News & Events

10-03-16

Professor Morteza Gharib was one of the speakers at a recent symposium celebrating the Caltech–City of Hope Biomedical Research Initiative which provides seed grants to accelerate the development of basic scientific research and its translation into biomedical applications. Professor Gharib’s presentation was focused on measuring the ejection fraction, the fraction of blood that is ejected from the heart with each heartbeat. The group has designed a small piece of hardware that can connect to an iPhone and calculate a patient's ejection fraction—for less than $8. The device, called Vivio, gives comparable results to a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, the gold standard in the medical industry for measuring heart health. [Caltech story]

Tags: research highlights GALCIT MedE Morteza Gharib

06-09-16

The student winners of the 2016 Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes were announced at a special dinner with the Demetriades - Tsafka – Kokkalis family. Rachel P. Galimidi received the prize in Biotechnology for her work with Professor Pamela Bjorkman aimed to further understand the mechanism of HIV evasion of the humoral immune response. Junle Jiang was the recipient of the prize in Seismo-Engineering, Prediction, and Protection for his work with Nadia Lapusta which used probabilistic inversion tools to understand the deep-ocean trench generated tsunamis that occurred during the subduction-zone earthquakes in Japan and Chile. Yinglu Tang working with Dr. Jeff Snyder received the prize in Environmentally Benign Renewable Energy Sources for her work on thermoelectric skutterudites for mid-temperature applications such as automotive waste heat recovery. The second winner in this category was Changhong Zhao who worked with Professor Steven Low to study the control and optimization of modern electric power systems. The winner of the prize in Nanotechnology was Gustavo Rios whose research involves development of a modular, scalable, nanofabricated neural probe system for dense 3-D electrophysiology to study animal brains. Rio’s graduate advisor was Professor Thanos Siapas. The prize in Entrepreneurship was given to Anton A. Toutov who was advised by Professor Robert Grubbs. His research interests lie in using fundamental chemistry to development radically new, sustainable ways to make everyday chemical products and generate clean energy.

Tags: APhMS EE honors MedE MCE CMS Jeff Snyder Nadia Lapusta Steven Low Robert Grubbs CNS Junle Jiang Rachel P. Galimidi Pamela Bjorkman Yinglu Tang Changhong Zhao Gustavo Rios Thanos Siapas Anton Toutov

03-25-16

Julia R. Greer, Professor of Materials Science and Mechanics, has been chosen as a 2016 class of National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow. The program awards grants to outstanding scientists and engineers at U.S. universities to conduct long-term, unclassified, basic research of strategic importance to the Defense Department. Professor Greer will conduct research in the area of Nano-architected Meta-materials. 

Tags: APhMS honors MedE MCE Julia Greer

03-23-16

In appreciation for the opportunities Caltech afforded him, Professor Mory Gharib along with his wife Shoreh and daughters, Maral and Alma (PhD ’15), have created an endowed fellowship fund to support new generations of Caltech graduate students. “Mory’s story is an inspiration to us all,” says Caltech president Thomas F. Rosenbaum. “Setting the highest scientific standards, searching for technological interventions to better people’s lives, creating community, and serving that community through personal dedication and philanthropy are qualities rarely found in one individual. We are proud to have Mory as a colleague and his family as members of the Caltech family.” [Caltech story]

Tags: GALCIT MedE Morteza Gharib giving

03-07-16

Andrei Faraon, Assistant Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, is a recipient of a 2016 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award. The objectives of the Young Investigator Program are to attract to naval research outstanding new faculty members, to support their research, and to encourage their teaching and research careers. Professor Faraon’s award is for his proposal entitled, Quantum Transduction Between Optical and Microwave Photons using Rare-Earth-Doped Materials. [Recipient List] [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS honors MedE Andrei Faraon

02-08-16

Researchers in the lab of Julia R. Greer, Professor of Materials Science and Mechanics, have recently found that diatom shells have the highest specific strength—the strength at which a structure breaks with respect to its density—of any known biological material, including bone, antlers, and teeth. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS research highlights MedE MCE Julia Greer

12-16-15

Ali Hajimiri, Thomas G. Myers Professor of Electrical Engineering; Executive Officer for Electrical Engineering; Director, Information Science and Technology, has been named fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). His research covers broad areas within high-speed and high-frequency electronics- and photonics-integrated circuits. This year, the Hajimiri group synthesized a 3-D camera—called a nanophotonic coherent imager—that provides the highest depth-measurement accuracy (similar to resolution) of any such nanophotonic 3-D imaging device. Election as an NAI fellow is an honor bestowed upon academic innovators and inventors who have "demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions and innovations that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society." [Caltech story] [NAI release]

Tags: EE honors MedE Ali Hajimiri

12-03-15

Changhuei Yang, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Medical Engineering, and his postdoctoral colleague Dr. Haowen Ruan have developed a novel technique called time-reversed ultrasound microbubble encoded (TRUME) that uses gas-filled microbubbles to focus light inside tissue. "Ultrasound and X-ray techniques can only detect cancer after it forms a mass," Yang says. "But with optical focusing, you could catch cancerous cells while they are undergoing biochemical changes but before they undergo morphological changes." [Caltech story]

Tags: EE research highlights Changhuei Yang MedE health postdocs

11-05-15

Mechanical engineering undergraduate student, Teo Wilkening, spent this past summer working with Professor Morteza Gharib to test the preliminary design for an alternative—and possibly much less painful—method of chemotherapy drug delivery through a patch. To avoid the pain caused by the large needle traditionally used for such an intravenous injection, the team envisioned a patch containing hundreds of micrometer-scale needles, too small in diameter to be sensed by the nerves in the skin. [Caltech story]

Tags: research highlights GALCIT MedE MCE Morteza Gharib Teo Wilkening

10-29-15

The Society of Engineering Science (SES) has selected Professor Morteza Gharib to receive the G.I. Taylor Medal. The award is made in recognition of Professor Gharib's sustained and outstanding research contributions to the area of fluid mechanics. Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor (G.I. Taylor) was a British physicist and mathematician, and a major figure in fluid dynamics and wave theory.  Past recipients of the medal include Sir James Lighthill, Sydney Goldstein, A.Acrivos, and George K. Batchelor. 

In October 2016 a symposium will be organized to honor Professor Morteza Gharib. It will highlight innovative fluid mechanics research in areas where he has made significant contributions. Invited speakers will cover his contributions to quantitative imaging, cardiovascular flow, surface wettability, Micro/Nano fluidics, bioinspired design, and other areas. [Symposium program]

Tags: honors GALCIT MedE Morteza Gharib