News

Portrait of Richard Nixon by Lotfi Zadeh

February 28, 2018

Subjects natural, rational, and transcendental: the photos of Lotfi Zadeh

Prof. Lotfi Zadeh, who passed away in 2017, was an avid photographer who grew up in a multicultural environment, surrounded himself with a cosmopolitan crowd, and always kept his mind open to new ideas.   In the 1960s and 70s, he enjoyed capturing the people around him in a series of…

Rendering of a hamster, generated with the researchers' method. (Credit: University of California, San Diego)

February 21, 2018

Ling-Qi Yan helps to improve computer rendering of animal fur

CS graduate student Ling-Qi Yan (advisors: Ravi Ramamoorthi/Ren Ng) and researchers at U.C. San Diego are the subject of an article in TechXplore titled “Scientists improve computer rendering of animal fur.”  He is part of a team that developed a method for dramatically improving the way computers simulate fur, and…

Dan Wallach (photo: Baker Institute)

February 21, 2018

Dan Wallach to testify about election security and voting machines in Texas

EECS alumnus Dan Wallach (B.S. ’93) will testify before the Texas Senate Select Committee on Election Security at a hearing about recent election irregularities in Texas, a review of voting security protocols and the responsibilities and duties of members of the Electoral College.  Specifically, the hearing will examine the use…

Steve Wozniak speaking at the University of South Florida, 2018 (photo: 813 Area)

February 21, 2018

Steve Wozniak emphasizes people over technology

CS alumnus Steve Wozniak (B.A.’86) was the inaugural speaker in the Business Thought Leader series at the University of South Florida College of Business.  He answered pre-submitted questions that asked for his best advice for college students and what he might tell his younger self.  He shared his “smiles minus…

Cal's winning 2018 Overwatch team (Photo: Katherine Fitzgerald)

February 20, 2018

UC Berkeley wins 2018 Fiesta Bowl Overwatch Collegiate National Championship

For the second year running, UC Berkeley has won the Fiesta Bowl Overwatch Collegiate National Championship, sweeping UC Irvine 3-0.  CS majors Kevin “SlurpeeThief” Royston and Gandira “Syeikh” Prahandika were on the Berkeley team, which battled in front of a sold-out crowd at the game in Tempe, Arizona, the first partnership…

Dawn Song and Noah Johnson

February 20, 2018

Security for data analytics – gaining a grip on the two-edged sword

Prof. Dawn Song and graduate student Noah Johnson are taking a new approach to enable organizations to follow tight data security and privacy policies while enabling flexible data analysis, as well as machine learning for analysts.  Working with Uber, they tested their system using a dataset of 8 million queries…

DASH robot scurrying up wall

February 20, 2018

Small robots with smart bodies can safely bump into obstacles

Prof. Ron Fearing’s team have modified a palm-size robot with a soft, roach-like exoskeleton and six legs, called the Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod (DASH), to use the momentum of a head-on crash to tip itself upward to climb a wall.  Kaushik Jayaram (Ph.D. Robotics/Biology ’14, advisor: Robert Full) discovered how…

Teresa Meng (photo: EE Times)

February 20, 2018

Teresa Meng on winning the game in a male-dominated industry

EECS distinguished alumna Teresa Meng (M.S. ’85/Ph.D. ’88) is the subject of an article in the EE Times about a keynote presentation she recently gave at the  International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) on sexism in her profession.   Meng, who was the first female professor in electrical engineering…

Anca Dragan and Raluca Popa

February 16, 2018

Anca Dragan and Raluca Popa win Sloan Research Fellowships

Assistant Profs. Anca Dragan and Raluca Ada Popa have been awarded 2018 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships.  They are among 126 early-career scholars who represent the most promising scientific researchers working today. Their achievements and potential place them among the next generation of scientific leaders in the U.S. and Canada.

Alexandre Bayen and Pulkit Agrawal (Photo: Elena Zhukova)

February 14, 2018

Computer Vision to Protect Patients — and Budgets

Prof. Alexandre Bayen and PhD student Pulkit Agrawal developed a computer vision-based system to help memory care centers monitor patient falls and to reduce them where possible.  State regulations require an MRI of the head any time a patient suffers an unwitnessed fall, and about a fourth of all Alzheimer’s-related…