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4 engineeringNews
POPQUIZ
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
engineeringNews
10394.qxd:Layout 1 8/7/07 6:07 PM Page 1
Published biweekly on Thursdays during the academic year bythe Engineering Marketing and Communications Office, Collegeof Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.
Copy deadline is 4:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding publication.
Rachel Shafermanaging editor and writer
Megan Mansell Williamsreporter
S. Shankar Sastrydean
Karen Rhodesexecutive director, marketing and communications
avey earned his B.S. in chemistryfrom Old Dominion University
(Norfolk, Virginia) in 2001 and hisPh.D. in chemistry from Stanford in2005. In 2006, he joined the Berkeleyfaculty. His research focuses on high-performance nanoelectronics, flexibleelectronics, novel biological and chem-ical sensors, electron transport innanoscale, hierarchical assembly ofnanostructures and nanofabrication.
Call him: Ali
Teaching this fall: EE 143,Microfabrication Technology
Office hours: Monday, 10:30 to11:30 a.m.
Earliest science experiment: “Ihad Legos as a kid and I likedto hook them to light bulbs. Intrying to get them to work, Iaccidentally electrocutedmyself. Multiple times.”
When people find out heteaches at Berkeley: “Theysay, ‘Wow, really? But youlook like a student.’ I look young, Iknow. But since coming to Berkeley,I think I’ve aged some.”
Biggest problem facing his field:“Electrical engineering is evolvingso fast, and we at Berkeley need tobe in front of the field. We’realways asking ourselves, what will itlook like 50 years from now? Weknow silicon electronics will stillplay a major role 10 years hence,but our job is to be thinking:What’s after that? What’s the nextbig thing? I don’t know for sure,but I think new materials will playa major role in further enhancingthe functionality of devices that arebased on silicon.”
Has a weakness for: Dark chocolate.
How students today differ from hisstudent days: “Well, it wasn’t thatlong ago that I was a student, so Ithink we’re pretty similar actually. Ifeel like I can relate. Right beforeexams, I know what students are
going through; and for graduatestudents, I know what it’s like whenresearch isn’t going well.”
Ringtone on his iPhone: “I got thisiPhone because of peer pressurefrom other EE faculty. They keptshowing me what it could do. So Ihad to get it. Normally my phone ison mute, but during the summerthe ringtone is ‘Marimba.’”
If he could teach any course:“Chemistry for electrical engineers.I think chemistry will play a largerand larger role for electrical engi-neers. My background is in chem-istry; I actually don’t have anydegrees in electrical engineering.The class would link my past andpresent.”
In his spare time: “I like to hike andexplore the Bay Area since I’m notfrom here originally. I’m Persian.”
Best thing about his job: “Academicfreedom! If I have an interestingidea, or if a student has an idea,we can explore it without gettingapproval from higher-ups. I also likeinteracting with students, especial-ly because Berkeley students are ofsuch good quality. Undergraduatestudents always challenge me withtheir questions, and graduate stu-dents often come up with newideas. It’s exciting.”
OFFICE HOURS
University of California, BerkeleyEngineering News312 McLaughlin HallBerkeley, California 94720-1704Phone: 510 642.5857Fax: 510 643.8882
www.coe.berkeley.edu/news-center/publications/engineering-news
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
An interview with EECS assistant professor Ali Javey
JIt’s an exciting time to be inWashington, D.C., right
now, and if you’re a WhiteHouse Fellow, you haveone of the best seats inthe house. Just ask BioEassociate professorDan Fletcher.
On sabbatical this year,Fletcher is one of 14 fellows
appointed by President Bush toparticipate in the highly prestigious
program, which started September 1 andruns through August. Each fellow works full time as a paidspecial assistant to a cabinet member or senior presiden-tial advisor. They also participate in roundtable discussionsand travel outside the capital to examine federal policy atwork nationally and internationally.
Fletcher works in the Office of Science and TechnologyPolicy, which directly advises the president. One ofFletcher’s high points, he says, has been a two-and-a-halfhour meeting with President Bush.)
“This experience is giving me a much better perspectiveon how scientists and engineers can — and must — par-ticipate in the political process in order to address nationalproblems and support the need for basic research,”Fletcher e-mails from D.C. “If academic researchers canlearn how the government works and how to build coali-tions that address real problems, we can have a significantand important impact on the way our country runs.”
RACHELSHAFER
PHOTO
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:11 PM Page 1
Edward Skjefte,EECS junior
“I haven’t had tofurkey,but it just sounds weird.”
Debra Zepeda,CEE sophomore
“Turkey. I’m not a bigfan of tofu.”
Courtney King,CEE junior
“Definitely tofurkey. It’ssurprisingly better thanexpected. I don’t eat
meat. It’s bad for every-one, including the turkey.”
Clarissa Harrison,ME sophomore“I don’t eat tofuon principle.”
This sushi makesa good drink
ere’s howCEE senior
Jessica Huangexplains it:
In the 1980s and90s, the Cambod-ian governmentand other organi-zations launchedwell-meaningcampaigns toinstall wells inrural villages,sometimes onewell for every twohomes. Clean
water became plentiful and convenient, and thewells turned into prized community possessions.
But, in an unfortunate accident of geography,some sources of Cambodia’s groundwater con-tain dangerous levels of naturally occurringarsenic, a fact not discovered until later. A taste-less, colorless, odorless chemical, arsenic remainsin the body once ingested and slowly poisons it,causing disfiguring lesions, cancers and, in somecases, death. Two million Cambodians are at risk.
KHMER BEAR: An arsenic removalproject called “Sushi 4.0” took CEEsenior Jessica Huang to ruralCambodian villages this summer.
This
Thanksgiving,
will it be turkey
or tofurkey?
Continued on page 2
NOVEMBER 13, 2008 VOL. 79, NO. 7F
RACHELSHAFER
PHOTO
RACHELSHAFER
PHOTO
FACE FIRST: BioE sophomore Hinesh Patel flies down 4.0 Hill on a
block of ice. Patel and other Tau Beta Pi members spent the after-
noon of October 18 iceblocking — the sport of sliding down grassy
hills on blocks of ice. (You actually sit or lie on a towel, then on the
ice.) Patel, who tried the activity for the first time, reports, “It was
kind of scary but also exhilarating.”
NO SNOW. NO SLED. NO PROBLEM.
H
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:12 PM Page 2
3engineeringNews
Get the complete College calendar atwww.coe.berkeley.edu/events.
2 engineeringNews
<announcements>10394.qxd:Layout 1 8/7/07 6:07 PM Page 3
Now there’s an effort to right the wrongwithout destroying a useful infrastructure.Enter Huang. She’s part of a Berkeley studentteam guided by Energy and Resources Groupadjunct professor Ashok Gadgil. Theiranswer may be “sushi.”
Sushi 4.0—as the team calls its prototypebuilt from layers of rolled iron sheets—removes arsenic from water in a low-costprocess called electrochemical arsenic reme-diation. Small amounts of electricity contin-uously dissolve the sheets of iron, formingrust. Rust absorbs the arsenic. The device, inits final form, will filter out the arsenic-ladenrust or facilitate its settling.
Huang spent a month in Cambodia thissummer helping her team test the prototypeand study its implementation in partnershipwith local contacts.
“What do you tell people [who havearsenic in their water supply] when theyhave no alternative? Don’t use the water?That’s why we want to get something outthere to them,” she says.
Her involvement began in ER 291, Designfor Sustainable Communities, a class shetook from Gadgil last spring. His assign-ment: build a working prototype based ongroundbreaking technology that had alreadybeen developed at the Lawrence BerkeleyNational Laboratory. To meet design goals,the device had to produce less than 120 mil-ligrams of waste per person per day.
While advanced technologies exist foreliminating arsenic from water, ruralCambodia presents several design chal-lenges. The solution must be durable (can itsurvive a mountain trek and river crossing?),cost pennies per person per day, and requirelittle maintenance. It must be designed sothat users can maintain it and becomevested owners.
Long story short: After hours and hours inthe lab, after several prototype ideas and iter-ations, the team flew Sushi 4.0 to Cambodia,and the device yielded encouraging results.Huang’s group is now developing a licensingstrategy so their solution can be scaled up formanufacturing. (Huang also majors in busi-ness administration.)
For her part in the team project, Huangwas awarded a J.W. Saxe Prize for PublicService this spring and pooled the $2,000award that came with it back into theresearch. She will graduate in December afterpassing the team’s knowledge on to newstudent researchers (Interested? [email protected].) but is taking withher a new appreciation for water.
Arsenic remediationContinued from page 1
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
Get in the News! Win an award? Have an event you’d like
publicized? Want to write for us? E-mail the editorof Engineering News,
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:12 PM Page 3
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
Intern during the semesterNow you can do a six- to seven-month extended internship at aleading biotech company through the Bioengineering Coopera-tive Education Internship Program! Take a semester off to work atone of the preapproved companies and get guaranteed readmis-sion when you return. All majors welcome. Application deadline isMONDAY, NOVEMBER 17. Learn more and apply now athttp://bioeng.berkeley.edu/coop/students.php.
Public Utilities Career FairDon’t miss this career fair on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, whichbegins with a presentation at 5 p.m. in 502 Davis Hall. The event ishosted by the Cal chapters of Chi Epsilon and the AmericanSociety of Civil Engineers. Companies attending include EBMUD,CalTrans and the California State Public Utilities Commission. Formore information, e-mail [email protected].
Fall Poster SessionCome see groundbreaking undergraduate research! The Fall ’08Engineering and Science Poster Session will be held THURSDAY,NOVEMBER 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of HearstMemorial Mining Building. Undergraduate researchers will dis-play posters explaining their work and be on hand to answer ques-tions. For more information, go to www.coe.berkeley.edu/students/uro-poster.
Network with industry repsEnjoy a fine meal and rub elbows with more than 18 companyrepresentatives at “Evening with Industry,” hosted by Cal’s chap-ter of the Society of Women Engineers. The event will take placeTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 6 p.m., at HS Lordship’s Restaurantin Berkeley. For tickets and details, e-mail event organizers [email protected].
Invention competitionSubmit your idea for a great invention to Absolutely New’s FirstAnnual Student Invention Competition. The first place winnerwill receive intellectual property protection, market research,product development and marketing help valued at $20,000.Deadline to apply is SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30. For application anddetails, go to www.absolutelynew.com/contest/.
ASUC grantsIf you or your student organization need money for travel, proj-ects or programs, consider applying for ASUC grants. The dead-lines are approaching! Go to www.asuc.org/grants for details andapplication information.
Career Center in your inboxSign up for Engineering CareerMail through Callisto and receivebiweekly notices about workshops, career fairs, infosessions andmore. http://career.berkeley.edu/
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:12 PM Page 4
3engineeringNews
Get the complete College calendar atwww.coe.berkeley.edu/events.
2 engineeringNews
<announcements>10394.qxd:Layout 1 8/7/07 6:07 PM Page 3
Now there’s an effort to right the wrongwithout destroying a useful infrastructure.Enter Huang. She’s part of a Berkeley studentteam guided by Energy and Resources Groupadjunct professor Ashok Gadgil. Theiranswer may be “sushi.”
Sushi 4.0—as the team calls its prototypebuilt from layers of rolled iron sheets—removes arsenic from water in a low-costprocess called electrochemical arsenic reme-diation. Small amounts of electricity contin-uously dissolve the sheets of iron, formingrust. Rust absorbs the arsenic. The device, inits final form, will filter out the arsenic-ladenrust or facilitate its settling.
Huang spent a month in Cambodia thissummer helping her team test the prototypeand study its implementation in partnershipwith local contacts.
“What do you tell people [who havearsenic in their water supply] when theyhave no alternative? Don’t use the water?That’s why we want to get something outthere to them,” she says.
Her involvement began in ER 291, Designfor Sustainable Communities, a class shetook from Gadgil last spring. His assign-ment: build a working prototype based ongroundbreaking technology that had alreadybeen developed at the Lawrence BerkeleyNational Laboratory. To meet design goals,the device had to produce less than 120 mil-ligrams of waste per person per day.
While advanced technologies exist foreliminating arsenic from water, ruralCambodia presents several design chal-lenges. The solution must be durable (can itsurvive a mountain trek and river crossing?),cost pennies per person per day, and requirelittle maintenance. It must be designed sothat users can maintain it and becomevested owners.
Long story short: After hours and hours inthe lab, after several prototype ideas and iter-ations, the team flew Sushi 4.0 to Cambodia,and the device yielded encouraging results.Huang’s group is now developing a licensingstrategy so their solution can be scaled up formanufacturing. (Huang also majors in busi-ness administration.)
For her part in the team project, Huangwas awarded a J.W. Saxe Prize for PublicService this spring and pooled the $2,000award that came with it back into theresearch. She will graduate in December afterpassing the team’s knowledge on to newstudent researchers (Interested? [email protected].) but is taking withher a new appreciation for water.
Arsenic remediationContinued from page 1
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
Get in the News! Win an award? Have an event you’d like
publicized? Want to write for us? E-mail the editorof Engineering News,
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:12 PM Page 3
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
Intern during the semesterNow you can do a six- to seven-month extended internship at aleading biotech company through the Bioengineering Coopera-tive Education Internship Program! Take a semester off to work atone of the preapproved companies and get guaranteed readmis-sion when you return. All majors welcome. Application deadline isMONDAY, NOVEMBER 17. Learn more and apply now athttp://bioeng.berkeley.edu/coop/students.php.
Public Utilities Career FairDon’t miss this career fair on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, whichbegins with a presentation at 5 p.m. in 502 Davis Hall. The event ishosted by the Cal chapters of Chi Epsilon and the AmericanSociety of Civil Engineers. Companies attending include EBMUD,CalTrans and the California State Public Utilities Commission. Formore information, e-mail [email protected].
Fall Poster SessionCome see groundbreaking undergraduate research! The Fall ’08Engineering and Science Poster Session will be held THURSDAY,NOVEMBER 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of HearstMemorial Mining Building. Undergraduate researchers will dis-play posters explaining their work and be on hand to answer ques-tions. For more information, go to www.coe.berkeley.edu/students/uro-poster.
Network with industry repsEnjoy a fine meal and rub elbows with more than 18 companyrepresentatives at “Evening with Industry,” hosted by Cal’s chap-ter of the Society of Women Engineers. The event will take placeTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 6 p.m., at HS Lordship’s Restaurantin Berkeley. For tickets and details, e-mail event organizers [email protected].
Invention competitionSubmit your idea for a great invention to Absolutely New’s FirstAnnual Student Invention Competition. The first place winnerwill receive intellectual property protection, market research,product development and marketing help valued at $20,000.Deadline to apply is SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30. For application anddetails, go to www.absolutelynew.com/contest/.
ASUC grantsIf you or your student organization need money for travel, proj-ects or programs, consider applying for ASUC grants. The dead-lines are approaching! Go to www.asuc.org/grants for details andapplication information.
Career Center in your inboxSign up for Engineering CareerMail through Callisto and receivebiweekly notices about workshops, career fairs, infosessions andmore. http://career.berkeley.edu/
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:12 PM Page 4
engineeringNews
<of note>
4 engineeringNews
POPQUIZ
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
engineeringNews
10394.qxd:Layout 1 8/7/07 6:07 PM Page 1
Published biweekly on Thursdays during the academic year bythe Engineering Marketing and Communications Office, Collegeof Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.
Copy deadline is 4:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding publication.
Rachel Shafermanaging editor and writer
Megan Mansell Williamsreporter
S. Shankar Sastrydean
Karen Rhodesexecutive director, marketing and communications
avey earned his B.S. in chemistryfrom Old Dominion University
(Norfolk, Virginia) in 2001 and hisPh.D. in chemistry from Stanford in2005. In 2006, he joined the Berkeleyfaculty. His research focuses on high-performance nanoelectronics, flexibleelectronics, novel biological and chem-ical sensors, electron transport innanoscale, hierarchical assembly ofnanostructures and nanofabrication.
Call him: Ali
Teaching this fall: EE 143,Microfabrication Technology
Office hours: Monday, 10:30 to11:30 a.m.
Earliest science experiment: “Ihad Legos as a kid and I likedto hook them to light bulbs. Intrying to get them to work, Iaccidentally electrocutedmyself. Multiple times.”
When people find out heteaches at Berkeley: “Theysay, ‘Wow, really? But youlook like a student.’ I look young, Iknow. But since coming to Berkeley,I think I’ve aged some.”
Biggest problem facing his field:“Electrical engineering is evolvingso fast, and we at Berkeley need tobe in front of the field. We’realways asking ourselves, what will itlook like 50 years from now? Weknow silicon electronics will stillplay a major role 10 years hence,but our job is to be thinking:What’s after that? What’s the nextbig thing? I don’t know for sure,but I think new materials will playa major role in further enhancingthe functionality of devices that arebased on silicon.”
Has a weakness for: Dark chocolate.
How students today differ from hisstudent days: “Well, it wasn’t thatlong ago that I was a student, so Ithink we’re pretty similar actually. Ifeel like I can relate. Right beforeexams, I know what students are
going through; and for graduatestudents, I know what it’s like whenresearch isn’t going well.”
Ringtone on his iPhone: “I got thisiPhone because of peer pressurefrom other EE faculty. They keptshowing me what it could do. So Ihad to get it. Normally my phone ison mute, but during the summerthe ringtone is ‘Marimba.’”
If he could teach any course:“Chemistry for electrical engineers.I think chemistry will play a largerand larger role for electrical engi-neers. My background is in chem-istry; I actually don’t have anydegrees in electrical engineering.The class would link my past andpresent.”
In his spare time: “I like to hike andexplore the Bay Area since I’m notfrom here originally. I’m Persian.”
Best thing about his job: “Academicfreedom! If I have an interestingidea, or if a student has an idea,we can explore it without gettingapproval from higher-ups. I also likeinteracting with students, especial-ly because Berkeley students are ofsuch good quality. Undergraduatestudents always challenge me withtheir questions, and graduate stu-dents often come up with newideas. It’s exciting.”
OFFICE HOURS
University of California, BerkeleyEngineering News312 McLaughlin HallBerkeley, California 94720-1704Phone: 510 642.5857Fax: 510 643.8882
www.coe.berkeley.edu/news-center/publications/engineering-news
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
An interview with EECS assistant professor Ali Javey
JIt’s an exciting time to be inWashington, D.C., right
now, and if you’re a WhiteHouse Fellow, you haveone of the best seats inthe house. Just ask BioEassociate professorDan Fletcher.
On sabbatical this year,Fletcher is one of 14 fellows
appointed by President Bush toparticipate in the highly prestigious
program, which started September 1 andruns through August. Each fellow works full time as a paidspecial assistant to a cabinet member or senior presiden-tial advisor. They also participate in roundtable discussionsand travel outside the capital to examine federal policy atwork nationally and internationally.
Fletcher works in the Office of Science and TechnologyPolicy, which directly advises the president. One ofFletcher’s high points, he says, has been a two-and-a-halfhour meeting with President Bush.)
“This experience is giving me a much better perspectiveon how scientists and engineers can — and must — par-ticipate in the political process in order to address nationalproblems and support the need for basic research,”Fletcher e-mails from D.C. “If academic researchers canlearn how the government works and how to build coali-tions that address real problems, we can have a significantand important impact on the way our country runs.”
RACHELSHAFER
PHOTO
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:11 PM Page 1
Edward Skjefte,EECS junior
“I haven’t had tofurkey,but it just sounds weird.”
Debra Zepeda,CEE sophomore
“Turkey. I’m not a bigfan of tofu.”
Courtney King,CEE junior
“Definitely tofurkey. It’ssurprisingly better thanexpected. I don’t eat
meat. It’s bad for every-one, including the turkey.”
Clarissa Harrison,ME sophomore“I don’t eat tofuon principle.”
This sushi makesa good drink
ere’s howCEE senior
Jessica Huangexplains it:
In the 1980s and90s, the Cambod-ian governmentand other organi-zations launchedwell-meaningcampaigns toinstall wells inrural villages,sometimes onewell for every twohomes. Clean
water became plentiful and convenient, and thewells turned into prized community possessions.
But, in an unfortunate accident of geography,some sources of Cambodia’s groundwater con-tain dangerous levels of naturally occurringarsenic, a fact not discovered until later. A taste-less, colorless, odorless chemical, arsenic remainsin the body once ingested and slowly poisons it,causing disfiguring lesions, cancers and, in somecases, death. Two million Cambodians are at risk.
KHMER BEAR: An arsenic removalproject called “Sushi 4.0” took CEEsenior Jessica Huang to ruralCambodian villages this summer.
This
Thanksgiving,
will it be turkey
or tofurkey?
Continued on page 2
NOVEMBER 13, 2008 VOL. 79, NO. 7F
RACHELSHAFER
PHOTO
RACHELSHAFER
PHOTO
FACE FIRST: BioE sophomore Hinesh Patel flies down 4.0 Hill on a
block of ice. Patel and other Tau Beta Pi members spent the after-
noon of October 18 iceblocking — the sport of sliding down grassy
hills on blocks of ice. (You actually sit or lie on a towel, then on the
ice.) Patel, who tried the activity for the first time, reports, “It was
kind of scary but also exhilarating.”
NO SNOW. NO SLED. NO PROBLEM.
H
Issue 7F November 13.qxp 11/10/2008 12:12 PM Page 2
