News
ME Adjunct Professor Ravi Prasher Elected Lifetime Fellow of AAAS
Six UC Berkeley researchers have been elected 2023 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. The honorees, announced today (Thursday, April 18), are among 502 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.
Read MoreMeet our new faculty: Tom Schutzius, mechanical engineering
Name: Tom Schutzius (he/him) Discipline: Mechanical engineering Degrees: B.Sc. in Mechanical engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago; Ph.D. in Mechanical engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Research interests: Through experimental investigations, we explore how surfaces and bulk materials can be (nano)engineered to enhance micro/nanoscale and interfacial transport, and based on our findings, we develop and fine-tune materials and…
Read MoreBioinspired design reduces drag and noise production for towed sonar arrays
Submarines and ships rely on towed sonar arrays (TSAs) for underwater exploration and security operations, but dragging these sensors through water, especially at high cruising speeds, creates excess noise that can mask target signals and compromise the sonar’s detection capabilities. Now, a team of Berkeley engineers is attempting to solve this problem with a little…
Read MoreIt’s Archie! Contest ends to name UC Berkeley’s new male peregrine falcon
Archie Williams, a Berkeley alumnus who ran fast enough to earn Olympic gold in 1936 and then flew U.S. Air Force planes during World War II has a new namesake — the new male peregrine falcon at UC Berkeley. Votes in a public contest that ended yesterday to name the raptor — Annie the falcon’s…
Read MoreResearchers explore the phenomenon of holonomy
BB-8 of Star Wars fame is known for its adorable beeps, dome-shaped head and spherical body. But fighting alongside the Resistance is just one of its many talents. As this spherical robot rolls across surfaces, it’s exhibiting holonomy, a phenomenon in rigid body dynamics that Berkeley researchers think may have broad applications in real-life robotics.…
Read MoreThree UC Berkeley professors named to NAE
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced today that three UC Berkeley faculty members — Arpad Horvath, Ravi Prasher and Ion Stoica — have been elected to its ranks. Their election brings the number of engineering faculty members in the NAE to 76.
Read MoreSmall solar sails could be the next ‘giant leap’ for interplanetary space exploration
Nearly 70 years after the launch of the first satellite, we still have more questions than answers about space. But a team of Berkeley researchers is on a mission to change this with a proposal to build a fleet of low-cost, autonomous spacecraft, each weighing only 10 grams and propelled by nothing more than the…
Read MoreTwo UC Berkeley engineers elected to the National Academy of Inventors
UC Berkeley engineering professors Ashok Gadgil and Boris Rubinsky are among 162 inventors named 2023 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced today (Tuesday, Dec. 12). Election as a fellow in the academy is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors.
Read MoreA cool way to save coral
Coral is in crisis. Recent models estimate that 95% or more of the world’s coral could die by the mid-2030s due to climate change. But a new, rapid approach to coral preservation could help stem the tide. Technology discovered by Boris Rubinsky, Professor of the Graduate School at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and professor emeritus of…
Read MoreResearchers demonstrate new 3D printing technique for quantum sensors
Quantum sensing is an emerging field that holds great promise, but building the crystal substrate for these nanoscale sensors has proved challenging. Now, Berkeley researchers have developed a novel fabrication method to structure quantum sensing particles into complex 3D configurations that can accurately detect changes in temperature and magnetic fields in microscopic environments.
Read MoreBears in Business: Toby Ricco
UC Berkeley allowed Toby Ricco ’13, M.S. ’14 to pursue his passion for engineering. Since then, Ricco founded Bimotal, a company aimed at evolving electric powertrain technology.
Read MoreWhat It Takes to Grow Crystals in Space
ME Alum Debbie G. Senesky builds materials that can work on Venus.
Read MoreEntrepreneurship at Berkeley
Started at UC Berkeley, Squishy Robotics provides lifesaving and cost-saving information in real time through rapidly deployable mobile sensor robots. As a majority female-owned startup, they prioritize diversity and inclusion while creating technology for a range of applications on planet Earth.
Read MoreEse Asoro awarded the 2023–24 Murray Slater Foundation fellowship
Ese Asoro, MEng ’24 (ME) is the latest recipient of funding from the Murray Slater Foundation, an award he says means “the world” to him. Expressing his gratitude, Ese added while the award came as a surprise, it has enabled him to embark on this journey towards his master’s degree with excitement.
Read MoreME Assistant Professor Grace Gu Selected as Inaugural Recipient of the LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) today announced that Grace Gu, a faculty member in mechanical engineering at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative. The initiative is a joint endeavor between LLNL’s Strategic Deterrence Principal Directorate and UC national laboratories at the University of California Office of the…
Read More‘Shoulders to stand on’: Statue of campus’ first Black professor unveiled
In 1952, Joseph Thomas Gier became the first tenured Black professor in the University of California system and the second at any highly-ranked predominantly white university. Despite his historical significance, the record of his existence as a UC Berkeley professor of engineering became lost over time. After uncovering details of his past, a sculpture now…
Read More‘Reaching new heights’: STAR launches rockets, future careers
The first custom flight computer developed by Berkeley Space, Technologies and Rocketry, or STAR, will be tested this week. Conor Van Bibber, a deputy in the avionics specialty, is excited to see his hard work come to fruition. Since joining STAR in 2021, Van Bibber has been able to learn about a variety of specialties…
Read MoreUC Berkeley’s Big Ideas Contest Builds Student-Led Social Innovations
Paige Balcom, the co-founder, co-CEO and CTO of Takataka Plastics, is changing Uganda — one plastic bottle at a time. In 2017, Balcom, who earned her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, was settling into campus life after spending a year in Uganda on a Fulbright research grant. Only a month into…
Read MoreUC Berkeley MEng Class of 2024 Full-Time Profile
Each year, the UC Berkeley Master of Engineering (MEng) program admits students from around the world who go on to become leaders in their respective fields. With 40 countries represented in the Class of 2024, the Fung Institute welcomes a student body of technical leaders who come from many different backgrounds and perspectives. The class…
Read MoreU.S. News ranks Berkeley Mechanical Engineering undergrad program No. 3 in the nation
Berkeley Engineering continues to rank No. 3 in the top undergraduate engineering schools nationwide, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 undergraduate program rankings. The college also remains the top public engineering program, tied with Georgia Tech. While most of the individual undergraduate programs retained their 2023 positions, three moved up this year: materials engineering…
Read MoreBerkeley engineers partner with Siemens Energy on $3.7M DOE project to explore direct air capture for carbon sequestration
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Siemens Energy, Inc., and partners Constellation Energy, UC Berkeley and Battelle a $3.7 million grant to explore the feasibility of a multi-technology direct air capture (DAC) hub that will extract carbon dioxide directly from the air to help combat climate change. According to the DOE announcement, made Aug. 11, the Teras…
Read More‘Hidden Revolutionaries’: Campus alumni inducted into CA Hall of Fame
“Our state’s most revolutionary, innovative, and brightest” was the phrase Gov. Gavin Newsom used to describe the California Hall of Fame, according to a press release announcing its 16th class of inductees Aug. 14. Two of the seven remarkable inductees were UC Berkeley’s very own alumni — Olympic gold medalist and educator Archie Williams, ’39,…
Read MoreNew Technique Could Facilitate Rapid Cryopreservation of All Coral Species
Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) researchers have achieved a breakthrough in the fight to save the world’s coral reefs from climate change annihilation, and it may further the goal of cryopreserving human organs. In a paper published today, Aug. 23, in Nature Communications, Mary Hagedorn and E. Michael Henley, research scientists at NZCBI, and colleagues…
Read More‘Look to the atmosphere’: Campus researchers develop technology to collect clean water from fog
UC Berkeley researchers have developed a method of collecting and purifying water from fog, offering an alternative water source. Microscopic droplets of water can be harvested from fog as it passes through a mesh, which is coated with particles that degrade pollutants in the water, said Thomas Schutzius, assistant professor of mechanical engineering on campus…
Read MoreThis device from Berkeley’s Squishy Robotics looks like a toy, but acts like an action hero
A recently posted YouTube video shows a firefighter putting what looks like a toy, but is actually a robot, into a clear testing chamber. He fills the chamber with hydrogen gas, and then gleefully ignites the atmosphere. “You can guess what happens then — there’s a BIG boom,” said Alice Agogino. Agogino, the co-founder and CEO of Squishy…
Read MoreWhy wildfires are at their deadliest in more than a century
Washington Post: Large wildfires are happening more often because the hazards that trigger them — dry conditions, strong winds, plenty of stuff to burn — are becoming more common, says Michael Gollner, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who heads Berkeley’s Fire Research Lab.
Read MoreScientists develop parallel method for fog harvesting and water treatment
Fog harvesting offers regions devoid of lakes and rivers another source for freshwater, but in urban centers, where water is often scarce, there is the added challenge of air pollution. Now, researchers have developed a simple way to simultaneously collect water from fog and remove harmful contaminants, an advancement that could help provide millions of…
Read MoreCombining superlative AI research with Berkeley’s next unicorn
Shelton AI, a San Francisco-based start-up, is making waves in the financial world with its groundbreaking AI for sovereign wealth funds. Since its inception, Shelton AI has had major success by combining Berkeley’s top engineering talent with the highly regarded industry expertise of C-level executives from top sovereign wealth funds and financial firms. A deep…
Read More2023 Tillman Scholar: Gregory Zaborski Jr.
Gregory served as a infantry team leader in the Marine Corps, deploying in 2008 on the USS Tarawa with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and then in 2009 deploying to Helmand Province, Afghanistan for Operation Khanjar, the largest Marine offensive since the Battle of Fallujah and the biggest offensive airlift by the Marines since the…
Read MoreResearchers achieve extremely fast charging speeds for commercial lithium-ion batteries
For consumers considering an electric vehicle (EV), long charge times, some up to 12 hours, can be a deal-breaker. But researchers may have discovered a way to reduce the charging time of the lithium-ion batteries used in EVs to less than 15 minutes. Led by Ravi Prasher, adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley…
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