issue 5s march 30.qxp 3/24/2009 3:28 pm page 2...

engineeringNews

4 engineeringNews

POPQUIZ

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

engineeringNews

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Last fall, the NE departmentannounced the establish-ment of the BerkeleyNuclear Research Center

(BNRC), a joint venture between UC Berkeley,Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and LosAlamos National Laboratory. BNRC, funded by a$3.8 million award from the UC Office of thePresident Lab Fees Research Program, will focuson nuclear energy, nuclear waste repositories andenvironmental impact, nuclear regulation andnon-proliferation. The center, up and running bythis fall, will support several graduate studentsand postdoctoral researchers per year.

Published biweekly on Thursdays during the academic year bythe Engineering Marketing and Communications Office, Collegeof Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Copy deadlineis 4:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding publication.

Rachel Shafermanaging editor and writer

Megan Mansell Williamsreporter

S. Shankar Sastrydean

Karen Rhodesexecutive director, marketing and communications

oost your representationamong Cal’s student leadership

and support your fellow engineers.Vote between Tuesday, April 7, andThursday, April 9. Polling stationsare located throughout campusand the residence halls for yourconvenience. For details, go to http://election.asuc.org.

Sandra Yael Cohen, CEE freshmanRunning for: SenatorQualifications: Member of theAmerican Society of CivilEngineers, social committee of theSociety of Women Engineers andEngineering Week Committee;intern for APPLE EngineeringSenator Tu TranGoals: Promote and expand theBearWALK program, help withrestructuring of Engineers’ JointCouncil, sponsor more intersocietalevents to help build the engineer-ing community and plan the revi-talization of Lower Sproul Plaza.Quote: “I’m a creative person withmany ideas for how to improveBerkeley’s environment. I want towork closely with the engineeringgroups and offer them vitalresources to help them progress.”

Matt Samuels, BioE juniorRunning for: SenatorQualifications: Recording secretaryand former advising officer for TauBeta Pi, research assistant in FionaDoyle’s materials science lab Goals: Implement more communityservice events, improve intersoci-etal collaboration and communica-tion and increase scholarshipopportunities to exceptional stu-dents and visibility of existingscholarships.Quote: “We need to get our fairshare of the funding pie. Engineersmake up over 15 percent of under-graduates, but we currently receiveless than 3 percent of ASUC’s totalexpenditures.”

Sam Kwok Lee, EECS sophomoreRunning for: SenatorQualifications: President and co-founder of Theta Tau, coed engi-

neering fraternity, member of thetechnology committee of theRegents’ and Chancellors’ ScholarsAssociationGoals: Secure funding to supportlong-term growth for new studentgroups, advocate for businesses thatserve student needs as Lower SproulPlaza is revitalized and promoteawareness of student engineeringachievements and activities.Quote: “I know what it takes tomake a difference instead of waitingfor changes to come. As ASUC sena-tor, I will listen to what engineersand students want and strive tofulfill those goals as if they were my own.”

Tu Tran, BioE/Rhetoric juniorRunning for: Executive vicepresidentQualifications: Current ASUC sena-tor; cofounder and coordinator ofBerkeley Engineers and Mentors Goals: Create a web-based studentlife portal where students can findevent information, connect withclubs and more; implement a text-book rental system at ASUC book-store and promote greater efficien-cy in the senate. Quote: “I’ve worked hard over thepast couple years to serve the stu-dent body, going without sleepand, at times, even giving up aca-demics to get things done. I’vealways put students and studentgroups first.”

APPLE Engineering wantsyour vote in ASUC election

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

[email protected]

www.coe.berkeley.edu/news-center/publications/engineering-news

RACHELSHAFER

PHOTO

MARCH 30, 2009

New researchcenter for NE

B

MORE NORTHSIDE ON SOUTHSIDE: From left,Matt Samuels, Sandra Yael Cohen, Tu Tran andSam Kwok Lee are campaigning for ASUC officerpositions.

Issue 5S March 30.qxp 3/24/2009 3:27 PM Page 1

Joy Makdisi, BioE senior

“I’d like to finish medicalschool, have chosen a spe-cialty and have done a fewtrips abroad working on

global health.”

Scott Parker, NE/MSE sophomore

“I’d like to have an established career in

nuclear energy and a family.”

Dana Samuel, CEE senior

“I want to have traveledand to be doing something

in sustainablegreen building.”

Mark Lu, EECS freshman

“Have a wife and kids, aPh.D. and maybe be anassociate professor incomputer science, andhave something on theside that makes at least

$350,000 per year.”

Movie magician

merican Graffiti,Raiders of the Lost

Ark, Star Wars. The cele-brated company behindthese blockbuster filmsand their special effectswizardry, Lucasfilm, iscoming to campus —but not to make amovie.

On Tuesday, April 7,Richard Kerris, the com-pany’s chief technologyofficer, will discuss thepast and present oftechnology at Lucasfilmand offer a peek at thefuture. In one of the col-lege’s “View from theTop” lectures, Kerris willspeak at noon in Sibley

Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center. Kerris, who joined the company in December

2007, is responsible for development and execu-tion of technology strategy for Industrial Light &Magic, Skywalker Sound, LucasArts, LucasfilmAnimation, Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and

RICHARD KERRIS: Don’t missthis rare opportunity to learnabout technical strategy atLucasfilm. The event will takeplace on Tuesday, April 7,noon in Sibley Auditorium,Bechtel Engineering Center.

What

do you want

to accomplish

before you’re

30?

Continued on page 2

MARCH 30, 2009 VOL. 79, NO. 5S

PHOTOCOURTESY

OFLUCASFILM

RACHELSHAFER

PHOTO

OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND: ChemE junior Siddarth Satish,

right, explains to attendees how to land a research position at

the Undergraduate Research Forum on March 9. Satish, who

works in ChemE assistant professor Jhih-Wei Chu’s research

group, shared this advice: Make an effort to learn about a profes-

sor’s research before you approach him or her; read a paper, say,

or draw up a list of questions. Professors won’t expect you to

know everything, but they’ll take you more seriously if you to

demonstrate your curiosity.

HIS RESEARCH TIPSHEET

Lucasfilm exec to speak on April 7

A


3engineeringNews

Get the complete College calendar atwww.coe.berkeley.edu/events.

2 engineeringNews


ight problems to solve. Fivehours to do it. Three program-

mers and one computer per team.It all comes down to numbers at

the 33rd annual Association forComputing Machinery Inter-national Collegiate ProgrammingContest World Finals, which beginApril 18 in Stockholm, Sweden. Theteam that solves the most problemsin the fewest attempts and lowestcumulative time wins.

More than 7,109 teams represent-ing 1,838 universities around theworld have already competedregionally; 100 teams were brilliantenough to qualify for the IBM-sponsored world finals, the Olym-pics of college programming.Berkeley is one of them.

Last November, EECS studentsJames Cook, Svetoslav Kolev andJoseph Lim solved 8 of 10 problemsat a regional competition hosted byStanford. “The competition’s servercrashed right as we submitted thelast answer,” Cook recalls. “Weweren’t sure if our answer would becounted, and we weren’t sure if weeven got it right.” So when theteam nailed it and placed third,qualifying for the finals, Cook sayshe felt surprised and lucky. The lasttime Berkeley sent a team to theworld finals was 2003.

The competition’s problem sets,which require writing algorithmsto calculate the answer, range from

designing an instant translationdevice to helping commuters get towork faster through transit systems.

“These competitions are almostmore rewarding than my research,”Cook says. “In research, you’re nevergiven the problem. You have to fig-ure out what it is. And then you maynever find the right answer. Here,you solve eight problems in fivehours.”

Cook hopes his team places in thetop 50 at the world finals. Teamsfrom Russia and China are perennialfavorites to win first place; MIT tooksecond last year.

Input, output glory

RACHELSHAFER

PHOTO

NO SWEAT: EECS graduate student JamesCook has been competing in computer pro-gramming contests since high school.

cm2prod.baylor.edu

E

Lucas Online. Prior to that, he worked atApple and Alias Wavefront. Kerris is a mem-ber of the Society of Motion Pictures andTelevision Engineers and the Visual EffectsSociety, where he holds a seat on theTechnology Advisory Board.

In anticipation of the event, EngineeringNews interviews Kerris. Read the full inter-view at Engineering News online.

When did you first see Star Wars? It was at a movie theater in New Jersey,where I grew up, back in high school. It wasa great experience and it left me wonderinghow they did all the effects. That wonder-ment has kept me doing what I do — it stilldoes. I’m the biggest fan of our creative anddevelopment teams. The idea is generatedand then executed, and the story unfolds.That’s the magic for me.

During your watch, what has been thecompany’s biggest accomplishmenttechnology-wise? Directors work on our stage and, using a syn-thetic camera, interactively view and manip-ulate what resides in space around the com-puter graphics elements. This allows them tocraft scenes, do actual takes and see results,as it happens.

What is the technology strategy atLucasfilm? The strategy for technology has always beenthat it’s not about the technology; it’s aboutthe story. Technology is a means to an end.That comes from George [Lucas], and ourgoal is to always tell the story in the visionthat he and other directors want to see it.They dream up the impossible and ourgroups make it happen.

How has the global recession affected strate-gy and plans? We’ve been challenged to do more for less.We will never compromise on quality, butwe can save on how we get things done.Innovation is essential during these downtimes in the economy and I’m proud thatwe’re not slowing down on that at all.

Are you hiring engineers?We are always looking for great engineersand artists!

Movie magicianContinued from page 1

MARCH 30, 2009

www.lucasfilm.com

Berkeley team heads to elite programming competition


Speech, speech!Audition to be the 2009 College of Engineering Commencementstudent speaker! Auditions will be held Wednesday, April 1, at 6p.m. Your speech should be: optimistic, four to five minutes long,have an original theme that is forward looking, contain somenostalgia about your time at Cal, be non-technical and aimedat family and friends. To audition, contact Dawn Kramer [email protected] by MONDAY, MARCH 30.

IIE Western Regional Conference All majors are invited to the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE)Western Regional Conference, April 3 through 5, at UC Berkeley.Immerse yourself in discussions of entrepreneurship, innovationand leadership and explore new directions in industrial engineer-ing. The event will also feature social networking events, a careerfair and a technical paper competition. Registration is required;the deadline is THURSDAY, APRIL 2. Register and get more detailsat iie.berkeley.edu/conference.

What do you like about your job?I have the opportunity to interact withstudents and faculty from all areas of engi-neering and science and to effect change thatcan position the university to contribute ina meaningful way to some of society’s mostpressing problems: alternative energy, securi-ty and health care.

How did you go about finding yourinterest/passion?I’m an ocean engineer by training and am stillinvolved in research investigating how climate

Commencement registrationCommencement 2009 will be a traditional all-college ceremonyheld on Saturday, May 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at HearstGreek Theatre. Departmental receptions will follow at variouscampus locations. Visit the official website www.coe.berkeley.edu/commencement to register online to participate in Commencementand reserve your tickets. There is a six-ticket limit per graduatingstudent. Registration deadline is MONDAY, APRIL 20. If you havequestions, please contact Dawn Kramer at [email protected].

Be a tour guide for the day We need six College of Engineering students to lead tours of thecollege from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Cal Day, Saturday, April 18. Inappreciation of your “tour duty,” you’ll get free lunch, a thankyou gift and our unbounded gratitude! To volunteer, contactDawn Kramer at [email protected].

WITH CEE ALUM MICHAEL BRUNO

After graduating from Cal, Bruno (B.S.’81 CEE) worked briefly as a coastal engineer for the

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection before returning to academia to earn

his doctorate in civil-ocean engineering from MIT–Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in

1986. In 1989, he joined the faculty at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New

Jersey, and in 2007 was appointed dean of its Schaefer School of Engineering and Science.

change impacts coastal communities. Thisinterest — passion is a better word — wasstirred by a series of courses I took in theearly 1980s with environmental engineeringprofessor Robert Wiegel [now emeritus]at Cal.

Why did you choose the academictrack?I’ve always viewed teaching as a noble pur-suit, one that provides the immediate gratifi-cation of seeing your students succeed andthe satisfaction of passing on both yourknowledge and your passion to the nextgeneration. And it keeps you young!

What do you recommend students doduring school to prepare for an aca-demic career?Choose a field that excites and inspires you:You’ll be great at it. All else will follow.

What are some things to think aboutwhile considering a potential job?Consider whether the job will provide thelearning opportunities and the challenges tokeep you excited for several years.

Have additional questions? [email protected].

PHOTOCOURTESY

OFM

ICHAELBRUN

O

MARCH 30, 2009


engineeringNews

4 engineeringNews

POPQUIZ

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

engineeringNews


Last fall, the NE departmentannounced the establish-ment of the BerkeleyNuclear Research Center

(BNRC), a joint venture between UC Berkeley,Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and LosAlamos National Laboratory. BNRC, funded by a$3.8 million award from the UC Office of thePresident Lab Fees Research Program, will focuson nuclear energy, nuclear waste repositories andenvironmental impact, nuclear regulation andnon-proliferation. The center, up and running bythis fall, will support several graduate studentsand postdoctoral researchers per year.

Published biweekly on Thursdays during the academic year bythe Engineering Marketing and Communications Office, Collegeof Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Copy deadlineis 4:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding publication.

Rachel Shafermanaging editor and writer

Megan Mansell Williamsreporter

S. Shankar Sastrydean

Karen Rhodesexecutive director, marketing and communications

oost your representationamong Cal’s student leadership

and support your fellow engineers.Vote between Tuesday, April 7, andThursday, April 9. Polling stationsare located throughout campusand the residence halls for yourconvenience. For details, go to http://election.asuc.org.

Sandra Yael Cohen, CEE freshmanRunning for: SenatorQualifications: Member of theAmerican Society of CivilEngineers, social committee of theSociety of Women Engineers andEngineering Week Committee;intern for APPLE EngineeringSenator Tu TranGoals: Promote and expand theBearWALK program, help withrestructuring of Engineers’ JointCouncil, sponsor more intersocietalevents to help build the engineer-ing community and plan the revi-talization of Lower Sproul Plaza.Quote: “I’m a creative person withmany ideas for how to improveBerkeley’s environment. I want towork closely with the engineeringgroups and offer them vitalresources to help them progress.”

Matt Samuels, BioE juniorRunning for: SenatorQualifications: Recording secretaryand former advising officer for TauBeta Pi, research assistant in FionaDoyle’s materials science lab Goals: Implement more communityservice events, improve intersoci-etal collaboration and communica-tion and increase scholarshipopportunities to exceptional stu-dents and visibility of existingscholarships.Quote: “We need to get our fairshare of the funding pie. Engineersmake up over 15 percent of under-graduates, but we currently receiveless than 3 percent of ASUC’s totalexpenditures.”

Sam Kwok Lee, EECS sophomoreRunning for: SenatorQualifications: President and co-founder of Theta Tau, coed engi-

neering fraternity, member of thetechnology committee of theRegents’ and Chancellors’ ScholarsAssociationGoals: Secure funding to supportlong-term growth for new studentgroups, advocate for businesses thatserve student needs as Lower SproulPlaza is revitalized and promoteawareness of student engineeringachievements and activities.Quote: “I know what it takes tomake a difference instead of waitingfor changes to come. As ASUC sena-tor, I will listen to what engineersand students want and strive tofulfill those goals as if they were my own.”

Tu Tran, BioE/Rhetoric juniorRunning for: Executive vicepresidentQualifications: Current ASUC sena-tor; cofounder and coordinator ofBerkeley Engineers and Mentors Goals: Create a web-based studentlife portal where students can findevent information, connect withclubs and more; implement a text-book rental system at ASUC book-store and promote greater efficien-cy in the senate. Quote: “I’ve worked hard over thepast couple years to serve the stu-dent body, going without sleepand, at times, even giving up aca-demics to get things done. I’vealways put students and studentgroups first.”

APPLE Engineering wantsyour vote in ASUC election

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

[email protected]

www.coe.berkeley.edu/news-center/publications/engineering-news

RACHELSHAFER

PHOTO

MARCH 30, 2009

New researchcenter for NE

B

MORE NORTHSIDE ON SOUTHSIDE: From left,Matt Samuels, Sandra Yael Cohen, Tu Tran andSam Kwok Lee are campaigning for ASUC officerpositions.


Joy Makdisi, BioE senior

“I’d like to finish medicalschool, have chosen a spe-cialty and have done a fewtrips abroad working on

global health.”

Scott Parker, NE/MSE sophomore

“I’d like to have an established career in

nuclear energy and a family.”

Dana Samuel, CEE senior

“I want to have traveledand to be doing something

in sustainablegreen building.”

Mark Lu, EECS freshman

“Have a wife and kids, aPh.D. and maybe be anassociate professor incomputer science, andhave something on theside that makes at least

$350,000 per year.”

Movie magician

merican Graffiti,Raiders of the Lost

Ark, Star Wars. The cele-brated company behindthese blockbuster filmsand their special effectswizardry, Lucasfilm, iscoming to campus —but not to make amovie.

On Tuesday, April 7,Richard Kerris, the com-pany’s chief technologyofficer, will discuss thepast and present oftechnology at Lucasfilmand offer a peek at thefuture. In one of the col-lege’s “View from theTop” lectures, Kerris willspeak at noon in Sibley

Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center. Kerris, who joined the company in December

2007, is responsible for development and execu-tion of technology strategy for Industrial Light &Magic, Skywalker Sound, LucasArts, LucasfilmAnimation, Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and

RICHARD KERRIS: Don’t missthis rare opportunity to learnabout technical strategy atLucasfilm. The event will takeplace on Tuesday, April 7,noon in Sibley Auditorium,Bechtel Engineering Center.

What

do you want

to accomplish

before you’re

30?

Continued on page 2

MARCH 30, 2009 VOL. 79, NO. 5S

PHOTOCOURTESY

OFLUCASFILM

RACHELSHAFER

PHOTO

OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND: ChemE junior Siddarth Satish,

right, explains to attendees how to land a research position at

the Undergraduate Research Forum on March 9. Satish, who

works in ChemE assistant professor Jhih-Wei Chu’s research

group, shared this advice: Make an effort to learn about a profes-

sor’s research before you approach him or her; read a paper, say,

or draw up a list of questions. Professors won’t expect you to

know everything, but they’ll take you more seriously if you to

demonstrate your curiosity.

HIS RESEARCH TIPSHEET

Lucasfilm exec to speak on April 7

A


issue 5s march 30.qxp 3/24/2009 3:28 pm page 2...

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