Bourns Hall

Archived News 2005

Student club awarded ASME grant (December 2005)

Bourns College of Engineering's student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has been chosen to receive a Diversity Action Grant from the club's national organization for their participation in the College's Space Science & Engineering Day. Held on October 30, the event was designed to encourage Girl Scouts and other elementary school aged children to get excited about careers in engineering and science through fun learning activities such as making craters, punching out constellations in a large plastic sheeting planetarium, and having a Mars Rover model crawl over them. In the picture, engineering student volunteers assist the young visitors in making comets to take home as souvenirs.

Ozkans on national research center team (October 2005)

Professors Mihri Ozkan (EE) and Cengiz Ozkan (ME) are co-investigators on a team that is developing microscopic "bullets" that will target cancerous tumors without affecting healthy surrounding tissue. They are part of a consortium of researchers from UC San Diego, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, the Burnham Institute in La Jolla and six corporate partners. The consortium has been chosen to receive $20 million over the next five years from the National Cancer Institute, a unit of the National Institutes of Health. The money will be used to establish a national research center, one of seven in the nation called Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence. All seven centers will share information so that each is aware of what the others are doing, and to accelerate the research. They will be part of the Center of Nanotechnology for Treatment, Understanding and Monitoring of Cancer, known as NANO-TUMOR; it will be based at UC San Diego.

ME Faculty Members Wang and Xu receive grant from ARO (June 2005)

Assistant Professor Junlan Wang is the Principal Investigator (PI) and Associate Professor Guanshui (Alex) Xu is the co-PI on a new three-year grant from the Army Research Office. The project, titled "Determination of interfacial properties of tungsten heavy alloys using laser-induced dynamic spallation of thin film interfaces", will investigate the high rate deformation and fracture of heavy tungsten alloys under high-speed impact conditions. This research will enable researchers and manufacturers to further optimize the synthesis and design of tungsten heavy alloys to achieve high-performance Army penetrators. Dr. Wang (left) and Dr. Xu are pictured.

ME graduates at the 2005 department reception for graduating BS, MS, and Ph.D. degree recipients. (June 2005)

On Sunday, June 12th, several degree recipients, with their families and friends, attended a reception function hosted by the department of Mechanical Engineering for the class of 2005. It was attended by several members of the faculty and staff of the department. Pictures from this event are shown on this page. The class of 2005 comprised of 23 BS, 3 MS, and 3 Ph.D. degree recipients. Congratulations to our graduates!!

Javier Garay to receive the ARO YIP award (May 2005)

Assistant Professor Javier Garay will be receiving the ARO YIP award for $150,000. The award is from the Army Research Office (ARO) through its Young Investigator Program (YIP). It is from the Division of Materials Science in the Engineering Directorate. It is a three year project(starting 6/1/05) entitled: "Net shape bulk nanocrystalline ceramics by electric current activated sintering." In this project we will make relatively large and complex shaped materials with a nanocrystalline microstruture-so called nanostructured materials-for optical applications. These parts will have significantly improved properties so that they can be used in a wider range of applications.

Click here for additional information on Professor Javier Garay.

Industry viewpoint shared with ME Department (May 2005)

The annual meeting of the Mechanical Engineering Board of Advisors took place at Bourns Hall on May 5. Department Chair Shankar Mahalingam welcomed the executives to the campus (see picture) and Interim Dean Mark Matsumoto outlined the College’s five-year plan. Faculty members Guanshui Xu, Qing Jiang and Tom Stahovich provided overviews of undergraduate and graduate programs and faculty recruitment. The Department’s newest faculty members, Marko Princevak, V. Sundararajan and Javier Garay, made presentations on their research. Career placement officers discussed the College’s Career Path Milestones and student internship programs. Professor Akula Venkatram went over the ABET accreditation process. After lunch the advisors discussed the Department’s challenges, developed goals and presented their suggestions to the faculty. At the end of the day the visitors had a chance to meet several Mechanical Engineering students and view their Senior Design projects.

Graduate student wins award (April 2005)

Sathyajith Ravindran, Ph.D. student of Cengiz S. Ozkan, has won a Graduate Research Award of $1,000. Sathyajith has also received an offer from Intel Santa Clara for a grade 7 senior process engineer. He will be working in the lithography department at the California Technology Manufacturing Group in Santa Clara, CA. He will be working on Intel's latest flash memory process. Congratulations!

Click here for additional information on Sathyajith Ravindran.

In Memory of Roberta J. Nichols (April 2005)

Dear Friends:

It is with great sadness that I write this. Long-time CE-CERT Board member Roberta J. Nichols passed away on Sunday, April 3rd. Roberta's life was an inspiration to many, not only to women in engineering but also to those of us who had the privilege of working with her on projects that provoked and showcased her passion - for cars, for education, for alternative fuels, for her family. She was truly an amazing woman.

She received her Ph.D. in Engineering from USC in 1979, while raising a family and working in the aerospace industry. She retired from Ford Motor Company in 1995, after a 19-year career working on alternative fuels. She was a Fellow the Society of Automotive Engineers, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Society of Women Engineers, and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Her many awards include the National Achievement Award from the Society of Women Engineers in 1988; the Gene Ecklund Award, U.S. Department of Energy, 1996; and the Clean Air Award for Advancing Air Pollution Technology, SCAQMD, 1989. She is the author or co-author of over 60 publications. She is also the holder of three patents for the Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV).

Her hobbies included drag boat racing, time trial racing at Bonneville Salt Flats, and later vintage car racing. She had a great sense of humor and a strong knowledge of herself. In a speech that she gave to the Society of Women Engineers in March, she stated, Not all of us get to realize our dreams, but it is important to have them and never give up trying to attain them. It is amazing what can happen when you want something bad enough. For me, that is truly reflective of how she lived her life. No challenge too small, no goal too large.

Roberta played a pivotal role in the development and success of CE-CERT. Her wisdom will be truly missed. Her devotion to CE-CERT and our students will continue through her generous creation of a scholarship at UCR to encourage women in mechanical engineering. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Roberta Nichols Yakel Scholarship Fund through the UCR Foundation.

Yours Sincerely,

Matthew J. Barth
Interim Director, CE-CERT

 

Roberta Nichols Honored at Event (March 2005)

Dr. Roberta Nichols Yakel, a National Academy of Engineering member and a founding member of the advisory board for the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research & Technology (CE-CERT), and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was honored at a ceremony on March 17 at Bourns Hall. Awards, honors and memorabilia from her career of more than 30 years were on display. Dr. Nichols has donated these for a permanent exhibit at CE-CERT. Thanks to her generous gift, the Department of Mechanical Engineering has established the "Roberta Nichols Yakel Scholarship Award" that will be awarded annually to a qualified ME student. The picture shows Dr. Roberta Nichols Yakel holding a plaque that will honor her and the student recipients. Dr. Matthew Barth, director of CE-CERT and Dr. Shankar Mahalingam, Chair of ME, also appear in the picture.