A giant microscope focusing on a strand of DNA that was made entirely from cans of food is the Bourns College entry in Canstruction, a nationwide contest combining the competitive spirit of a design/build competition with a unique way to help feed hungry people. Competing teams of professional and student architects and engineers design giant sculptures made entirely out of canned foods. Our student team won the Riverside Art Museum Award during the opening reception on May 8 at the museum. Team members are Amy Ferreira (team leader), Joshua Hockel, Naubahar Agha, Giovanni Denina and Amy Higa. In the photo (from right to left) are Amy Ferreira, Dean Abbaschian and his wife Janette Johnson, and Joshua Hockel. The team gives special thanks to Jun Wang, Shruthi Bala, Jesse Banuelos, David Bui, Catharine Hooker, Kevin Pauley, Chris Prasad, Christopher Webb, Eric Wittenmeyer and especially their sponsor, John Tavaglione, Riverside County Supervisor, Second District. UC Riverside researchers fight world hunger by studying plant DNA so they can cross different natural strains of food crops to develop new varieties with desirable qualities such as pest resistance and drought tolerance; detect bacteria in food supplies; test for allergens; and determine the nutritional content of grains. This information may be used by all countries to produce nutritious food in the most efficient and economical manner, optimizing the world’s resources. Over the weekend the displays will be carefully disassembled, and all food donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Riverside. Last year the contest yielded 17,000 pounds of food. As the number of teams participating doubled this year, the food donation is expected to double as well.
Undergrads spotlighted at symposium
May 2, 2008
One of the strengths of Bourns College of Engineering is the opportunity for undergraduates to participate in research with their professors. Several undergraduates were chosen to participate on May 2 in the second annual Symposium for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity. The symposium was designed to increase the visibility of undergraduate research and the commitment of faculty mentors at UCR by coordinating a professional conference setting in which undergraduate students present their research projects and creative activities. Undergraduates displayed their research in oral presentations, a poster session and performance presentations. One was Jonas Gutierrez, pictured giving an oral presentation.
CEE profs harnessing the sun
April 30, 2008
Chemical and Environmental Engineering faculty members Sharon Walker (l.) and David Cwiertny (r.) have received funding from the USDA for a three-year project to investigate natural processes that lead to disinfection of pathogens in water supplies, especially those driven by sunlight. In their study titled “Photochemical disinfection of pathogens: influence of extracellular polymeric substances on bactericidal capacity of reactive oxygen species” they seek to understand the combination of factors which contribute to the fate of agriculturally introduced bacterial pathogens such as E. coli occurring by photochemical disinfection. Walker and Cwiertny propose that if they can understand how nature does it, they will be able to develop simple and sustainable approaches for water treatment.
NSF funds Chen’s collaborative proposal
April 24, 2008
Wilfred Chen, professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, leads a team that is developing a genetically programmable module for screening of protease inhibitors. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding the collaborative study; other members of the team are Chemical and Environmental Engineering Professor Ashok Mulchandani, Bioengineering Professor Jiayu Liao, and Marylynn Yates, Professor of Environmental Microbiology.
The study, titled “A Genetically Programmable Module for Screening of Protease Inhibitors based on Quantum Dot-Donor Fluorescense Resonance Energy Transfer”, investigates protease inhibitors, a class of medication used to treat infections by viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis C. It will provide a better understanding of the disease development process and identify targets for drug treatment.
Alumni Engineers Return for Career Night Assignment
April 17, 2008
Abbott Vascular was one of 17 tech firms getting special attention from engineering students during Career Night, April 16 at the UCR Recreation Center.
Anthony Oshinuga (left) and Mark C. Johnson (right) both made the journey from their Abbott workplace in Temecula, where they are engineers in the Manufacturing Cardiac Therapies Division, to recruit other Bourns College of Engineering students.
Oshinuga graduated in 2006 with a BS in mechanical engineering. Johnson earned his MS in mechanical engineering that same year.
Carl M. Burke, (pictured at right on previous page) Abbott Vascular’s recruiting manager for California, said his company has had great success recruiting at UCR. He added that when the company began to shift its recruiting focus to larger engineering programs he resisted.
“I like graduates here because they have a good grounding in academics, but they are also likely to have had practical experience,” Burke said. “As a manufacturer, that is right up our alley.”
All UCR majors were welcome at Career Night. More than 120 companies and organizations were present, offering full time career positions, internships and summer opportunities. At a last-minute preparation meeting earlier that morning at the Career Center job-seekers were advised to bring an ample supply of resumes, and corporate business attire was strongly recommended. Students had the opportunity to submit their resumes prior to the event to the Career Night employers of their choice.
Walker named top in engineering, science leadership
April 15, 2008
Sharon Walker, Assistant Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, was chosen as the top female leader in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in the fields of engineering, science, technology and math by the San Gorgonio Girl Scout Council. She was honored at at the Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon on April 16 in Riverside.
Dr. Walker has two B.S. degrees in Environmental Studies and Environmental Engineering from USC, and an M.S. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Yale. She holds the John Babbage Chair at the Bourns College of Engineering. She is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, and is currently an advisor to its UCR student chapter. She has acted as advisor to the UCR student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, organizers of Bourns Space, Science and Engineering Day, for the past three years. During her years as a Girl Scout, she earned her Gold Award. She has also been involved with Minds for Design and Engineering IT Camp, two Girl Scout summer programs where participants solve practical problems by thinking like engineers.
The Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon honorees are chosen for making a significant impact in their community by demonstrating the ideals of Girl Scouting; their contributions inspire girls to develop into successful and confident young women.
“Dr. Walker is recognized for making outstanding achievements in her professional and personal lives that embody the Girl Scout ideal of courage, confidence and character,” said Jessica Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer of the San Gorgonio Council. She is pictured at right in the photo. Dr. Walker is at left, and Jan Solecki, San Gorgonio Council Board Chairman/President is at center.
Kids are space scientists and engineers for a day
April 15, 2008
A capacity crowd of Girl Scouts and other children from the community took a virtual tour into space on the afternoon of April 12. The UCR chapter of the Society of Women Engineers presented a free hands-on space science and engineering event for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Elementary, Middle, and High School aged participants. Girl Scouts were able to earn an event patch and work towards a badge. Highlights included talks and question and answer sessions by Astronaut Alvin Drew and NASA Planetary Scientist Dr. Jennifer Heldmann.
Fun, hands-on activity centers for a variety of ages explained aspects of the solar system. Activities allowed them to explore robotics, create their own unique star constellations in the planetarium, interact with the Mars rover, and much more. The Riverside Astronomical Society set up their telescopes for the children to try.
Co-sponsors included the Bourns Co., NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council, Xerox, the Riverside Astronomical Society, the Bourns College of Engineering, the Society of Women Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Many BCOE student engineers volunteered their time to staff the activity booths and shepherd the young guests.
On the same day, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) student chapter presented their Merit Badge Day for Boy Scouts and their leaders from 8 AM to 5 PM, the third such event within a year. The engineering students assisted the scouts in soldering, building circuits and performing experiments to stimulate interest in engineering and help them earn badges. Attendance was limited to the first 150 scouts that registered. During the morning session they worked on Computer, Electricity and Electronics badges. In the afternoon they joined the SWE event to hear the astronaut and planetary scientist speak, and worked on Space Exploration, Energy and Engineering badges. IEEE has helped with the completion of approximately 600 badges.
The many students who gave up their Saturday to assist with these two events are to be commended. They provided not only assistance to the younger guests, but served as inspirational role models for those considering science and engineering studies in college.
Lindsay Yee has been awarded a highly competitive three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. She is one of two winners from UCR and the only undergraduate. Four UCR students received Honorable Mention, and two are from Engineering: Computer Engineering senior Kenneth Anguka and Jennifer Reiber Kyle, a second-year Electrical Engineering Ph.D. student.
Lindsay, a senior Environmental Engineering major with a concentration in Air Pollution Control, is a completed Lower Division Honors student with a 3.9 cumulative GPA. Currently in the process of choosing between three top graduate schools that have accepted her, she will work toward a Ph.D. in atmospheric studies, continuing research on Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA). David Cocker, Associate Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Lindsay’s research mentor, says “Lindsay has been a top researcher in our Atmospheric Processes Lab for four years and is quite deserving of this national honor.”
Video Game Demo draws crowd
March 31, 2008
With advances in physical simulation and motion capture, engineering is increasingly a part of the entertainment industry -- in movies, games and digital music. On March 20 students in Victor Zordan’s Video Game Creation and Design course spotlighted projects that they designed with collaboration from graduate students in UCR’s Music and English departments.
The open house included a description of each game's design and development, a demonstration of its features, and a chance for audience members to play-test the games. In the picture, left to right, Alex Edgcomb, Ian Kremer, Stephen Jones and Joanne Lee are demonstrating their team’s game “Current Exchange”.
Zordan is a Computer Science and Engineering Assistant Professor and a faculty coordinator for the UCR Mellon Interdisciplinary Workshop on Affect, Technics, and Ethics. Each game was enhanced with original sound/music composition from digital music graduate students working with music Professor Paulo Chagas, and received valuable input from graduate students working with Professor James Tobias in the English department. Chagas and Tobias are also faculty coordinators for the Mellon workshop, which sponsored the demo event.
In the quarter-long class, Zordan has made a concerted effort to keep the class engaged and thinking. He included a discussion of ethics in the game class, arranged a field trip to a motion capture studio, and brought an industry game consultant to discuss careers in that field.
“Honestly, this is the class people should take... if they have any inclination toward pursuing video game design,” said Computer Science undergrad Stephen Jones. “It puts everything into perspective and creates a welcome understanding on just what it takes to design a video game.”
Keogh designated University Scholar
March 18, 2008
Eamonn Keogh, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, has been chosen as this year’s UCR University Scholar, joining nine other University Scholars on the campus. He will hold the title for three years and receive $25,000 of research support per year for his investigations of data mining, databases and artificial intelligence.
Present and past University Scholars participated in the selection process for the first time this year. The designation recognizes early career tenured faculty of outstanding merit who show strong evidence of exciting and highly visible research programs. Keogh developed a method for “lower bounding” the distance between time series which has been adopted by more than 150 research groups worldwide. He also invented SAX, the first symbolic representation for time series.
More than a dozen of Keogh’s 110 published research papers have secured at least 100 citations, making him one of the most cited researchers in his field. He has won several Best Paper awards at top national computer science conferences. In 2004 he was chosen for the Bourns College of Engineering Outstanding Teacher Award.
Space, science day acquires new name
March 12, 2008
The College’s popular hands-on afternoon for Girl Scouts and other young people from the community has been re-named Bourns Space, Science and Engineering Day in recognition of a gift of financial support from the Bourns family. Gordon Bourns will attend the event; his family is happy to support this outreach effort designed to capture the minds and imagination of young people and draw them into education and career options as future scientists and engineers.
The free event, hosted by the campus chapter of Society of Women Engineers, will be presented April 12 from 12:30-5 PM in the UCR engineering complex. There are limited spaces left, and pre-registration and a permission form are required. Girl Scouts will earn an event patch and work towards a badge; Boy Scouts and non-scouts are welcome too. To reserve a place and download a permission form, register at www.engr.ucr.edu/~ssed. Check-in begins at noon.
Participants will have a chance to talk to women engineers and scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and to look through telescopes provided and operated by the Riverside Astronomical Society. Activities will include Catching a Whisper from Space, Search for a Habitable Planet, Robotic Arms and an inflated walk-through Planetarium. A wide variety of experiences are designed for elementary through high school students, allowing them to learn about the solar system, find out how robotics work, create star constellations in the planetarium and get up close and personal with a mini Mars Rover (pictured).
Bourns Space, Science and Engineering Day is sponsored by the Bourns Company, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Xerox, the Riverside Astronomical Society, Girl Scouts of America, Bourns College of Engineering, the Society of Women Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Thanks to the gift from the Bourns Family organizers had the ability to expand the event so that activities are targeted not only to middle school girls, but also to high school aged girls.
Wang chosen for NSF CAREER Award
February 29, 2008
Junlan Wang, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has been selected to receive a National Science Foundation CAREER award, a prestigious honor recognizing the early career development activities of scholars most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.
Bourns College of Engineering faculty have been quite successful in attaining this honor. In the last four years, seven engineering professors have received the award. Dr. Wang’s CAREER award raises our young College’s total to 15.
The award is for $400,000 over five years. Dr Wang will designate a portion to hire more graduate and undergraduate researchers to work “in the forefront areas of nanoscale science and engineering. It will also allow me to involve more K-12 students and teachers through summer research and outreach opportunities,” she said.
Dr. Wang’s research is in the fields of nano and micromechanics of materials. In particular, she is interested in developing new experimental techniques complemented by theoretical modeling and numerical analysis to study the mechanical behavior of thin films and other small-featured structures, mechanics of interfaces and surfaces. Her recent research includes characterization of thin film adhesion, scale bridging in fabrication and property testing of nano and microstructures, surface roughness evolution and residual stress development caused by nano-scale contact. Her work has applications in the electronics, energy, biomedical and defense fields.
Dr. Wang received her Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002. She joined UC Riverside in 2003 after a year as a post-doctoral research associate at Brown University.
Graphene promises to keep nanochips cool
February 28, 2008
A UC Riverside team of researchers led by electrical engineering professor Alexander Balandin has discovered that graphene, a single plane layer of carbon atoms arranged in honey-comb lattice, manifests extremely high thermal conductivity exceeding that of diamond and carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes were previously believed to be the best heat conductors among solids. The experimental work, published last week in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters, was carried out in collaboration with UCR physics assistant professor Chun Ning Lau and her research group.
The measurement of graphene, an object just one atom thick, required the development of a completely new experimental technique and data extraction methodology. “Our measurement of the thermal conductivity of graphene is the very first one,” said Dr. Balandin.
These measurements were performed using a non-contact optical method based on the micro-Raman spectroscopy. A single atomic-layer graphene flake was suspended across a trench in a silicon wafer and heated with laser light in the middle. The temperature of the sample was determined from the change in the spectral features of the light scattered by graphene. The unique experiment conducted in Balandin's Nano-Device Laboratory was featured by news organizations world-wide, including Physorg.com, Nanowerk and physicsworld.com.
The superb heat conducting property of graphene may have major practical implications. The high thermal conductivity, coupled with graphene's flat geometry and demonstrated integration with silicon, suggest that graphene can be used for hot-spot cooling and thermal management of nanometer scale electronic devices and circuits.
Alumni and students celebrated the unveiling of the Tau Beta Pi Bent monument at the north entrance to the Bourns College of Engineering complex on Feb. 23. The ceremony was a highlight of the Dean’s E-week reception and Homecoming Weekend which brought alumni back to the college.
Dean Reza Abbaschian, UC Riverside Acting Chancellor Robert Grey, former Assistant Dean Dennis Rice (the chapter’s first advisor) and Prof. Christian Shelton (a current advisor) joined students and alumni in the unveiling ceremony.
The bent, a transverse frame that supports the ends of the stringers in adjoining spans of a trestle, is the symbol of Tau Beta Pi signifying the role of engineering excellence in building America. Tau Beta Pi is the nation’s second oldest honorary society, formed when Phi Beta Kappa limited their membership to liberal studies.
UC Riverside’s “Alpha Beta” chapter was chartered in 2005 after a three-year effort to fulfill requirements to affiliate with the national organization. Members are required to be in the top 1/8 of their Junior class or the top 1/5 of their Senior class, and must exhibit a desire to reach beyond academics to become the best in their field.
This Google search yields full house
February 22, 2008
A Google search always gets lot of hits – no surprise. But when Google came to the Bourns College of Engineering to search for potential employees the result was more than 200 hits – standing room only.
Four Ph.D. graduates of the Computer Science and Engineering Department were the special guests for the evening discussion of Google’s Software Engineering Internship Program. Alumni Li Wei, Qi Fu, Sharmila Subramanian, and Mike Stay addressed students on what its like to work at the unconventional company which was Fortune magazine’s No. 1 best company to work for.
Google decided to visit the college after noticing they were hiring an unusual number of Bourns students. Last year they hired seven computer science graduate students. “We were particularly pleased with the number of women Ph.D.s we have recruited,” said recruiter Kelly Studer, who with Jessica Bagley represented Google at the event. “Only about 16 percent of computer science graduate students are women so they are few and far between.”
“If we did that well without doing anything, how would we do with a little effort?” she said.
All product managers at Google have computer science Ph.D.s. Three of the four Bourns alumni had been hired after three month internships. It was like a three month job interview, they agreed.
Frank Vahid, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, said the department has done well in attracting female graduate students because there is no ‘old boys network.’
“We are a younger department and more modern in the way that we treat people so they stay,” Vahid said.
First BCOE med student accepted
February 21, 2008
Adam Cheng (right), a chemical engineering undergraduate student who works in the lab of bioengineering Assistant Professor Jiayu Liao (left), is the first student from Bourns College of Engineering to be accepted into the highly competitive UCR/UCLA medical school. Students accepted into this program complete the first two years of their medical education at UCR in an intimate learning environment before moving on to UCLA for their remaining two years. They receive their M.D. degrees from UCLA.
Cheng has been doing research in Dr. Liao’s lab for two years, where he has learned a lot of skills and bio-related knowledge which helped him attain one of 24 places in the UCR/UCLA medical school program.
In the past, medical schools used to admit only biologists and biochemists, but they are now accepting more and more engineering students who understand the technology of diagnostic tools such as gene chips and glucose meters, imaging machines, pacemakers and tools for minimally invasive surgeries.
“Bioengineering plays more and more important roles in healthcare,” says Dr. Liao. “Bioengineering not only plays critical roles in designing medical devices; it also is producing novel diagnostic developments, drug screening technologies, and ways to analyze complex biological systems. Its role will be even more significant in personalized diagnosis and medicine in the future.”
Myung’s article recognized as a top paper
February 21, 2008
An article by Chemical and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Nosang Myung published in the journal Nanotechnology has been one of the most highly downloaded articles – 762 times to date – and has received a significant number of citations according to the publishers. The journal’s editorial board has recognized it as a paper of particular interest and made it available for free, and is promoting it as part of its top papers collection on Nanotechnology’s web site and on http://nanotechweb.org.
The paper is titled “Hierarchical magnetic assembly of nanowires.” Dr. Myung’s research interests are in synthesis of nanoengineering materials, thermoelectrics, spintronics, NEMS/MEMS, gas sensor, bio-sensor, environmental remediation and dental biofilm.
Dr. Myung’s top paper concerns using magnetic alignment for making nanowires grow straight, intersect each other at desired angles, and form T junctions on an unpatterned substrate base.
Link to article
Engineering alumni rally at Homecoming
February 13, 2008
Join fellow alumni, faculty, current students and staff for great food and fun capping off both Homecoming Week at UCR and National Engineers Week. The reunion will take place on Feb. 23 from 3-5 p.m. in the Bourns courtyard. Stay for the Homecoming game and cheer the Highlanders on to victory!
Reservations are required by Wednesday, Feb. 20, but these events are free to all BCOE Alumni and family, including tickets to the game. (There is a maximum of 4 tickets per family; additional tickets can be purchased.) For more information, call Richard Chute at (951) 827-2528.
Clubs offer E-Week activities to all
February 13, 2008
E-Week (Engineers Week), a national celebration taking place Feb. 19-23, is designed to increase awareness and interest in engineering as a profession. Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, E-Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.
UCR’s student chapters of engineering societies are planning fun events for each dayopen to the entire campus. On Tuesday in the Bourns courtyard, members of AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) will make free ice cream using liquid nitrogen. On Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) will host a carnival in the Engineering Building II lobby, and from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in rooms 205/206, SWE (Society of Women Engineers) will present a panel of women in engineering careers. On Thursday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) are staffing activities for young students from local elementary schools in the Pentland Hills conference room, and at the same time members of NSBE (National Society for Black Engineers) are holding a scavenger hunt in the Engineering Building II lobby. On Friday from 2 to 5 p.m., BMES (Biomedical Engineering Society) will create a carnival in the Engineering Building II lobby.
All these BCOE events are open to the entire UCR campus. On Saturday, also Homecoming, the Dean will hold a reception from 3 to 5 p.m., prior to the basketball game, in the Bourns courtyard for alumni, students and staff of the college. See preceding story for more details.
Tam recognized for innovative water curriculum
February 1, 2008
Dr. Kawai Tam has been recognized for her teaching promoting sustainability, a major focus of the Bourns College of Engineering. A lecturer in Chemical & Environmental Engineering, she was chosen by the Western Municipal Water District (WMWD) as a 2007 Water Educator of the Year award recipient. In the photo, WMWD Vice President Tom Evans is presenting the award to Dr. Tam (center). She was nominated by Monique Navarrette (right), Education Program Coordinator for WMWD.
The award is designed to recognize an educator within communities served by the agencies for his or her commitment and dedication to bring a better understanding of water issues to students, enhance the learning process through creative water curriculum, and cooperatively partner with the local water agency to bring successful curriculum into the classroom.
Dr. Tam’s award was presented at a banquet on Jan. 29 at the District offices in Riverside. She has been invited to attend the Metropolitan Water District Colorado River Aqueduct tour March 7-9. The Western Municipal Water District will cover the cost of a substitute teacher for the days she will be gone.
Dr. Tam received the College’s Outstanding Lecturer award for the academic year 2004-05. She has encouraged her students to enter national contests such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s People, Prosperity and Planet (P3) competition, which resulted in a $10,000 grant for their project on rainwater harvesting. The P3 competition supports student design projects that maintain economic growth while preserving natural resources. The team also won the Metropolitan Water District World Water Forum award of $10,000 for the same project. They used the money to purchase sampling and flow equipment to study rain collected in containers on the College’s roof. Dr. Tam, second from the right, is pictured with team members.
Watch the building materialize
January 7, 2008
Now you can view progress on the new Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) building without leaving your desk – visit www.engr.ucr.edu/newbuilding/mse/ to access a web camera trained on the site. The new building will be devoted to nanotechnology research, and shared by the Bourns College of Engineering and the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.
A formal groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 10, celebrating a new milestone in the university’s growing interdisciplinary excellence. Bourns College Dean Reza Abbaschian and Natural and Agricultural Sciences Interim Dean Donald Cooksey will lead the ceremony. Congressmen Ken Calvert and Jerry Lewis, Acting Chancellor Robert Grey, Distinguished Professors Robert Haddon and Jerome Schultz and Professor Alexander Balandin, materials science and engineering program director, will also speak.
The $56 million project, designed to foster interdisciplinary research among faculty of both colleges, is expected to be completed by 2010. It will provide nearly 77,000 assignable square feet of research and instruction space for the colleges’ joint programs in nanotechnology, materials science and bioengineering.
Taking aim at worst polluting streets
January 3, 2008
Sure major interstate highways are a major source of air pollution, but they may not all pollute equally.
A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside and UC, Irvine are looking at how busy highways, or “arterials”, in different land use zones might produce greater pollution danger than others.
Marko Princevac, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and principal investigator on the project from UC Riverside, explained that there is reason to suspect arterials as a major source of risk, because they may trap elevated concentrations of air pollutants in close proximity to residences (such as street canyons created by multi-story condominiums and office buildings).
He and his faculty colleagues from UC Irvine (Marlon Boarnet, Rufus Edwards, Raul Lejano and Jun Wu) bring together expertise in transportation and land use planning and environmental modeling to analyze the environmental impacts of major arterials. The team’s research will provide information on relative risks which may be valuable in environmental planning by resource, land use, and transportation agencies.
Using a fine-scale wind field and dispersion model (Quick Urban and Industrial Complex), the team will simulate the transport of vehicular particulates around five heavily-traveled Southern California arterials chosen to correspond to five land use types. The field-calibrated model will be used to simulate the effects of alternative land development strategies (varying building height and setback requirements, infill patterns and zoning), and alternative transport policies (idling time reduction, stoplight synchronization, truck traffic scheduling and rerouting).
The research is a project of the University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) which is a multi-campus research unit funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the California Department of Transportation that works to improve transportation policy and analysis.
A giant microscope focusing on a strand of DNA that was made entirely from cans of food is the Bourns College entry in Canstruction, a nationwide contest combining the competitive spirit of a design/build competition with a unique way to help feed hungry people. Competing teams of professional and student architects and engineers design giant sculptures made entirely out of canned foods. Our student team won the Riverside Art Museum Award during the opening reception on May 8 at the museum. Team members are Amy Ferreira (team leader), Joshua Hockel, Naubahar Agha, Giovanni Denina and Amy Higa. In the photo (from right to left) are Amy Ferreira, Dean Abbaschian and his wife Janette Johnson, and Joshua Hockel. The team gives special thanks to Jun Wang, Shruthi Bala, Jesse Banuelos, David Bui, Catharine Hooker, Kevin Pauley, Chris Prasad, Christopher Webb, Eric Wittenmeyer and especially their sponsor, John Tavaglione, Riverside County Supervisor, Second District. UC Riverside researchers fight world hunger by studying plant DNA so they can cross different natural strains of food crops to develop new varieties with desirable qualities such as pest resistance and drought tolerance; detect bacteria in food supplies; test for allergens; and determine the nutritional content of grains. This information may be used by all countries to produce nutritious food in the most efficient and economical manner, optimizing the world’s resources. Over the weekend the displays will be carefully disassembled, and all food donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Riverside. Last year the contest yielded 17,000 pounds of food. As the number of teams participating doubled this year, the food donation is expected to double as well.
One of the strengths of Bourns College of Engineering is the opportunity for undergraduates to participate in research with their professors. Several undergraduates were chosen to participate on May 2 in the second annual Symposium for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity. The symposium was designed to increase the visibility of undergraduate research and the commitment of faculty mentors at UCR by coordinating a professional conference setting in which undergraduate students present their research projects and creative activities. Undergraduates displayed their research in oral presentations, a poster session and performance presentations. One was Jonas Gutierrez, pictured giving an oral presentation.
Chemical and Environmental Engineering faculty members Sharon Walker (l.) and David Cwiertny (r.) have received funding from the USDA for a three-year project to investigate natural processes that lead to disinfection of pathogens in water supplies, especially those driven by sunlight. In their study titled “Photochemical disinfection of pathogens: influence of extracellular polymeric substances on bactericidal capacity of reactive oxygen species” they seek to understand the combination of factors which contribute to the fate of agriculturally introduced bacterial pathogens such as E. coli occurring by photochemical disinfection. Walker and Cwiertny propose that if they can understand how nature does it, they will be able to develop simple and sustainable approaches for water treatment.
Wilfred Chen, professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, leads a team that is developing a genetically programmable module for screening of protease inhibitors. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding the collaborative study; other members of the team are Chemical and Environmental Engineering Professor Ashok Mulchandani, Bioengineering Professor Jiayu Liao, and Marylynn Yates, Professor of Environmental Microbiology.
Abbott Vascular was one of 17 tech firms getting special attention from engineering students during Career Night, April 16 at the UCR Recreation Center.
Sharon Walker, Assistant Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, was chosen as the top female leader in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in the fields of engineering, science, technology and math by the San Gorgonio Girl Scout Council. She was honored at at the Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon on April 16 in Riverside.
A capacity crowd of Girl Scouts and other children from the community took a virtual tour into space on the afternoon of April 12. The UCR chapter of the Society of Women Engineers presented a free hands-on space science and engineering event for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Elementary, Middle, and High School aged participants. Girl Scouts were able to earn an event patch and work towards a badge. Highlights included talks and question and answer sessions by Astronaut Alvin Drew and NASA Planetary Scientist Dr. Jennifer Heldmann.
Lindsay Yee has been awarded a highly competitive three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. She is one of two winners from UCR and the only undergraduate. Four UCR students received Honorable Mention, and two are from Engineering: Computer Engineering senior Kenneth Anguka and Jennifer Reiber Kyle, a second-year Electrical Engineering Ph.D. student.
With advances in physical simulation and motion capture, engineering is increasingly a part of the entertainment industry -- in movies, games and digital music. On March 20 students in Victor Zordan’s Video Game Creation and Design course spotlighted projects that they designed with collaboration from graduate students in UCR’s Music and English departments.
Eamonn Keogh, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, has been chosen as this year’s UCR University Scholar, joining nine other University Scholars on the campus. He will hold the title for three years and receive $25,000 of research support per year for his investigations of data mining, databases and artificial intelligence.
The College’s popular hands-on afternoon for Girl Scouts and other young people from the community has been re-named Bourns Space, Science and Engineering Day in recognition of a gift of financial support from the Bourns family. Gordon Bourns will attend the event; his family is happy to support this outreach effort designed to capture the minds and imagination of young people and draw them into education and career options as future scientists and engineers.
Junlan Wang, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has been selected to receive a National Science Foundation CAREER award, a prestigious honor recognizing the early career development activities of scholars most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.
A UC Riverside team of researchers led by electrical engineering professor Alexander Balandin has discovered that graphene, a single plane layer of carbon atoms arranged in honey-comb lattice, manifests extremely high thermal conductivity exceeding that of diamond and carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes were previously believed to be the best heat conductors among solids. The experimental work, published last week in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters, was carried out in collaboration with UCR physics assistant professor Chun Ning Lau and her research group.
Alumni and students celebrated the unveiling of the Tau Beta Pi Bent monument at the north entrance to the Bourns College of Engineering complex on Feb. 23. The ceremony was a highlight of the Dean’s E-week reception and Homecoming Weekend which brought alumni back to the college.
A Google search always gets lot of hits – no surprise. But when Google came to the Bourns College of Engineering to search for potential employees the result was more than 200 hits – standing room only.
Adam Cheng (right), a chemical engineering undergraduate student who works in the lab of bioengineering Assistant Professor Jiayu Liao (left), is the first student from Bourns College of Engineering to be accepted into the highly competitive UCR/UCLA medical school. Students accepted into this program complete the first two years of their medical education at UCR in an intimate learning environment before moving on to UCLA for their remaining two years. They receive their M.D. degrees from UCLA.
An article by Chemical and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Nosang Myung published in the journal Nanotechnology has been one of the most highly downloaded articles – 762 times to date – and has received a significant number of citations according to the publishers. The journal’s editorial board has recognized it as a paper of particular interest and made it available for free, and is promoting it as part of its top papers collection on Nanotechnology’s web site and on http://nanotechweb.org.
Join fellow alumni, faculty, current students and staff for great food and fun capping off both Homecoming Week at UCR and National Engineers Week. The reunion will take place on Feb. 23 from 3-5 p.m. in the Bourns courtyard. Stay for the Homecoming game and cheer the Highlanders on to victory!
E-Week (Engineers Week), a national celebration taking place Feb. 19-23, is designed to increase awareness and interest in engineering as a profession. Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, E-Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.
Dr. Kawai Tam has been recognized for her teaching promoting sustainability, a major focus of the Bourns College of Engineering. A lecturer in Chemical & Environmental Engineering, she was chosen by the Western Municipal Water District (WMWD) as a 2007 Water Educator of the Year award recipient. In the photo, WMWD Vice President Tom Evans is presenting the award to Dr. Tam (center). She was nominated by Monique Navarrette (right), Education Program Coordinator for WMWD.
Now you can view progress on the new Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) building without leaving your desk – visit 
Sure major interstate highways are a major source of air pollution, but they may not all pollute equally.