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Professor Gao Receives IAMBE Early Career Award

03-08-22

Wei Gao, Assistant Professor of Medical Engineering; Investigator, Heritage Medical Research Institute; Ronald and JoAnne Willens Scholar has been selected for the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE) Early Career Award (North America). The IAMBE is made up of fellows who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the profession of medical and biological engineering. [List of Fellows]

Tags: APhMS honors MedE Wei Gao

Chaining Atoms Together Yields Quantum Storage

02-17-22

Engineers at Caltech have developed an approach for quantum storage that could help pave the way for the development of large-scale optical quantum networks. "The ability to build a technology reproducibly and reliably is key to its success," says graduate student Andrei Ruskuc. "In the scientific context, this let us gain unprecedented insight into microscopic interactions between ytterbium qubits and the vanadium atoms in their environment." The new system relies on nuclear spins—the angular momentum of an atom's nucleus—oscillating collectively as a spin wave. This collective oscillation effectively chains up several atoms to store information. "Based on our previous work, single ytterbium ions were known to be excellent candidates for optical quantum networks, but we needed to link them with additional atoms. We demonstrate that in this work," says Andrei Faraon, Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering. [Read the paper] [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS EE research highlights MedE KNI Andrei Faraon Andrei Ruskuc

New Graduate Track to Combine Study of Medical and Electrical Engineering

02-04-22

In an effort to create more opportunities for students, increase interdisciplinary research, and gain visibility for a first-of-its kind program, Caltech is creating a new graduate education track that combines medical engineering and electrical engineering. Students entering the joint track will be eligible to earn a single PhD in electrical and medical engineering, and would perform research in each field and, ideally, in a combination of the two fields. "All my students from both departments have a strong interest in this joint track," says Lihong Wang, Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. "This will be good for them because it will broaden their horizons by exposing them to both fields. This will also allow MedE to recruit students from the EE track, and EE will be able to recruit from MedE." [Caltech story]

Tags: EE MedE Azita Emami Lihong Wang

Nano-architected Material Refracts Light Backward—An Important Step Toward One Day Creating Photonic Circuits

02-01-22

A newly created nano-architected material exhibits a property that previously was just theoretically possible: it can refract light backward, regardless of the angle at which the light strikes the material. "Negative refraction is crucial to the future of nanophotonics, which seeks to understand and manipulate the behavior of light when it interacts with materials or solid structures at the smallest possible scales," says Julia R. Greer, Ruben F. and Donna Mettler Professor of Materials Science, Mechanics and Medical Engineering; Fletcher Jones Foundation Director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS research highlights MedE MCE Harry Atwater Julia Greer Victoria Chernow Siying Peng Ryan Ng

Yu-Chong Tai Receives 2021 SoCalBio Innovation Award

12-06-21

Yu-Chong Tai, Anna L. Rosen Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering; Andrew and Peggy Cherng Medical Engineering Leadership Chair; Executive Officer for Medical Engineering, has been awarded the 2021 Innovation Award for Outstanding Researcher by The Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio). The Award is meant to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Greater Los Angeles Region's bioscience entrepreneurs, researchers, and educators.

Tags: EE MedE MCE KNI

New Caltech Center for Sensing to Intelligence (S2I) Launches Collaboration with Industry Partner

12-02-21

The Caltech Center for Sensing to Intelligence (S2I) has announced that, in collaboration with Rockley Photonics, a photonics-based health monitoring and communications solutions company, it will allocate $1.5 million in research grants over the next three years to jumpstart efforts to combine sensors with artificial intelligence. "We would like to have sensors in every device these days, generating a huge amount of data," says Azita Emami, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering and the director of S2I. "But it's difficult to extract the most important information from the mountains of data they create." [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS EE Changhuei Yang MedE CMS Azita Emami CNS Animashree Anandkumar Alireza Marandi Katie Bouman

Joint Medical and Electrical Engineering Track at Caltech

11-12-21

It is with excitement that the Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering at Caltech announce the establishment of a joint track to both departments as of Fall 2022. The track is named Medical and Electrical Engineering. Specifically, the degree requirements include (1) taking 21 units of required Medical Engineering courses, in addition to the 135 units of courses required for Electrical Engineering Ph.D. students, (2) passing the qualifying and candidacy exams of the home department, and (3) completing a dissertation related to both options. The dissertation committee must be composed of 2 members from each option. The single degree to be shown on the diploma is “Ph.D. in Medical and Electrical Engineering”. This track is available to both existing students to graduate after Fall 2022 and new students to be admitted.

Tags: EE MedE

Tim Colonius Receives APS Stanley Corrsin Award

08-12-21

Tim Colonius, Frank and Ora Lee Marble Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the 2021 American Physical Society (APS) Stanley Corrsin Award. This Prize is intended to honor a recent achievement of especially high impact and significance, a particular discovery, or an innovation in the field. [Past Recipients]

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Wei Gao Receives Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award

07-07-21

Wei Gao, Assistant Professor of Medical Engineering, has received the Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award (PCAA). The Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award is given annually to a researcher who has made a significant and independent impact in the area of analytical chemistry within the first ten years after his or her doctoral degree. [Past Recipients]

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Nano-Architected Material Resists Impact Better Than Kevlar

06-25-21

Julia R. Greer, Ruben F. and Donna Mettler Professor of Materials Science, Mechanics and Medical Engineering; Fletcher Jones Foundation Director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute, has developed a nano-architected material made from tiny carbon struts that is, pound for pound, more effective at stopping a projectile than Kevlar, a material commonly used in personal protective gear. "The knowledge from this work could provide design principles for ultra-lightweight impact resistant materials for use in efficient armor materials, protective coatings, and blast-resistant shields desirable in defense and space applications," says Greer. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS research highlights MedE MCE Julia Greer KNI