ECE Current Newsletters

The ECE Current Fall 2019 (pdf)

Table of Contents

• Letter from Nadir Dagli, ECE Chair: close of another year filled with action and excitement — three new faculty, U.S. News & World Report rank up two positions from the prior year, exceptional graduate student recruitment, research grants increase, and a new initiative to upgrade and modernize the undergrad labs
• In Memoriam: Ian Rhodes, Professor Emeritus — former department Chair and faculty member for 26 years and Dale Clark, Lecturer and ECE Electronic Support & Building Manager — staff member for 26 years
• Spotlights: New Faculty — Loai Salem, Spencer Smith and Christos Thrampoulidis; Faculty Mentorship — Professor Andy Teel; Student Spotlight — Takako Hirokawa, GSR; Alumni — MIlan Mashanovitch, CEO Freedom Photonics
• Research: ECE Research Initiatives — Professor Clint Schow, Director of the Optoelectronics Technology Center and Luke Theogarajan, PI of the Biomimetic Circuits & Nanosystems Group
  
• Recognitions: Faculty Awards — R. Alferness, M. Rodwell, M. Alizadeh, L. Salem, N. Dagli, S. Smith, Y. Isukapalli, D. Strukov, B.S. Manjunath, Y. Xie, C. Palmstrom, Z. Zhang; Student Awards — Herbert Kroemer Fellowship (A.P. Khope & A. Simsek); Roger Wood Award (M. Jing & T. Zhang – EE and B. Dong – CE), Ed Hass Scholarship (B. Dong), Outstanding Teaching Assistant (S. Bako – CE and M. Goebel – EE); 2019 CE & EE Capstone Winners; and 2018-19 ECE Donors
  

The ECE Current Fall 2018 (pdf)

Table of Contents

• Letter from Nadir Dagli, ECE Chair: a busy year full of excitement — faculty recruitment, undergraduate curriculum, faculty research grants and centers, high national and international rankings, gratitude to alumni and friends of the Department
• Spotlights: Faculty Mentorship — Professor Jim Buckwalter; Courses — Capstone 2018 (ECE 188 - EE & ECE 189 - CE) and Introduction to ECE (ECE 5A)
• Research: ECE Research Initiative — Professor Upamanyu Madhow, Wireless Communication and SensorNets Lab (WCSL)
  
• Recognitions: Faculty — UCSB Faculty Research Lecturer Award - Professor Umesh Mishra. Other ECE awardees include R. Alferness, D. Blumenthal, J. Bowers, F. Brewer, J. Klamkin, H. Lee, S. Mitra, C. Palmstrom, C. Schow, Y. Visell and L-C. Wang; Student Awards — Herbert Kroemer Fellowship (F. Gencel); Barpal Fellowship (J. Rivera & C. Sheth), Roger Wood Award (B. Luu – EE and S-M Oh & A. Wadaskar– CE), Ed Hass Scholarship (S-M Oh & A. Wadaskar), Outstanding Teaching Assistant (V. Radzicki– EE and C. Motta – CE); 2018 EE & CE Capstone Winners & Team UCSB Hyperloop's first place finish in the levitation competion at SpaceX's Hyperloop Pod Competion; and 2017-18 ECE Donors

The ECE Current Fall 2017 (pdf)

Table of Contents

• Letter from Nadir Dagli, ECE Chair: the new academic year brings — leadership changes, faculty retirements, new faculty recruits; department national and international rankings
• In Memoriam: John Skalnik, ECE Professor Emeritus — former department Chair and faculty member for 21 years
• New Faculty: Mahnoosh Alizadeh (Ph.D. UC Davis), Ramtin Pedarsani (Ph.D. UC Berkeley) and Zheng Zhang (Ph.D. MIT) and Lecturers — Ilan Ben-Yaacov (Ph.D. UCSB) and Yoga Isukapalli (Ph.D. UCSD)
• Retiring Faculty: Tim Cheng, Larry Coldren, Margaret Marek-Sadowska, Larry Rabiner and John Shynk
• Spotlights: Interview with ECE alum Sun Choe, President, Norcomp SC; Faculty Mentorship — Professor Jason Marden; and Student Spotlight — Q&A with Carlos Torres and an article on his research Multimodal Eye-CU Sensor Network for Healthcare (MESH)
• Research: ECE Research Initiative — Professor Kenneth Rose, Signal Compression Lab (SCL)
  
• Recognitions: Faculty — K. Banerjee, J. Bowers, L. Coldren, J. Hespanha, U. Mishra, Y. Mostofi, S. Mitra, D. Strukov, A. Teel, Y. Visell, H. Lee, L. Theogarajan, F. Brewer; Students — Herbert Kroemer Fellowship (A. McFadden), Roger Wood Award (P. Chomsinsap and R. Hwang – EE and Y. Ramesh – CE); Outstanding Teaching Assistant (V. Radzicki – EE and J. Cryan – CE); 2017 EE & CE Capstone Winners; and 2016-17 ECE Donors

The ECE Current Fall 2016 (pdf)

Feature Page

2016 National Medal of Technology and Innovation — Professor Arthur Gossard: receives the 2016 NMTI from President Obama at a White House ceremony

Table of Contents

• Letter from Joao Hespanha, ECE Chair: the Mechanical and Electrical and Computer Engineering depts. join forces in an event to showcase student Senior capstone projects; updates of laboratories and equipment; and weekly graduate student coffee hour
• New Faculty: Spotlight on Assistant Professor Yon Visell, RE Touch Lab
• Spotlights: Q&A with ECE alum Diego Rey, founder and Head of Research at GeneWEAVE; Faculty Mentorship — Professor Yuan Xie; and Student Spotlight — UCSB Hyperloop team
• Research: ECE Research Initiative — Associate Professor Jonathan Klamkin, Integrated Photonics Laboratory (iPL)
  
• Recognitions: Faculty — J. Bowers, A. Busetto, S. DenBaars, J. Johnson, J. Klamkin, H. Lee, C. Schow, U. Mishra; Students — Roger Wood Award (B. Sandler – CE and B. Canty – EE), The Herbert Kroemer Fellowship (C. Zhang); 2016 Capstone Winners; and ECE Donors and Corporate Affiliates — 2015-16

The ECE Current Fall 2015 (pdf)

Featured Article

"2014 Nobel Prize winner — Shuji Nakamura": In a recent TIME Magazine article Shuji thanked ECE Professor Steven Denbaars as a colleague, business partner, and best friend. Steve shares his Shuji recruitment story.

Table of Contents

• Letter from Joao Hespanha, ECE Chair: ECE one of two EE Depts. in U.S. to have two Nobel Prize winners (Nakamura '14 & Kroemer '00) and Ass't. Prof. Jon Schuller's involvement with "The Art of Science" competition through the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships at CNSI
• New Faculty: Electronics & Photonics — Prof. Jim Buckwalter, Prof. Clint Schow, Assoc. Prof. Jonathan Klamkin and Control Systems — Ass't. Prof. Jason Marden
• Spotlights: Q&A with ECE alum John Gerngross, founder of Condor Engineering; Faculty Mentorship — Assoc. Prof. Luke Theogarajan; and Student Spotlight — Justin Pearson, ECE Grad Student Researcher
• Research: ECE Research Initiative — Professor Li-C Wang, Mining Test & Verification Lab (MTV)
  
• Recognitions: Faculty — K. Banerjee, J. Buckwalter, L. Coldren, H. Lee, J. Johnson, M. Liebling, C. Palmstrom, J. Schuller and Y. Xie; Students — ECE & CE 2015 Capstone Senior Project winners; and ECE Donors and Corporate Affiliates — 2014-15

The ECE Current Fall 2014 (pdf)

Featured Articles

"Our Greatest Compliment — Our Students": include the career and accomplishments of one of ECE's preeminent alumni, NASA astronaut Jose Hernández; ECE graduating seniors and their capstone projects and successes in launching new businesses; and ECE's efforts to attract minority and underprivileged students to UCSB.

Table of Contents

• Letter from Joao Hespanha, ECE Chair: new faculty hires, searches and retirements; our students; and a thanks to our donors
• New Faculty: Professor Yuan Xie from Penn State University
• News: EE Capstone teams compete in UCSB's New Venture Competition and alumni business ventures
• Spotlight: ECE Alumn and NASA Astronaut, Jose Hernández; Associate Professor Yasamin Mostofi's robotic networks and outreach activities with Gallup Central High School and UCSB SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science)
• Research: Professor Nadir Dagli — low power photonics; very low drive voltage and very wide bandwidth electro-optic modulators; and ultra compact and very low power integrated ring resonators
  
• Recognitions: Students — 2014 Capstone Senior Project winners; Faculty — K. Banerjee, L. Coldren, S. Denbaars, B.S. Manjunath, M. Melliar-Smith, D. Strukov; and Retiring Faculty — Professor Louise Moser (25 years in ECE) and Professor Michael Melliar-Smith (27 years in ECE)

The ECE Current Fall 2013 (pdf)

Featured Article

"Celebrating a Legacy": "Herbert Kroemer Symposium" — a major invitation-only symposium at UCSB held in honor of Dr. Herbert Kroemer, Professor of ECE and Materials, Nobel Laureate in Physics in 2000, and a major contributor to the solid-state sciences.

Table of Contents

• Letter from Joao Hespanha, ECE Chair: financial stability; faculty, student & staff acknowledgements; academic programs
• News: 50 Years of Excellence - ECE's 50th Anniversary wrap up; Prof. John Schuller receives AFOSR Award; Prof. John Bowers named UCSB's 2013 Faculty Research Lecturer; Prof. Ron Iltis retires; Prof. Umesh Mishra named Donald W. Whittier Chair
• Spotlights: Alumni — Jeff Blokker (B.S. / M.S.); Faculty Q & A — Prof. John Bowers; Faculty Mentorship — Prof. Forrest Brewer
• Research: "Nanometer Transistors and III-V CMOS," Prof. Mark Rodwell; "High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging...," Prof. Pradeep Sen; "Optics Antenna Effects in Semiconductor Nanostructures...," Prof. Jon Schuller; "...Mobile Sensor Networks," Prof. Yasamin Mostofi; Robotics Lab — Prof. Katie Byl; Prof. Bob York's Wavestream a UC Top 25 Revenue Producing Invention
  
• Recognitions: In Remembrance — Roger Wood, Prof. Emeritus; Faculty Awards — Byl, Hespanha, Madhow/Rodwell, Mishra, Mostofi, Parhami, Rose, Schuller

The ECE Current Fall 2012 (pdf)

Featured Article

"Celebrate the Transformation - 50 Years of ECE": "With a look back..." anniversary events, words of wisdom from alumnus, interview with faculty emeritus; "And a step forward..." look at current research, welcoming three new faculty, summary of new achievements.

Table of Contents

• Letter from the Jerry Gibson, ECE Chair: Interviews w/ alumnus Bobby Brar & Prof Petar Kokotovic; Welcome to 3 new faculty
• News: Prof Steve Denbaars elected to the National Academy of Engineering; ECE Celebrates 50 Years of Excellence!; Welcome New ECE Faculty - Assoc Profs Yasamin Mostofi (CSP) & Pradeep Sen (CSP) and Ass't Prof Jon Schuller (E&P); Prof Steve Butner Retires
• Spotlights: Q & A with Dr. Bobby Brar; Q & A with Prof Emeritus Petar Kokotovic; Student Spotlights - Award Winning Capstone Projects, Prof Jerry Gibson receives Pathways Grant, and the ECE Student Office
• Research: "Controlling the Phase of Light," Prof Larry Coldren; "Biosensing using a Quantum Mechanical Transducer," Prof Kaustav Banerjee
• Recognitions: 2011-12 Donors, In Memoriam - Harold Frank, Teaching Awards (Butner and Theogarajan), Faculty Awards (Banerjee, Bowers, Kokotovic, Lee, Mitra, Palmstrom, Rodwell, Theogarajan)

The ECE Current Fall 2011 (pdf)

Featured Article

"3D High Dynamic Range Video Communications for Handhelds": Handheld devices and natural video communications using these devices are fast becoming the center of our connected lives. High speed wireless networks and multi-camera devices spur this evolution, yet the quality of mobile video communications is hindered. Research in ECE Prof. Jerry Gibson’s VivoNets Lab on high dynamic range (HDR) and 3D video uses signal processing to compensate for hardware limitations and video on handheld devices.

Table of Contents

• Letter from the Jerry Gibson, ECE Chair: NRC Top 5 Ranking; Undergraduate Education Goals; ECE 50th Anniversary
• News: Doluca Family Chair Endowment to Professor Mark Rodwell; New CoE Dean, Rod Alferness, joins ECE faculty
• Spotlights: Interview with alum Jeff Schlagetter; Q & A with alum Dr. David Wong; and Q & A with Prof Emeritus George Matthaei
• Research: Multi-Campus University Initiatives (MURI) - DRIFT (Mishra), DEFINE (Mishra), and Integrating CMOS with a novel RRAM technology in 3D circuits (Cheng and Strukov)
• Recognitions: 2010-11 Donors, 2011-12 Advisory board, NAE Members, Teaching Awards (Butner and Theogarajan), Faculty Awards (Byl, Gibson, Gossard, Theogarajan, Teel, Wang)

The ECE Current Fall 2010 (pdf)

Featured Article

"60 GHz MIMO Prototype Demonstrates Line of Sight Spatial Multiplexing": The next order of magnitude jump in wireless communication will come from utilizing the 7 GHz of unlicensed bandwidth in the 60 GHz (“millimeter wave’’) band to reach multiGigabit speeds. Prof. U. Madhow (wireless communications) and Prof M. Rodwell (ultra high-speed electronics), in collaboration with Prof E. Belding (computer science) have assembled an interdisciplinary program to address the challenges in realizing this vision.

Table of Contents

• ECE Department Highlights: NRC Top 5 Rank; Nationally in the top 3 depts in terms of research expenditures per faculty FTE
• News: Theogarajan receives NIH New Innovator Award; Rodwell honored with Doluca Family Endowed Chair; Welcome New ECE Faculty - Assistant Professors Katie Byl (Controls) and Dmitri Strukov (CE)
• Spotlights: Q & A w/ alum Dennis Monticelli; Q&A w/ Prof Herb Kroemer; Student Spotlight - ECE188 A/B Capstone Sr Projects
• Research: "A Multidisciplinary Approach: Center for Energy Efficient Materials - CEEM (David Auston); " Control Over Communications Networks" (Prof Hespanha); "New Design Technologies for Flexible Electronics" (Prof Cheng)
• Recognitions: 2009-10 Donors; In Memoriam - Frank Ordung, ECE's first Chair; Teaching Awards (Butner and Theogarajan); Faculty Awards (Banerjee, Gibson, Hespanha, Parhami, Petroff, Teel)

The ECE Current Fall 2009 (pdf)

Featured Article

"Sensing Space and Time": Professor Manjunath (CSP), in collaboration with ECE Profs Madhow (wireless communications and sensor networks), Rose (pattern recognition), Hespanha (controls), and CS and ME faculty, are setting up an expansive network of visual sensors on campus. The research will lead to a better understanding of human and animal behavior, new methods for visualization for large sensor networks, and maximizing energy efficiency through the development of building occupancy models.

Table of Contents

• Letter from the Jerry Gibson, ECE Chair: Greetings to the new ECE newsletter and Department highlights
• News: Prof Umesh Mishra elected to the National Academy of Engineering; John Bowers given Kavl Nanotechnologyi Chair; Doluca Family Endowed Chair established; Roger Wood Endowment - Letter from Dr. Isaac Barpal; Welcome New ECE Faculty - Assistant Professors Michael Liebling (CSP) and Luke Theogarajan (CE)
• Spotlights: Q & A with alum Dr. Yulun Wang; Q & A with Prof Emeritus Roger Wood; Student Group - Engineers without Borders
• Research: Energy Frontier Research Center Launched (CEEM), "Sensing Space and Time" (Prof Manjunath); Teaching lab facility updated; Nanofab facility and the community
• Recognitions: 2008-9 Donors; In Memoriam - Prof Glen Wade; Teaching Awards (Butner and York/Theogarajan); Faculty Awards (Banerjee, Bowers, Coldren, Gossard, Kokotovic, Liebling, Mitra, Rodwell, York)