News & Events

02-23-18

Four graduate students from the Computing and Mathematical Sciences (CMS) Department and one from the Electrical Engineering (EE) Department have been selected as 2017 Amazon Fellows. This fellows program is the result of a partnership between Caltech and Amazon AWS around Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. The EE fellow is Srikanth Tenneti who is exploring the potential of deep learning for Direction of Arrival applications, and extending Ramanujan Sums based techniques for multi-dimensional periodicity extraction. CMS graduate student Navid Azizan Ruhi is researching faster optimization algorithms for machine learning.  He is looking forward to visiting Amazon AI as a fellow and exchanging ideas with their researchers. Computer science graduate student Hoang Le is developing methods for efficient and intelligent sequential decision making in realistic systems. Florian Schaefer, whose focus is applied and computational mathematics, is researching the interface of statistical estimation and the design of fast algorithms. Control and dynamical systems graduate student Ellen Feldman, working with Professor Joel Burdick, has used part of the funding to present her research at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting and looking forward to other future opportunities to share her research. 

Tags: EE honors CMS P. P. Vaidyanathan Babak Hassibi Joel Burdick Yisong Yue Navid Azizan Ruhi Hoang Le Ellen Feldman Florian Schaefer Srikanth Tenneti Houman Owhadi

02-12-18

Victoria Kostina, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, has been awarded the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award for her 5-year project, “Information Theory of Dynamical Systems”. The CAREER program is NSF's most prestigious awards for junior faculty members. The level and 5-year duration of the awards are designed to enable awardees to develop careers as outstanding teacher-scholars. Awardees are chosen because they exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. [Caltech story]

Tags: EE honors NSF CAREER NSF Victoria Kostina

02-07-18

Lihong Wang, Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Professor Wang was elected for "inventions in photoacoustic microscopy enabling functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging in vivo." Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education." [Caltech story] [NAE release]

Tags: EE honors MedE National Academy of Engineering Lihong Wang

06-23-17

Azita Emami, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering; Investigator, Heritage Medical Research Institute; and EAS Division Deputy Chair, has been selected as a speaker for the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) 23rd annual U.S. Frontiers of Engineering (USFOE) symposium. The symposium will cover cutting-edge developments in four areas: Mega-Tall Buildings and Other Future Places of Work, Unraveling the Complexity of the Brain, Energy Strategies to Power Our Future, and Machines That Teach Themselves. The mission of the NAE is to advance the well-being of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology. [NAE Press Release]

Tags: EE honors MedE Azita Emami

06-08-17

Manuel Alejandro Monge Osorio, advised by Professor Azita Emami is a winner of this year’s Charles Wilts Prize, for his doctoral thesis "Localization and Stimulation Techniques for Implantable Medical Electronics." The Charles Wilts Prize is awarded every year to a graduate student in Electrical Engineering for outstanding independent research.

Tags: EE honors MedE Wilts Prize Azita Emami Manuel Alejandro Monge Osorio

06-07-17

Changhong Zhao, advised by Professor Steven Low is a winner of this year’s Charles Wilts Prize, for his doctoral thesis "Real-Time Load-Side Control of Electric Power Systems." The Charles Wilts Prize is awarded every year to a graduate student in Electrical Engineering for outstanding independent research.

Tags: EE honors CMS Wilts Prize Steven Low Changhong Zhao

06-07-17

The student winners of the 2017 Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes have been announced. Manuel Alejandro Monge Osorio received the prize in Biotechnology for his work with Professor Azita Emami which involves developing novel techniques for the miniaturization of implantable medical electronics in two important pillars: localization of medical devices and electrical stimulation. Pinaky Bhattacharyya was the recipient of the prize in Seismo-Engineering, Prediction, and Protection for his work with Professor Jim Beck investigating an information-theoretic approach to the problem of the optimal sensor placement for Bayesian system identification of structures using response time-history data. Bryan M. Hunter, working with Professor Harry Gray, received the prize in Environmentally Benign Renewable Energy Sources for his work on the development and characterization of a nickel-iron layered double hydroxide water oxidation catalyst with the goal of developing a solar-driven device for the synthesis of fuels, with hydrogen production as a target. The winner of the prize in Nanotechnology was Anupama Thubagere Jagadeesh whose research interests are focused on understanding the engineering principles behind designing and synthesizing programmable molecular machines.. Anupama’s graduate advisor was Professor Lulu Qian. The prize in Entrepreneurship was given to Ken Y. Chan who was advised by Professor Viviana Gradinaru. His research interests lie in developing tissue clearing technologies to render whole organs transparent for optical investigation..

Tags: EE honors MedE MCE CMS Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes James Beck Lulu Qian Harry Gray Azita Emami Manuel Alejandro Monge Osorio Pinaky Bhattacharyya Bryan Hunter Ken Chan Viviana Gradinaru Anupama Thubagere Jagadeesh

05-22-17

Electrical Engineering student Ashwin Balakrishna, advised by Professor Steven Low is a recipient of the 2017 Henry Ford II Scholar Award. He enjoys interdisciplinary research with a focus on intelligent systems. He has been using machine learning to improve sensor based systems in different contexts including medical diagnostics, electrical vehicle charging, and earthquake detection. The Henry Ford II Scholar Award is funded under an endowment provided by the Ford Motor Company Fund. The award is made annually to engineering students with the best academic record at the end of the third year of undergraduate study.

Tags: EE honors Henry Ford II Scholar Award Steven Low Ashwin Balakrishna

05-09-17

Electrical engineering student Avinash Agrawal, working with Professors Burdick and Low, is a recipient of the 2017 Henry Ford II Scholar Award. Avinash is aiming to produce robot visualizations and simulations for a spherical robot. The Henry Ford II Scholar Award is funded under an endowment provided by the Ford Motor Company Fund. The award is made annually to the engineering student with the best academic record at the end of the third year of undergraduate study.

Tags: EE honors Henry Ford II Scholar Award Steven Low Joel Burdick Avinash Agrawal

12-22-16

P. P. Vaidyanathan, Professor of Electrical Engineering, has been selected to received the IEEE Signal Processing Society's highest award called the "Society Award" for his pioneering contributions to signal processing theory and education. The award honors outstanding technical contributions in a field within the scope of the Signal Processing Society and outstanding leadership within that field. [List of 2016 awardees] [Caltech story]

Tags: EE honors P. P. Vaidyanathan