by Bruce Mason
closeAuthor: Bruce Mason
Name: Bruce Mason
Email: bmason@ou.edu
Site: http://www.nhn.ou.edu/ouresearch/faculty/BioMason.html
About: My research involves the theoretical study of the properties of electronic systems in semiconductors. This work uses extensive computer modeling of semiconductor structures to understand the electronic states of these systems, and their electron dynamics. This work includes the study of parabolic quantum wells, hetero-junctions, metal-oxide-semiconductor structures and semiconductor quantum wires. I am interested in the electronic transport, optical, and infrared properties of these systems including the effects of magnetic fields and disorder. The techniques used in these calculations include self-consistent local density simulations, many-body Green function techniques, Monte Carlo simulations, and path integrals. I am also interested in the device applications of novel quantum systems for transistors and detectors.See Authors Posts (11) · May 17th, 2012 · Add a Comment
Today in History – May 17, 1954 – Official groundbreaking of the CERN laboratory occurred in Geneva. A small number of scientists first envisioned CERN vision as an opportunity to bring nations together through science and build a world-class laboratory for nuclear and particle physics in Europe. CERN’s founding convention emphasized that that it should foster international collaboration, promote contacts between and interchange of scientists and make its results freely available through advanced training and publications. “When the 12 founding Member States ratified the CERN convention on 29 September 1954,” explains CERN’s Director General Robert Aymar, “they gave the new organization a mission to provide first class facilities, to coordinate fundamental research in particle physics, and to help reunite the countries of Europe after two world wars.“
Today, CERN has achieved its mission and more, hosting around half the world’s particle physicists, with membership that includes 60 countries and 8,000 scientists; it boasts a large number of Nobel Laureates as well. CERN supports the world’s largest set of complex scientific instruments so study the basic particles of matter and related energy releases when they collide. “It is no accident,” says Aymar, “that many of the countries about to join the European Union are already members of CERN. Scientific collaboration has proved to be a valuable step on the way to collaboration at the political level.“
The 50th anniversary of CERN officially began on 8 March 2004 with the launch of a Swiss postage stamp dedicated to CERN (see upper left figure).
More recently, CERN launched the Large Hadron Collider as the center for world-wide research on particle physics for the next decade.
CERN has also stimulated a number of other developments beyond fundamental particle physics. It was here that the World Wide Web was launched when CERN’s Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal titled: Information Management : a Proposal” in 1990. His idea, later refined by collaborator Robert Cailiau, was to “merge the technologies of personal computer, computer networking and hpertext into a powerful and easy to use global information system“. The first web server in the U.S. came on-line in December 1991 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in Menlo Park, California. The first browsers in the X-window system. The version called Mosaic published in 1993 by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois became the version that was most widely used with its easy to use user interface and ability to run on a wide range of computer platforms. The world’ first WWW conference was held at CERN in May 1994, attended by 400 users and developers. By the end of 1994, the Web had 10,000 servers and exponentially increasing traffic. The rest is history. In March 2009, CERN celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Web.
For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on the CERN and particle physics, including their educational site. For related educational resources, visit the Engineering Science Education Community site. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.
Tags: Chemical, Biochemical, Biomolecular Engineering · General Engineering, Engineering Science · Nuclear Engineering
by Alice Agogino
closeAuthor: Alice Agogino
Name: Alice Agogino
Email: agogino@berkeley.edu
Site: http://www.me.berkeley.edu/faculty/agogino/
About: Alice M. Agogino is the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering and is affiliated faculty at the Haas School of Business in their Operations and Information Technology Management Group. Her research interests include: community-based design; sustainable engineering; intelligent learning systems; information retrieval and data mining; multiobjective and strategic product design; nonlinear optimization; probabilistic modeling; intelligent control and manufacturing; sensor validation, fusion and diagnostics; wireless sensor networks; multimedia and computer-aided design; design databases; design theory and methods; MEMS/NEMS synthesis and computer-aided design; artificial intelligence and decision and expert systems; and gender/ethnic equity.
She has served in a number of administrative positions at UC Berkeley, including Chair of the Faculty Senate, Associate Dean of Engineering and Faculty Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost in Educational Development and Technology. Prof. Agogino also served as Director for Synthesis, an NSF-sponsored coalition of eight universities with the goal of reforming undergraduate engineering education, and continues as PI for the NEEDS (www.needs.org) and SMETE.ORG digital libraries of courseware in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.
Prof. Agogino received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico (1975), M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering (1978) from the University of California at Berkeley and Ph.D. from the Department of Engineering-Economic Systems at Stanford University (1984). Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, she worked in industry for Dow Chemical, General Electric and SRI International. She has authored over 150 scholarly publications; has won numerous teaching, best paper and research awards; and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). At NAE she served on the Committee on Engineering Education, working on the Technologically Speaking and the Engineer 2020 projects. She is currently a member of the National Research Council's Board on Education and the Women in Academic Science Engineering Committee. She has supervised 66 MS projects/theses, 26 doctoral dissertations and numerous undergraduate researchers.See Authors Posts (635) · May 16th, 2012 · Add a Comment
Today in History -May 16, 1960 – Theodore Maiman develops the first ruby laser, one of the first functional optical lasers while at the Hughes Aircraft Company. Maiman (left photo) was influenced by articles by Charles H. Townes at al.: J.P. Gordon, H. J. Zeiger and C.H. Townes, Physics Review, 95 (1954) 282 and J. P. Gordon, H. J. Zeiger and C. H. Townes, Physics Review, 99 (1955) 1264.
There appears to have been quite a competition between Maiman and Townes (photo second from left) in developing the first functional laser. Townes patented the maser (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) on March 24, 1959, using ammonia gas and microwave radiation – a laser that doesn’t use optical light. Although Maiman was nominated for a Nobel prize, the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Charles Townes (50%) and Basov and Prokhorov (each 25%). Maiman was awarded 1983/84 Wolf Prize in Physics and the Japan Prize in 1987. He also holds patents on masers, laser displays, optical scanning, and laser modulation. Until his recent death on May 5, 2007, Maiman served as director of the Control Laser Corporation and a member of the advisory board of Industrial Research Magazine.
Gordon Gould was the first person to use the word “laser” (Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation). And he may have created the first light laser. As a doctoral student at Columbia University under Charles Townes, he built an optical laser starting in 1958 but failed to file for a patent for his invention until after other laser researchers had filed their own patents. In 1997 after many legal battles, Gould was awarded the first patent for the laser. He was inducted into the Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 1991.
For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on applied physics or view our Electrical Engineering Education community site. Also see Laserium inventor Lisa Garmire’s blog on the Maser patent of March 24, 1959.
Tags: Electrical Engineering · General Engineering, Engineering Science
by Alice AgoginocloseAuthor: Alice Agogino
Name: Alice Agogino
Email: agogino@berkeley.edu
Site: http://www.me.berkeley.edu/faculty/agogino/
About: Alice M. Agogino is the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering and is affiliated faculty at the Haas School of Business in their Operations and Information Technology Management Group. Her research interests include: community-based design; sustainable engineering; intelligent learning systems; information retrieval and data mining; multiobjective and strategic product design; nonlinear optimization; probabilistic modeling; intelligent control and manufacturing; sensor validation, fusion and diagnostics; wireless sensor networks; multimedia and computer-aided design; design databases; design theory and methods; MEMS/NEMS synthesis and computer-aided design; artificial intelligence and decision and expert systems; and gender/ethnic equity.
She has served in a number of administrative positions at UC Berkeley, including Chair of the Faculty Senate, Associate Dean of Engineering and Faculty Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost in Educational Development and Technology. Prof. Agogino also served as Director for Synthesis, an NSF-sponsored coalition of eight universities with the goal of reforming undergraduate engineering education, and continues as PI for the NEEDS (www.needs.org) and SMETE.ORG digital libraries of courseware in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.
Prof. Agogino received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico (1975), M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering (1978) from the University of California at Berkeley and Ph.D. from the Department of Engineering-Economic Systems at Stanford University (1984). Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, she worked in industry for Dow Chemical, General Electric and SRI International. She has authored over 150 scholarly publications; has won numerous teaching, best paper and research awards; and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). At NAE she served on the Committee on Engineering Education, working on the Technologically Speaking and the Engineer 2020 projects. She is currently a member of the National Research Council's Board on Education and the Women in Academic Science Engineering Committee. She has supervised 66 MS projects/theses, 26 doctoral dissertations and numerous undergraduate researchers.See Authors Posts (635) · May 13th, 2012 · Add a Comment
Today in History – May 13, 1958 – Velcro® trademark is registered for a fabric hook and loop fastener.
The way George de Mestral, a Swiss mountaineer, tells the story, he was hiking with his dog in 1948 and was frustrated to see all of these burrs covering them both when he returned home. He says he was fascinated by how tough they were to take off and looked at them in a microscope. He saw that they had small hooks that enabled the seed-bearing burr to cling effectively to the small fabric loops on his pants. This was an “aha” moment and he was inspired to design a fastener using the same concept. He called his invention ‘velcro’, combining the French words velour (velvet) and crochet (hook). He predicted: “It will rival the zipper in its ability to fasten.”
The idea was not an immediate success and met with derision by some. He persevered and worked with a weaver from a textile plant in France to develop a nylon type fabric that had the hook and loop fastener concept, patented it in 1955 and trademarked it in 1958. A U.S. patent was filed on May 9, 1958 and awarded on Nov. 21, 1961. The original Velcro® company was formed in 1952 to manufacture this invention and now Velcro® is a multi-million dollar industry.
One interesting note on trademarks: if it becomes a commonly used generic word, then the trademark can be invalidated. Thus Velcro International emphasizes: “Velcro is the name of our companies and is a registered trademark for our products,” the highly protective company says. “It is not the generic name of the product that… is generically known as ‘hook-and-loop fastener’ or ‘touch fasteners’.”
Velcro® is a wonderful example of biologically-inspired design, or biomimicry.
Also on this day, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (to later merge with another society to become the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE) is founded.
For more information see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on biomimetic design and trademarks and patents. For related curricular resources, visit the Materials Engineering Education, Materials Engineering Education and the Chemical Engineering Education community sites.
Tags: Chemical, Biochemical, Biomolecular Engineering · General Engineering, Engineering Science
by Alice AgoginocloseAuthor: Alice Agogino
Name: Alice Agogino
Email: agogino@berkeley.edu
Site: http://www.me.berkeley.edu/faculty/agogino/
About: Alice M. Agogino is the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering and is affiliated faculty at the Haas School of Business in their Operations and Information Technology Management Group. Her research interests include: community-based design; sustainable engineering; intelligent learning systems; information retrieval and data mining; multiobjective and strategic product design; nonlinear optimization; probabilistic modeling; intelligent control and manufacturing; sensor validation, fusion and diagnostics; wireless sensor networks; multimedia and computer-aided design; design databases; design theory and methods; MEMS/NEMS synthesis and computer-aided design; artificial intelligence and decision and expert systems; and gender/ethnic equity.
She has served in a number of administrative positions at UC Berkeley, including Chair of the Faculty Senate, Associate Dean of Engineering and Faculty Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost in Educational Development and Technology. Prof. Agogino also served as Director for Synthesis, an NSF-sponsored coalition of eight universities with the goal of reforming undergraduate engineering education, and continues as PI for the NEEDS (www.needs.org) and SMETE.ORG digital libraries of courseware in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.
Prof. Agogino received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico (1975), M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering (1978) from the University of California at Berkeley and Ph.D. from the Department of Engineering-Economic Systems at Stanford University (1984). Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, she worked in industry for Dow Chemical, General Electric and SRI International. She has authored over 150 scholarly publications; has won numerous teaching, best paper and research awards; and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). At NAE she served on the Committee on Engineering Education, working on the Technologically Speaking and the Engineer 2020 projects. She is currently a member of the National Research Council's Board on Education and the Women in Academic Science Engineering Committee. She has supervised 66 MS projects/theses, 26 doctoral dissertations and numerous undergraduate researchers.See Authors Posts (635) · May 11th, 2012 · Add a Comment
Today in History – May 11, 1997 – Garry Kasparov, reigning World Chess Champion, loses tournament to IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer. The event was the twentieth century version of John Henry’s “man against machine”. The triumph of human intelligence was not to happen, however, as in the shocking finale on May 11th World Champion Garry Kasparov resigned 19 moves into Game 6 and lost in little more than an hour. This was the first time a current world champion had lost a tournament match to a computer. Match commentator Yasser Seirawan was stunned: “What we just witnessed was a landmark achievement in chess . . . I absolutely didn’t expect this to happen.”
The event was viewed by millions of chess and computing fans who were able witness the competition live on this Web site, which now serves as the official archive.
Unlike earlier chess playing programs that relied on artificial intelligence (AI) as the primary technology, Deep Blue’s strength coupled AI with advanced storage and compute power. The massively parallel RS/6000 SP-based IBM computer system was designed to play chess at the grandmaster level in a way that could consistently store and analyze many more moves ahead than human players.
Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the Kasparov and Deep Blue, artificial intelligence and history of computing. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education, computer science education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.
Tags: Computer Engineering · Computer Science · Computing · Information Systems · Information Technology · Software Engineering
by Alice AgoginocloseAuthor: Alice Agogino
Name: Alice Agogino
Email: agogino@berkeley.edu
Site: http://www.me.berkeley.edu/faculty/agogino/
About: Alice M. Agogino is the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering and is affiliated faculty at the Haas School of Business in their Operations and Information Technology Management Group. Her research interests include: community-based design; sustainable engineering; intelligent learning systems; information retrieval and data mining; multiobjective and strategic product design; nonlinear optimization; probabilistic modeling; intelligent control and manufacturing; sensor validation, fusion and diagnostics; wireless sensor networks; multimedia and computer-aided design; design databases; design theory and methods; MEMS/NEMS synthesis and computer-aided design; artificial intelligence and decision and expert systems; and gender/ethnic equity.
She has served in a number of administrative positions at UC Berkeley, including Chair of the Faculty Senate, Associate Dean of Engineering and Faculty Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost in Educational Development and Technology. Prof. Agogino also served as Director for Synthesis, an NSF-sponsored coalition of eight universities with the goal of reforming undergraduate engineering education, and continues as PI for the NEEDS (www.needs.org) and SMETE.ORG digital libraries of courseware in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.
Prof. Agogino received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico (1975), M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering (1978) from the University of California at Berkeley and Ph.D. from the Department of Engineering-Economic Systems at Stanford University (1984). Prior to joining the faculty at UC Berkeley, she worked in industry for Dow Chemical, General Electric and SRI International. She has authored over 150 scholarly publications; has won numerous teaching, best paper and research awards; and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). At NAE she served on the Committee on Engineering Education, working on the Technologically Speaking and the Engineer 2020 projects. She is currently a member of the National Research Council's Board on Education and the Women in Academic Science Engineering Committee. She has supervised 66 MS projects/theses, 26 doctoral dissertations and numerous undergraduate researchers.See Authors Posts (635) · May 7th, 2012 · Add a Comment
Formerly called “Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement CCLI”, the NSF program “Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (TUES)” emphasizes projects that have the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education.
For more information, see a list of the Engineering Pathway’s collection of engineering-related TUES resources.
Tags: Aerospace Engineering · African American · Architectural Engineering · Astronomy · BioEngineering and Biomedical Engineering · Biological Systems and Agricultural Engineering · Biomimetics · Broadening Participation · Ceramic Engineering · Chemical, Biochemical, Biomolecular Engineering · Chemistry · Civil Engineering · Community Service Learning · Computer Engineering · Computer Science · Computing · Construction Engineering · Earth Sciences · Electrical Engineering · Engineering · Engineering Design · Engineering Ethics · Engineering Management · Engineering Mechanics · Environmental Engineering · Gender Equity · General Engineering, Engineering Science · Geological Engineering · Industrial Design · Industrial Engineering · Information Systems · Information Technology · K-12 Education · Life Sciences · MEMS/NEMS · Manufacturing Engineering · Materials Engineering · Materials Engineering · Mathematical Sciences · Mechanical Engineering · Mineral and Mining Engineering · Nanotechnology · Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering · Nuclear Engineering · Ocean Engineering · Petroleum Engineering · Physical Sciences · Physics · Software Engineering · Surveying and Geomatics Engineerings
