Team KABOOM Wins 1st Place in AAIA Student Design Competition October 24, 2005
The AIAA Foundation announced in its October Bulletin Bulletin winners of its 2004/2005 Student Design Competitions. Winning first place in the "Undergraduate Team Space — Mission to Rendezvous with and Divert an Incoming Asteroid" Competition is UCLA team KABOOM. Administered by AIAA's Student Programs Department, these competitions are part of a wide-reaching program that recognizes excellence in aerospace engineering study at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Judged by members of AIAA Technical Committees, AIAA Foundation Student Design Competitions seek to increase the practical skills of aerospace engineering undergraduate and graduate students in both individual and team conditions. Cash awards are given to the first three places in each of the student design competitions. Specific Requests for Proposal (RFP) are issued and either teams of 3-10 or individual undergraduate/graduate students compete to devise the best design to fit the RFP in a given time period. A rigorous series of requirements and design objectives must be adhered to and the final report must accommodate not only the design itself, but also the organization and management of the project. Led by MAE Lecturer Lisa Hill, KABOOM members Chris Covell, Natasha Barra, Patrick Greene, Cassandra Guess, Kenneth Parker, and Harshil Shah, designed a space system that was to rendezvous with an asteroid threatening earth in a timely manner, inspect it, and remove the hazard to Earth by changing its orbit and/or destroying it. |
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Alumni Tzung K. Hsiai has been selected by USC's BME to be the first holder of the Robert G. and Mary G. Lane Early Career Chair October 24, 2005
Prof. Chih-Ming Ho's former student, alumni Tzung K. Hsiai has been selected by the Biomedical Engineering Department at University of Southern California to be the first holder of the Robert G. and Mary G. Lane Early Career Chair. The Early Career Chairs are awarded only to the most outstanding of USC Engineering assistant professors. The central theme of Dr. Hsiai's research program is to embrace micro and nano systems to address fundamental cardiovascular questions. Using a micro-fluidic flow model, Dr. Hsiai's lab is investigating the mechanisms whereby hemodynamics regulates the development of coronary artery disease. His group is linking the effects of real-time shear stress on cardiac cell dynamics using Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors and molecular techniques. |
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New Chair for UCLA's Academic Senate, Professor Adrienne Lavine, was Featured in UCLA TODAY Article October 18, 2005
Mechanical Engineering Professor Adrienne Lavine was featured in the October 11th issue of UCLA TODAY. The article titled New chair aims to improve Senate's reputation describes how Lavine plans on improving the reputation of the senate among faculty by making it more efficient. Her long list of goals include making transparent the process of and criteria for off-scale salaries for faculty, finding creative solutions to the shortage of child-care services, and attempting to fix barriers in academic personnel procedures that discourage faculty from undertaking interdisciplinary research and teaching. Among these barriers that Lavine plans on addressing is the faculty disappointment when they realize that their proposal for a new degree program has to go through Senate committees that will deliberate for months. Lavine says, "I want to be able to communicate better to faculty about what our contribution is, realizing that there are some situations in which the time we take is not consistent with the added value. ... So either we have to be faster or add more value."
To read the article in UCLA TODAY visit: |
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The MAE Department Conducted its Annual Incoming Graduate Student Orientation on September 27, 2005 October 17, 2005
The day began at 10:00 am in room 38-138 Engineering IV with MAE Chairman, Professor H. Thomas Hahn greeting the students. He provided them with information about the makeup of the department. Abel Lebon, Student Affairs Officer, described the various academic services for students: choosing courses, the role of the advisor, thesis or dissertation committees. He reviewed the Masters and PhD program requirements. He also encouraged students to seek financial support via extramural fellowships, teaching assistantships and graduate students research.
Special Speaker, David Wozny, from the Engineering Graduate Students Association, shared information about its organization and invited students to participate in departmental and University social activities. The students were then lead on a tour of 3 different labs in the Department. Senior graduate students, who are in various stages of their academic program, talked about the research in the labs and related experiences. Immediately after the tour which ended around noon, incoming and continuing students, faculty and staff were treated to lunch back in room 38-138 as a welcoming to the new astudents. There are a total of 57 new students (15 international and 42 US) this fall 2005 which consist of 40 MS students, 17 PhD, of whom 12 are females.
To view all Graduate Student Orientation Photos Click Here |
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2005 Undergraduate Student Orientation October 17, 2005
The MAE undergraduate student orientation was held on September 26, 2005 from 11:00-12:00 am in room 38-138 Engineering IV for 63 incoming new undergraduates.
The speakers were MAE Department Chair, Professor H. Thomas Hahn, Undergraduate Chair, Professor Oddvar Bendiksen and SEAS Undergraduate Counselor, Lila Ryan. Both Professors Hahn and Bendiksen spotlighted departmental information and Ms. Ryan touched on academics and other information to aid students with the transition from high school to a university environment. A reception luncheon was held on the 2rd floor patio area following the orientation.
To view all Undergraduate Student Orientation Photos Click Here |
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Radio Frequency Identification Technology Forum to Be Hosted by Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering ’s WINMEC October 13, 2005
Led by Mechanical and Aerospace Professor Rajit Gadh, UCLA Engineering is exploring the use of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) in a variety of innovative applications. Gadh also is the director of WINMEC (Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium), a UCLA-based university, industry, and government collaboration with the objective to advance technological and business research and educate its members on state-of-the art in wireless and mobile industries. The organization, which holds regular consortia, will host an RFID Industry Forum on campus October 26 to discuss where the technology stands today with respect to actual usage, successes and failures, how RFID projects are justified, and how RFID is actually being implemented. For more details, visit http://www.winmec.ucla.edu/ or http://www.wireless.ucla.edu/rfid/20. |
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Prof. Laurent Pilon Selected as Winner of the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award October 11, 2005
Congratulations to Prof. Laurent Pilon who has been selected as a winner of the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award. Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Awards acknowledge outstanding instructors, selected by their peers, who influence curriculum and research into technologies that develop our future employees and contribute to our programs. For more information about Prof. Pilon's research visit his website at: http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~pilon/ |
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Dr. Vincent Gau 2005 Selected as Winner of the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award October 11, 2005
Dr. Vincent Gau has been selected as the winner of the 2005 Distinguished Young Alumnus Award by the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Gau received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering with Prof. Chih-Ming Ho as his advisor and currently serves on our Alumni Advisory Board. He is Founder and CEO of GeneFluidics, Inc. |
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The Golem Group/UCLA entry has been selected as one of the 23 finalists to the $2M Darpa Grand Challenge October 06, 2005
The Golem Group/UCLA entry has been selected as one of the 23 finalists to the $2M Darpa Grand Challenge. Involved in the project is UCLA faculty Prof. Emilio Frazzoli and Stefano Soatto (CS). The DARPA Grand Challenge final event will be held Saturday, October 8, in the Mojave Desert near Primm, Nevada. The finalists will traverse a rugged desert course that features lakebeds, narrow desert roads, tight turns, tunnels, gateways and treacherous mountain passes. The actual course will not be revealed to teams until two hours before the event begins at approximately 6:30 a.m. (PDT). The team whose vehicle traverses the entire course the fastest in under ten hours will win $2 million. The race was held for the first time in March 2004 and none of the contestants traveled farther than 7.4 miles. The Golem Group/UCLA team did well: 5.2 miles, and the best result on a basis of "miles traveled per dollar spent." For pictures of the Golem 1 and Golem 2 visit The Golem Group/UCLA website at: http://www.golemgroup.com/ For Daily updates from "DARPA Grand Challenge" visit: http://www.grandchallenge.org/ Let's wish them well for the first place win! |
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