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

UC Berkeleywill estab-lish the firstendowedfacultychair attheBerkeleyCenter

for NewMediawith adona-

tion of $1.6million from craigslist, one

of the world’s most popular websites. The dona-tion will support research, symposia and lectures.It will be matched with $1.5 million from theWilliam and Flora Hewlett Foundation for a totalof $3.1 million. The craigslist donation establish-es the Center for New Media as a major researchcenter, said Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau.

Published biweekly on Fridays during the academic year by theEngineering Marketing and Communications Office, College ofEngineering, University of California, Berkeley.

Copy deadline is 4:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding publication.

Celeste Altusacting managing editor and writer

Patti Meaghercopy editor

S. Shankar Sastrydean

Teresa Mooreexecutive director, office of marketing and communications

Legos and kids still fit

University of CaliforniaEngineering News312 McLaughlin HallBerkeley, California 94720-1704Phone: 510 642.5857Fax: 510 643.8882

engnews@coe.berkeley.edu

www.coe.berkeley.edu/engnews/index.html

FEBRUARY 15, 2008

CELESTEALTUS

PHOTO

Robot-building contest held on Berkeley campus

Berkeley Engineering stu-dent group West CountyRobotics partnered with MEhonor society Pi Tau Sigma inDecember to present the sev-enth annual FIRST Lego tourna-ment. The competition is spon-sored by Dean Kamen’s interna-tional charity, For Inspirationand Recognition of Science andTechnology (FIRST), and Lego,manufacturer of the timelesschildren’s building blocks.Kamen, known for the Segwayhuman transporter and otherinventions, founded FIRST in1989.

Sixteen teams of kids fromgrades four to eight used Lego

Mindstorms kits andprogramming soft-ware to buildautonomously con-trolled Lego robotsthat could complete aseries of missionsbased on a globaltheme: This year wasabout energy conser-vation.

This was the firsttime that the tourna-ment has taken placeon the Berkeley cam-pus. The engineeringstudents served ashosts.

PHOTOSCOURTESY

OFWEST

COUNTY

ROBOTICS

issue 3S February 15.qxp 2/13/2008 10:16 AM Page 1

Johanes MaEECS senior

“Engineers are very busy.I haven’t seen any games,so I want to go to a Cal

game, as a student.”

Kayte FischerBioE Ph.D. student

“I would like to studyabroad, in India.”

Michelle VuEMS freshman

“To lie on the grasswhenever it’s nice

outside.”

Michael LinBioE junior

“Move out of the dorms,attend a UCB symphonyorchestra concert andbefriend a professor.”

From bugs to blood

A team ofCal undergrad-uates hasdemonstratedhow geneticallymodified E. colibacteria mightbe convertedinto a cheapand safe bloodsubstitute. Theengineeredproduct, called“Bactoblood,”addresses a

global shortage of human blood for transfusions,particularly in developing countries and emer-gency situations, the young developers say.

“Bactoblood is universally compatible, diseasefree and inexpensive, and you can reproduce itlike crazy,” explains Samantha Liang, a BioE jun-ior involved in the recent interdisciplinary proj-ect. “I thought it was a really great idea.”

So, apparently, did judges at the annualInternational Genetically Engineered Machinecompetition (iGEM) held last fall at MIT. Facing

FINALISTS: The Berkeley iGEM team hassome fun displaying the blood-substituteproject Bactoblood, which won a goldprize at the MIT contest last fall.

What

do you want

to do before

you graduate?

Continued on page 2

FEBRUARY 15, 2008 VOL. 78 , NO. 3S

PHOTOCOURTESY

OFAUSTIN

DAY

EECS junior Brian Zimmer, with GSI Kevin Peterson,

removes a chip from circuitry in EECS192, Mecha-

tronics Design Lab, where students design and build

robotic race cars. The class meets in Cory Hall’s Nat-

ional Instruments Embedded Systems Lab, improved

last year through a $1.5 million N.I. grant. Mechatronics

is one of several EE classes, like embedded systems and

robotics, that offer a major design element.

MECHALOMANIACS

Blood substitute emerges from E. coli

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

Imagine working in a lab for yourday job, then spending your week-ends visiting ancient villages andbeach islands.

ME senior Kavon Hooshiar didjust that when he took a summerinternship at Hong Kong Poly-technic University (HKPU) throughthe International Association forthe Exchange of Students forTechnical Experience (IAESTE).

The San Carlos native graduatesin May and wanted to spend hissummers as an upperclassmandoing research, so he found a sum-mer internship through IAESTE. Byusing the mid-year break to intern,he was able to stay on track aca-demically and see the world as well.

“I saw this as a great way to travelabroad and not get behind inschool,” Hooshiar says.

The 21-year-old senior workedunder the guidance of an HKPUprofessor on a nanomaterials project.

“It was very materials-sciencebased,” Hooshiar says. The projectgoal was to test the mechanicalproperties of copper that had beenmodified to reduce the surfacegrain size to the nanometer scale.

Hooshiar interned with 40 othercollege students, mostly fromEurope, who worked in other HKPUdepartments. They stayed in thedorms and traveled together on theweekends.

“We took many trips to every sec-tion of Hong Kong, from ancientvillages, to authentic Hong Kongrestaurants … to playing ping pongand racquetball and snooker, to bar-becues on the beach, to amusementparks, to hiking trails,” he recalls.“We did as many things as possible.It was like extensive tourism.”

IAESTE is an international net-work that coordinates on-the-jobtraining for students in the fields ofengineering, math and the sci-ences. Since its inception in 1948,IAESTE United States has linked stu-dents with employers in more than70 countries.

more than 50 undergraduate teams from 19countries, the Bactoblood squad was one ofsix finalists in the prestigious synthetic biol-ogy event.

Berkeley’s entry was different from theothers, says BioE junior David Tulga, anotherteam member. “Our project was very com-petitive. It's really a complete system. Thinkof it as a computer. A lot of people at iGEMare building components, like a keyboard ora hard drive. We were trying to build thewhole computer,” Tulga explains.

The competition “really motivates a lot ofpeople to get in the field,” says John Dueber,a postdoctoral fellow at the California Ins-titute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) and an adviser on the project. Bactoblood“sounds crazier than it actually is,” he adds.

Despite its dreaded association with seri-ous food poisoning, the E. coli used in theBactoblood experiment was modified toremove its toxicity and help it live longer inthe bloodstream. This was accomplishedusing a process developed by Chris Ander-son, a recently appointed assistant professorof bioengineering at Berkeley.

To produce Bactoblood, the students killed the bacteria’s DNA, creating what were essentially empty shells of protein.They inserted genes to produce hemoglobin,the protein in red blood cells that carriesoxygen. When the substance turned red, thestudents knew hemoglobin was being manu-factured and transporting oxygen. Furthermodifications were made so the bacteriacould be freeze-dried to extend its shelf life.

The idea for Bactoblood was developed byAustin Day, a senior in chemical biology. Theteam included half a dozen undergraduatesstudying bioengineering, biochemistry andeven anthropology, three high school stu-dents and graduate and faculty advisers.

Liang’s assignment was to engineer thegenetic “self-kill” switch that destroyed thebacteria’s DNA to ensure it wouldn't repro-duce in the bloodstream.

With the competition now behind them,work on Bactoblood is on hold. But the par-ticipants remain upbeat about its potentialfor commercialization, pointing to the sub-stantial progress they made in just a fewmonths of lab time. “It was like a full-timejob,” Liang says.

BactobloodContinued from page 1

FEBRUARY 15, 2008

www.iaesteunitedstates.org

East meets West

http://parts.mit.edu/igem07/index.php/Berkeley_UC

IAESTE offers international engineering internships

SUDOKU

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into theblank spaces. Every row must con-

tain one of each digit. So mustevery column, as must every 3x3square.The answer will appear in

the next issue. Below is the answer to last issue’s puzzle.

PHOTOCOURTESY

OFKAVON

HOOSHIAR

PICTURESQUE SUMMER: IAESTE internsrelax under a Hong Kong pagoda. By Abby Cohn

issue 3S February 15.qxp 2/13/2008 10:16 AM Page 3

Engineers’ Week is here!By the time you read this Berkeley will be in the throes ofEngineers’ Week, the annual celebration of engineering,February 19 through 22! All kinds of events are planned for E-Week 2008, including daily barbecues at the Campanileesplanade, tabling at Bechtel, info sessions, receptions andother nighttime activities. Be sure to be there to meet your fel-low classmates and celebrate the joys of being an engineer!

Give to the Senior Gift CampaignThe 2008 Engineering Senior Gift Campaign is now in fullswing! The goal is to break all past records and achieve a 50percent participation rate. Give any amount and receive a spe-cial appreciation gift. Give $35 or more and receive a BerkeleyEngineering license plate frame. Get more details online atwww.coe.berkeley.edu/giving/seniorgift or visit the Senior GiftCampaign table at the Campanile esplanade during E-Week.

What first inspired you to go into engi-neering?I’ve always been a tinkerer. When I wasyoung, I liked taking stuff apart and trying toput it back together. My typical birthdaypresents lasted about two hours before theywere destroyed. Around age 12 or 13, myparents gave me an electronics kit and thatwas pretty much it. I knew I wanted to be anelectrical engineer.

To date, what has been the most mem-orable moment in your career?I was working in industry at this startup we’d

Roberts leads CEE grad seminarThe next CEE graduate seminar, “High ReliabilityOrganizations,” is scheduled for 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday,February 20, in 212 O'Brien Hall. Karlene Roberts, a professorin the Haas School of Business, is leading the seminar. Forinformation on other upcoming sessions, visit their website atwww.ce.berkeley.edu/seminars/index.php?type=epm. The seriesruns through May 7.

Those aren’t freshmen Several Berkeley Engineering societies have teamed up to pres-ent Engineering for Kids day, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday,February 23. Students from fourth to sixth grade will be oncampus for a multitude of hands-on activities designed topresent engineering principles. For more information, emailEng4Kids@gmail.com.

WITH EECS PROFESSOR VIVEK SUBRAMANIAN

Subramanian received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University in1994 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1996 and1998, respectively. He cofounded Matrix Semiconductor in 1998, then in 2000 joined theEECS faculty, where he is currently an associate professor. He is also a founding technicaladvisor of Kovio, Inc. Subramanian has authored or coauthored more than 100 researchpublications and patents and won the NSF Career award.

founded. We were working on a new type ofmemory. I remember the first time we gotthe whole memory to work, we knew thenwe’d be able raise money and make a prod-uct. It was a really nice feeling.

If you had a few extra hours, whatwould you do with them?I’m a woodworker. I have a fully set-upworkshop and build contemporary art piecesand furniture. It’s important to me to be ableto work with my hands. Woodworking keepsme sane!

What should students do to ensure asuccessful career?Our tendency as engineers is to run newexperiments rather than think about theresults we’ve already achieved. But I’d

encourage students to look carefully at whatthey’ve already done, whether it’s a home-work set or an experiment, and think aboutit. You’ll learn more in taking the time toanalyze those results.

What are you currently reading?I just finished The Kite Runner by KhaledHosseini. It was phenomenal, one of the bestbooks I’ve read in the last few months.

What is one thing you would like tolearn how to do?I used to scuba dive so I’d like to get backinto it and get formally qualified.

If you would like us to profile your favoriteprofessor, please email his or her name toengnews@berkeley.edu.

PEGSKORPIN

SKI PHOTO

FEBRUARY 15, 2008

<professor minute>

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

Imagine working in a lab for yourday job, then spending your week-ends visiting ancient villages andbeach islands.

ME senior Kavon Hooshiar didjust that when he took a summerinternship at Hong Kong Poly-technic University (HKPU) throughthe International Association forthe Exchange of Students forTechnical Experience (IAESTE).

The San Carlos native graduatesin May and wanted to spend hissummers as an upperclassmandoing research, so he found a sum-mer internship through IAESTE. Byusing the mid-year break to intern,he was able to stay on track aca-demically and see the world as well.

“I saw this as a great way to travelabroad and not get behind inschool,” Hooshiar says.

The 21-year-old senior workedunder the guidance of an HKPUprofessor on a nanomaterials project.

“It was very materials-sciencebased,” Hooshiar says. The projectgoal was to test the mechanicalproperties of copper that had beenmodified to reduce the surfacegrain size to the nanometer scale.

Hooshiar interned with 40 othercollege students, mostly fromEurope, who worked in other HKPUdepartments. They stayed in thedorms and traveled together on theweekends.

“We took many trips to every sec-tion of Hong Kong, from ancientvillages, to authentic Hong Kongrestaurants … to playing ping pongand racquetball and snooker, to bar-becues on the beach, to amusementparks, to hiking trails,” he recalls.“We did as many things as possible.It was like extensive tourism.”

IAESTE is an international net-work that coordinates on-the-jobtraining for students in the fields ofengineering, math and the sci-ences. Since its inception in 1948,IAESTE United States has linked stu-dents with employers in more than70 countries.

more than 50 undergraduate teams from 19countries, the Bactoblood squad was one ofsix finalists in the prestigious synthetic biol-ogy event.

Berkeley’s entry was different from theothers, says BioE junior David Tulga, anotherteam member. “Our project was very com-petitive. It's really a complete system. Thinkof it as a computer. A lot of people at iGEMare building components, like a keyboard ora hard drive. We were trying to build thewhole computer,” Tulga explains.

The competition “really motivates a lot ofpeople to get in the field,” says John Dueber,a postdoctoral fellow at the California Ins-titute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) and an adviser on the project. Bactoblood“sounds crazier than it actually is,” he adds.

Despite its dreaded association with seri-ous food poisoning, the E. coli used in theBactoblood experiment was modified toremove its toxicity and help it live longer inthe bloodstream. This was accomplishedusing a process developed by Chris Ander-son, a recently appointed assistant professorof bioengineering at Berkeley.

To produce Bactoblood, the students killed the bacteria’s DNA, creating what were essentially empty shells of protein.They inserted genes to produce hemoglobin,the protein in red blood cells that carriesoxygen. When the substance turned red, thestudents knew hemoglobin was being manu-factured and transporting oxygen. Furthermodifications were made so the bacteriacould be freeze-dried to extend its shelf life.

The idea for Bactoblood was developed byAustin Day, a senior in chemical biology. Theteam included half a dozen undergraduatesstudying bioengineering, biochemistry andeven anthropology, three high school stu-dents and graduate and faculty advisers.

Liang’s assignment was to engineer thegenetic “self-kill” switch that destroyed thebacteria’s DNA to ensure it wouldn't repro-duce in the bloodstream.

With the competition now behind them,work on Bactoblood is on hold. But the par-ticipants remain upbeat about its potentialfor commercialization, pointing to the sub-stantial progress they made in just a fewmonths of lab time. “It was like a full-timejob,” Liang says.

BactobloodContinued from page 1

FEBRUARY 15, 2008

www.iaesteunitedstates.org

East meets West

http://parts.mit.edu/igem07/index.php/Berkeley_UC

IAESTE offers international engineering internships

SUDOKU

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into theblank spaces. Every row must con-

tain one of each digit. So mustevery column, as must every 3x3square.The answer will appear in

the next issue. Below is the answer to last issue’s puzzle.

PHOTOCOURTESY

OFKAVON

HOOSHIAR

PICTURESQUE SUMMER: IAESTE internsrelax under a Hong Kong pagoda. By Abby Cohn

issue 3S February 15.qxp 2/13/2008 10:16 AM Page 3

Engineers’ Week is here!By the time you read this Berkeley will be in the throes ofEngineers’ Week, the annual celebration of engineering,February 19 through 22! All kinds of events are planned for E-Week 2008, including daily barbecues at the Campanileesplanade, tabling at Bechtel, info sessions, receptions andother nighttime activities. Be sure to be there to meet your fel-low classmates and celebrate the joys of being an engineer!

Give to the Senior Gift CampaignThe 2008 Engineering Senior Gift Campaign is now in fullswing! The goal is to break all past records and achieve a 50percent participation rate. Give any amount and receive a spe-cial appreciation gift. Give $35 or more and receive a BerkeleyEngineering license plate frame. Get more details online atwww.coe.berkeley.edu/giving/seniorgift or visit the Senior GiftCampaign table at the Campanile esplanade during E-Week.

What first inspired you to go into engi-neering?I’ve always been a tinkerer. When I wasyoung, I liked taking stuff apart and trying toput it back together. My typical birthdaypresents lasted about two hours before theywere destroyed. Around age 12 or 13, myparents gave me an electronics kit and thatwas pretty much it. I knew I wanted to be anelectrical engineer.

To date, what has been the most mem-orable moment in your career?I was working in industry at this startup we’d

Roberts leads CEE grad seminarThe next CEE graduate seminar, “High ReliabilityOrganizations,” is scheduled for 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday,February 20, in 212 O'Brien Hall. Karlene Roberts, a professorin the Haas School of Business, is leading the seminar. Forinformation on other upcoming sessions, visit their website atwww.ce.berkeley.edu/seminars/index.php?type=epm. The seriesruns through May 7.

Those aren’t freshmen Several Berkeley Engineering societies have teamed up to pres-ent Engineering for Kids day, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday,February 23. Students from fourth to sixth grade will be oncampus for a multitude of hands-on activities designed topresent engineering principles. For more information, emailEng4Kids@gmail.com.

WITH EECS PROFESSOR VIVEK SUBRAMANIAN

Subramanian received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University in1994 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1996 and1998, respectively. He cofounded Matrix Semiconductor in 1998, then in 2000 joined theEECS faculty, where he is currently an associate professor. He is also a founding technicaladvisor of Kovio, Inc. Subramanian has authored or coauthored more than 100 researchpublications and patents and won the NSF Career award.

founded. We were working on a new type ofmemory. I remember the first time we gotthe whole memory to work, we knew thenwe’d be able raise money and make a prod-uct. It was a really nice feeling.

If you had a few extra hours, whatwould you do with them?I’m a woodworker. I have a fully set-upworkshop and build contemporary art piecesand furniture. It’s important to me to be ableto work with my hands. Woodworking keepsme sane!

What should students do to ensure asuccessful career?Our tendency as engineers is to run newexperiments rather than think about theresults we’ve already achieved. But I’d

encourage students to look carefully at whatthey’ve already done, whether it’s a home-work set or an experiment, and think aboutit. You’ll learn more in taking the time toanalyze those results.

What are you currently reading?I just finished The Kite Runner by KhaledHosseini. It was phenomenal, one of the bestbooks I’ve read in the last few months.

What is one thing you would like tolearn how to do?I used to scuba dive so I’d like to get backinto it and get formally qualified.

If you would like us to profile your favoriteprofessor, please email his or her name toengnews@berkeley.edu.

PEGSKORPIN

SKI PHOTO

FEBRUARY 15, 2008

<professor minute>

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

UC Berkeleywill estab-lish the firstendowedfacultychair attheBerkeleyCenter

for NewMediawith adona-

tion of $1.6million from craigslist, one

of the world’s most popular websites. The dona-tion will support research, symposia and lectures.It will be matched with $1.5 million from theWilliam and Flora Hewlett Foundation for a totalof $3.1 million. The craigslist donation establish-es the Center for New Media as a major researchcenter, said Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau.

Published biweekly on Fridays during the academic year by theEngineering Marketing and Communications Office, College ofEngineering, University of California, Berkeley.

Copy deadline is 4:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding publication.

Celeste Altusacting managing editor and writer

Patti Meaghercopy editor

S. Shankar Sastrydean

Teresa Mooreexecutive director, office of marketing and communications

Legos and kids still fit

University of CaliforniaEngineering News312 McLaughlin HallBerkeley, California 94720-1704Phone: 510 642.5857Fax: 510 643.8882

engnews@coe.berkeley.edu

www.coe.berkeley.edu/engnews/index.html

FEBRUARY 15, 2008

CELESTEALTUS

PHOTO

Robot-building contest held on Berkeley campus

Berkeley Engineering stu-dent group West CountyRobotics partnered with MEhonor society Pi Tau Sigma inDecember to present the sev-enth annual FIRST Lego tourna-ment. The competition is spon-sored by Dean Kamen’s interna-tional charity, For Inspirationand Recognition of Science andTechnology (FIRST), and Lego,manufacturer of the timelesschildren’s building blocks.Kamen, known for the Segwayhuman transporter and otherinventions, founded FIRST in1989.

Sixteen teams of kids fromgrades four to eight used Lego

Mindstorms kits andprogramming soft-ware to buildautonomously con-trolled Lego robotsthat could complete aseries of missionsbased on a globaltheme: This year wasabout energy conser-vation.

This was the firsttime that the tourna-ment has taken placeon the Berkeley cam-pus. The engineeringstudents served ashosts.

PHOTOSCOURTESY

OFWEST

COUNTY

ROBOTICS

issue 3S February 15.qxp 2/13/2008 10:16 AM Page 1

Johanes MaEECS senior

“Engineers are very busy.I haven’t seen any games,so I want to go to a Cal

game, as a student.”

Kayte FischerBioE Ph.D. student

“I would like to studyabroad, in India.”

Michelle VuEMS freshman

“To lie on the grasswhenever it’s nice

outside.”

Michael LinBioE junior

“Move out of the dorms,attend a UCB symphonyorchestra concert andbefriend a professor.”

From bugs to blood

A team ofCal undergrad-uates hasdemonstratedhow geneticallymodified E. colibacteria mightbe convertedinto a cheapand safe bloodsubstitute. Theengineeredproduct, called“Bactoblood,”addresses a

global shortage of human blood for transfusions,particularly in developing countries and emer-gency situations, the young developers say.

“Bactoblood is universally compatible, diseasefree and inexpensive, and you can reproduce itlike crazy,” explains Samantha Liang, a BioE jun-ior involved in the recent interdisciplinary proj-ect. “I thought it was a really great idea.”

So, apparently, did judges at the annualInternational Genetically Engineered Machinecompetition (iGEM) held last fall at MIT. Facing

FINALISTS: The Berkeley iGEM team hassome fun displaying the blood-substituteproject Bactoblood, which won a goldprize at the MIT contest last fall.

What

do you want

to do before

you graduate?

Continued on page 2

FEBRUARY 15, 2008 VOL. 78 , NO. 3S

PHOTOCOURTESY

OFAUSTIN

DAY

EECS junior Brian Zimmer, with GSI Kevin Peterson,

removes a chip from circuitry in EECS192, Mecha-

tronics Design Lab, where students design and build

robotic race cars. The class meets in Cory Hall’s Nat-

ional Instruments Embedded Systems Lab, improved

last year through a $1.5 million N.I. grant. Mechatronics

is one of several EE classes, like embedded systems and

robotics, that offer a major design element.

MECHALOMANIACS

Blood substitute emerges from E. coli