UC scientists and researchers discussed fire in the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, at the second UC wildfire symposium Wednesday. UC President Michael Drake began by explaining what was discussed in the first wildfire symposium before touching on the WUI, where the built environment comes in contact with the natural lands. “Here in California, we are seeing firsthand …
Nature’s unsung superheroes? Mushrooms!
While Fiat Vox is on summer break, we have been revisiting some of our favorite episodes. In this episode, first released in 2018, we talk with then-Ph.D. candidate Sonia Travaglini, who is now on staff at the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership at Berkeley, about how we could use fungi to mitigate all sorts of …
The Art of Engineering: Berkeley Engineering alum blurs the line between art and science
Is engineering an art or a science? Most of us would place it firmly in the latter camp: with the careful application of specific rules and factors, it’s a broad discipline based on scientific and mathematic principles. But at least one Berkeley Engineering alumnus sees it differently. Alireza Lahijanian (B.S.’09, M.S.’10 ME) is the co-founder of …
Humans of Fung: Hector Gomez, MEng ’21
Hector Gomez is a recent Berkeley MEng graduate who studied Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Controls of Robotic and Autonomous Systems. For his undergraduate degree, he studied Mechanical Engineering at San Jose State University. Here, he shares what inspired him to pursue a Master of Engineering degree as a first-generation student, DACA recipient, and …
Insect-sized robot navigates mazes with the agility of a cheetah
Many insects and spiders get their uncanny ability to scurry up walls and walk upside down on ceilings with the help of specialized sticky footpads that allow them to adhere to surfaces in places where no human would dare to go. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have used the principle behind these some …
ME Assistant Professor Hannah Stuart Named One of Six 2021 Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D Scholars
Garnering more than 650 applications from 40 countries, the Company recognizes female researchers for their groundbreaking work in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Manufacturing and Design (STEM2D). Each recipient will receive $150,000 in funding and three years of mentorship from Johnson & Johnson to investigate optimizing cancer immunotherapy, reducing health and climate impacts of plastic, promoting …
Join Us as We Celebrate the 2021 Berkeley Engineering Graduates!
Congratulations 2021 graduates! The College of Engineering is hosting virtual commencement ceremonies for eligible students, their family and friends on Thursday, May 20. All undergraduate and graduate students graduating in Fall 2020, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 are eligible to participate.
Fung Feature: Shreyas Bhayana, MEng ’19
Shreyas graduated from the Berkeley MEng program in 2019 with a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and concentration in product design. Here, he shares about his journey through the MEng program, his current work, and his advice for future students.
Tam Union Board Renames Drake School for ME Alum Archie Williams
The trustees of the Tamalpais Union High School District have approved Archie Williams High School as the new name to replace Sir Francis Drake, the San Anselmo high school’s moniker for the past 70 years. The 5-0 vote on Tuesday, after more than an hour of public comment, followed last Thursday’s near-unanimous choice of Williams by the …
ME Ph.D. Student Yakira Mirabito Receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Among universities across the nation, UC Berkeley has historically topped the list of National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows. This prestigious and competitive fellowship provides significant funding over one to three years, allowing students to pursue important research in fields ranging from cognitive neuroscience and bioengineering to public policy and particle physics. Since 2015, the …
Announcing Sharjeel Laeeq as 2021 Jengyee Prize Recipient
Congratulations to Sharjeel Laeeq for winning the 2021 Jengyee Prize, Leadership for a Better World scholarship. Sharjeel is a graduating senior in Mechanical Engineering who recently helped a neglected town in Pakistan to install a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system to provide more clean drinking water to residents utilizing his own funds. He plans to further expand his efforts this summer. Sharjeel also serves as …
Introducing UC Berkeley’s interim head of undergraduate education: ME Professor Oliver O’Reilly
Chancellor Carol T. Christ and Paul Alivisatos, executive vice chancellor and provost, sent the following message to the campus community on We are pleased to announce that Oliver M. O’Reilly has agreed to serve as interim vice provost for undergraduate education. This appointment is effective on July 1, 2021. Oliver is a professor in the …
ME Ph.D. Student George Moore Receives 2021-22 University of California Dissertation-Year Fellowship
ME Ph.D. student George Moore has been selected to receive a 2021-22 University of California Dissertation-Year Fellowship. The fellowship is open to graduate students in academic Ph.D. programs who demonstrate strong potential for university teaching and research, and who are in their final year of dissertation work. Congratulations, George!
Led by ME Undergrad Christian Nisperos, Blockeley’s back, with an 1893 campus and a Bancroft Library archive
Last year’s mock commencement at Blockeley University, a fantastical virtual model of UC Berkeley created in the Minecraft video game, made headlines as an imaginative response to the COVID-era postponement of Berkeley’s 2020 graduation ceremony.
Watch Now: Perspectives on Future Challenges in Commercial Aviation and Aerospace Engineering
The Department of Mechanical Engineering presents “Perspectives on Future Challenges in Commercial Aviation and Aerospace Engineering.” The webinar will feature Naveed Hussain, chief technology officer, vice president and general manager at Boeing Research & Technology, and Howard McKenzie, vice president and chief engineer at Boeing Global Services, in conversation with mechanical engineering professor Panos Papadopoulos. …
ME Professors Grace Gu and Somayeh Sojoudi Win 2021 ONR Young Investigator Award
ME Microkit Team Wins Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times Award
The transition to remote instruction posed a serious threat to the Mechanical Engineering Department’s ability to effectively teach hands-on engineering. At its core, mechanical engineering is a fundamentally physical subject, and we recognized the need for a set of tools to enable remote instruction of hardware concepts. Our team of engineering faculty, staff, and students …
ME Graduate Student Paige Balcom Wins Lemelson-MIT Student Prize
Paige Balcom is a lifelong engineer, beginning as an “Inventioneer” in middle school and later winning the 2010 FIRSTLEGO League World Championship with her teammates. She earned a full academic scholarship to study mechanical engineering at the University of New Hampshire where she joined Engineers Without Borders. Her work with Engineers Without Borders led to …
Meet our new faculty: Saikat Chaudhuri, engineering and business
Name: Saikat Chaudhuri (he/him) Discipline: Business and engineering Degrees: B.S., mechanical engineering, B.S., economics, multinational management, University of Pennsylvania, 1997; M.S., manufacturing systems engineering, Stanford, 1998; D.B.A., technology and operations management, Harvard, 2004 Research interests: Corporate growth and innovation strategies, particularly high-tech mergers and acquisitions, high-value strategic partnerships and outsourcing, and technological innovation in dynamic environments. Fun fact: I like to think …
The ‘Iron Man’ body armour many of us may soon be wearing
Imagine wearing high-tech body armour that makes you super strong and tireless. Such technology, more specifically called an exoskeleton, sounds like the preserve of the Iron Man series of superhero movies. Yet the equipment is increasingly being worn in real life around the world. And one manufacturer – California’s SuitX – expects it to go …
Fung Feature: Danny Ma, MEng ’21
Danny Ma is a current Berkeley MEng candidate in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Advanced Energy Technology. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington for his undergraduate degree and has previous work experience at WindAid Institute, Washington Clean Energy Testbed, Cozeye, and BioArchos. Here, he shares insights in the renewable energy sphere, …
UC Berkeley researchers create robotic guide dog for visually impaired people
As UC Berkeley Ph.D. student Jun Zeng puts on a blindfold, he is led by a guide dog through a maze of cardboard boxes. They reach a narrow path, and the guide dog pauses, readjusts, then pulls on the leash to let Zeng know it is safe to continue. But this is no ordinary guide …
Berkeley Engineers Demonstrate Unprecedented Control of Light With a New Quantum Device
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new device that allows at-will control over the quantum behavior of single particles of light, or photons, a proof-of-principle demonstration that could form the basis of new optics-based gates for powerful quantum technologies.
Cal Alumni Association Spotlight: Miller Allen
Alumni Spotlight Introducing… Miller Allen B.S. ’93, M.S. ’95 Ph.D. ’02 Mechanical Engineering I was born in Berkeley and raised in Oakland where I still live with my wife and two children. My parents, godmother, and uncle all attended Cal, and I wanted to attend Cal from as early as I can remember. I also …
Meet our new faculty: Alexis Kaminski, mechanical engineering
Name: Alexis Kaminski (she/her) Discipline: Mechanical engineering Degrees: B.S. and M.S., Mechanical engineering, University of Alberta, 2010, 2012; Ph.D., applied mathematics and theoretical physics, University of Cambridge, 2017 Research interests: Geophysical and environmental fluid dynamics — the physics of how fluids flow in the natural environment. I focus on waves, instabilities and turbulence in stratified flows, in many cases inspired by ocean observations. …