News

Alexandra von Meier

Alexandra von Meier imagines a way to detect cyber-attacks on energy grids

The research of Prof. Alexandra von Meier is featured in an IEEE Spectrum article titled “Detecting Cybersecurity Threats by Taking the Grid’s Pulse”. In 2013 Prof. von Meier and collaborator Alex McEachern built a “micro-PMU (phaser measurement units)” that could take snapshots of distribution grids, whose power flows have become increasingly complex. While developing this advanced power sensor they produced a promising tool to protect power grids from cyber attack and will compete in a $77M power grid cyber security R&D contest that DARPA is kicking off next month.

seth sanders

Seth Sanders participating in Advancements in Storage Technology at the STUDIO Conference in SF

Prof. Seth Sanders is featured in a Yahoo Finance article about his participation in a panel discussion on Advancements in Storage Technology at the STUDIO Conference in San Francisco on August 3. Prof. Sanders is the chief scientist and co-founder of Amber Kinetics, Inc., developer of the world’s first commercially ready four-hour flywheel energy storage system.

Tsu-Jae King Liu selected to receive the 2016 Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Aristotle Award.

Prof. Tsu-Jae King Liu has been selected to receive the 2016 Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Aristotle Award. The Aristotle Award was created by the SRC Board of Directors in March 1995 to recognize supported faculty whose deep commitment to the educational experience of SRC students has had a profound and continuing impact on their professional performance and consequently a significant impact for members over a long period of time. It is a tribute to the unwavering commitment of Prof. King Liu to all aspects of education. Past winners of this award include Profs. Andrew Neureuther, Chenming Hu, David Allstot and Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli.

Sanjam Garg and Nir Yosef awarded Okawa Foundation Research Grants

Prof. Sanjam Garg and Nir Yosef have been awarded Okawa Foundation Research Grants for 2016. This award recognizes promising young faculty members in the fields of information and telecommunications. Prof. Garg, whose research interests are in cryptography, security and more broadly theoretical computer science is awarded for his work on software obfuscation. Prof. Yosef, whose research interests are in utilizing high-throughput genomic data sets, and immune cells, covering various aspects of their biology, is awarded for his work on annotating the regulatory genome of mammalian cells.

Tsu-Jae King Liu appeals to Silicon Valley to collaborate to increase the number of women in computer technology

EECS Prof. Tsu-Jae King Liu and Belle Wei (Chair of Engineering Education and Innovative Learning at San Jose State) penned an article for the Mercury News titled "Closing tech workforce gap calls for interdisciplinary model."   In it, they argue that there is a desperate need to increase the future number of computer scientists in the US workforce and this need can be met by women if Silicon Valley companies increase their efforts to collaborate with university educators. "Our educators are up to the task. What they need is incentive and support, along with resources to help them transcend outdated disciplinary divides...We need leaders across a broad spectrum of industry to identify the knowledge and skill sets that new employees will need to succeed."

Tsu-Jae King Liu joins Intel's Board of Directors

Intel has announced Prof. Tsu-Jae King Liu to be added to their board of directors, marking the second woman to be on their governing body. Prof. King Liu will join lawyer and former ambassador Charlene Barshefsky as the only two women on Intel’s board. “She brings a wealth of expertise in silicon technology and innovation that will be valuable for Intel in many areas as we navigate a significant business transition while continuing to lead in advancing Moore’s Law and harnessing its economic value,” Intel board chairman Andy Bryant said in a statement.

Kannan Ramchandran receives 2017 IEEE Kobayashi Computers & Communications Award

Prof. Kannan Ramchandran has been selected to receive the 2017 IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the integration of computers and communications. Prof. Ramchandran is recognized for his pioneering contributions to the theory and practice of distributed source and storage coding. He pioneered the use of now-popular rate-distortion methods for image and video compression, co-invented distributed source coding, and developed state-of-the-art distributed storage codes which have influenced large-scale storage systems.

Claire Tomlin receives 2017 IEEE Transportation Technologies Award

Prof. Claire Tomlin has been selected to receive the 2017 IEEE Transportation Technologies Award, which recognizes advances in technologies applied in transportation systems. Prof. Tomlin is being recognized for contributions to air transportation systems, focusing on collision avoidance protocol design and avionics safety verification. She pioneered methods for computing the reachable set (encompassing all behaviors) of a hybrid system, which allow one to verify that the system stays within a desired (safe) range of operation and to design controllers to satisfy constraints.