News & Events

09-18-19

Professor Morteza Gharib, has designed a new generation of heart valves that are longer-lasting, cost less to manufacture, and are more biocompatible than options that are currently available to patients. One of the new valves has been implanted into a human for the first time. "This is among my proudest moments. Creating something with the potential to save and improve lives is one of the reasons I became an engineer," Gharib says. [Caltech release]

Tags: research highlights GALCIT MedE Morteza Gharib

09-18-19

Wolfgang Knauss, Theodore von Karman Professor of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics, Emeritus, has received the 2019 Founder’s Award from the International Digital Image Correlation Society (iDICs). It recognizes individuals who have made a pioneering contribution, either through a novel application of image correlation or development of methodologies that have significantly impacted the field. [List of award recipients]

Tags: honors GALCIT Wolfgang Knauss iDICs Founder's Award

09-16-19

Alireza Marandi, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, is a recipient of a 2019 Okawa Foundation Research Grant for his research project entitled "Non-Von Neumann Computing Using Nonlinear Photonics". This prize honors top young researchers working in the fields of information and telecommunications. [Past Recipients]

Tags: APhMS EE honors Alireza Marandi

09-12-19

Julia R. Greer, Ruben F. and Donna Mettler Professor of Materials Science, Mechanics and Medical Engineering, has developed a new type of architected metamaterial that has the ability to change shape in a tunable fashion. The material has potential applications in next-generation energy storage and bio-implantable micro-devices. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS research highlights MedE Julia Greer

09-09-19

Katie Bouman, Assistant Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences and Rosenberg Scholar, has been named a recipient of the 2020 Breakthrough Prize for Fundamental Physics as part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team that generated the first-ever image of a black hole. [Caltech story] [Breakthrough Prize Announcement]

Tags: honors CMS Katie Bouman Breakthrough Prize

09-04-19

EDF Renewables North America has acquired PowerFlex Systems, a pioneer in managed electric vehicle (EV) charging technology. PowerFlex’s patented technology was incubated out of Steven Low’s NetLab research laboratory. PowerFlex and EDF Renewables agree on the vision of large-scale EV adoption that will achieve meaningful reductions of carbon emissions in the transportation sector. [Read full article]

Tags: CMS Steven Low

09-04-19

Entrepreneur and Caltech alumnus Gary Clinard (BS ’65, Engineering, MS ’66, Mechanical Engineering) has created an innovation fund to advance interdisciplinary research in engineering and applied science at Caltech. [Read full article]

Tags: alumni Gary Clinard

08-26-19

Graduate student Jin Sima, working with Professor Shuki Bruck, has won the 2019 IEEE Jack Wolf ISIT Student Paper Award. This award winning paper "Optimal k-Deletion Correcting Codes," provides the first optimal solution to the 50 year open problem of constructing codes that can correct multiple deletion errors. [Read the paper]

Tags: EE honors Shuki Bruck Jin Sima

08-21-19

Chiara Daraio, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics, and colleagues have developed soft robotic systems, inspired by origami, that can move and change shape in response to external stimuli, paving the way for fully untethered soft robots. "This work demonstrates how the combination of responsive polymers in an architected composite can lead to materials with self-actuation in response to different stimuli. In the future, such materials can be programmed to perform ever more complex tasks, blurring the boundaries between materials and robots," said Professor Daraio. [Caltech story]

Tags: research highlights Chiara Daraio MCE APh

08-19-19

Professors Aaron Ames and Joel Burdick have launched a new research initiative, RoAM (Robotic Assisted Mobility), aimed at restoring natural and stable locomotion to individuals with walking deficiencies that result from spinal cord injuries and strokes. RoAm unites robotic assistive devices—including exoskeletons and prostheses—with artificial intelligence (AI)-infused neurocontrol. "Bipedal walking is difficult to achieve in a stable fashion," says Professor Ames. "While crutches help users of the exoskeletons to stay upright, they undercut many of the health benefits that upright locomotion might otherwise provide. In addition, they do not allow users to do anything else with their hands while walking." [Caltech story]

Tags: research highlights MedE Yu-Chong Tai MCE CMS Joel Burdick Yisong Yue Aaron Ames