s d n
e Spring/Summer 2006 i r F & i n m u l A r o f g n i r e e n i g n E f o l o o h c S i b r e t i V C S U e h t y b d e h s i l
b is Viterbi for “Cool” u P
pronunciation: cool adj. 1 [Slang] hip, The Big Three-O excellent, first-rate The Center for Engineering Diversity Celebrates 30 Years
n. 2 Klein Institute “At the Speed of Light” for Undergraduate An Academic and Corporate Engineering Life Collaboration
2 4 x 3 = Rarified Air e u s s
I Four Faculty Earn
4 n. 3 the place to be
e Membership into Three m u
l National Academies o V THE FUTURE OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING: SHOP FLOORS Centennial TO FACTORIES TO SUPPLY CHAINS TO ENTERPRISES WILLIAM ROUSE, director of the Tennenbaum Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology Lectures Hosted by the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering FUELING THE FUTURE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES An Academic IN ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT LYNN ORR, Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor of Petroleum Engineering and director of the Celebration Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University Hosted by the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
In celebration of 100 Years of MOLECULAR MECHANICS OF BONE FRACTURE Engineering at USC, the Viterbi PAUL HANSMA, professor of physics at UC Santa Barbara School partnered with distinguished Hosted by the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science professors, accomplished engineers and even the presidents of THE NEWTONIAN REVOLUTION: INTERACTION OF MATHEMATICS renowned technical institutes and WITH HIGH TECHNOLOGY RUDOLPH E. KALMAN, professor emeritus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology a university, to produce the Hosted by the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering successful Centennial Lecture Series. We thank these individuals for THE FUTURE OF MICROPROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE their time, knowledge, spirit and JOHN HENNESSY, president of Stanford University Hosted by the Department of Computer Science generosity. Visit the link below if you missed any of these memorable THE TURNING POINT FOR ENGINEERING: CAN WE ADAPT? presentations. G. WAYNE CLOUGH, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology Hosted by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
INFORMATION EXCHANGE AMONG NEURONS IN SENSORY CORTEX TOBY BERGER, professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Virginia Hosted by the Department of Electrical Engineering
TO THE MOON AND BEYOND EDWIN “BUZZ” ALDRIN, astronaut Hosted by the Astronautics and Space Technology Division
THE PROMISE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN 21ST CENTURY MEDICINE RODERIC I. PETTIGREW, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Hosted by the Department of Biomedical Engineering
THE IMPACT OF U.S. HIGH TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY ON ENGINEERING EDUCATION JAMES ROCHE, former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Hosted by the Systems Architecture and Engineering Program
For information about all of the lectures please visit: http://viterbi.usc.edu/links/?103 IN THIS i SSUE features
PAGE 14 KIUEL is Viterbi for “Cool” An Undergraduate Institute is Born by Diane Ainsworth
PAGE 20 The Next 100 Years An Essay Competition for Students
PAGE 24 The Big Three-O The Center for Engineering Diversity Celebrates 30 Years of Value-Added Programming by Diane Ainsworth p14 PAGE 26 “At the Speed of Light” An Academic and Corporate Collaboration by Teresa Hagen
PAGE 28 4 x 3 = Rarified Air Four Faculty Earn Membership into Three National Academies departments by Diane Ainsworth & Eric Mankin
PAGE 3 Dean’s Message
PAGE 4 Special Announcement
PAGE 5 Straight & To the Point Short Subjects PAGE 30 Alumnus Profile p p10 Arthur Lin, PHD EE ’90 7
PAGE 31 Alumna Profile Orna Berry, PHD CSCI ’86
PAGE 33 Alumnus Profile Benjamin Kuo, BSEE ’94
PAGE 34 Snapshots Late Fall 2005 & Spring 2006 Events
PAGE 36 Class Notes & News
PAGE 37 In Memoriam
PAGE 39 Honors & Awards p PAGE 40 Notebook 34
Cover photos by Max S. Gerber and Brian Morri
Board of Councilors CHAIRMAN Karl Jacob III, BME ’91, BS CSCI ’00 Dwight J. Baum Entrepreneur and Advisor Private Investor John C. Johnson Dean Allen, BSME ’57 Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems Retired, Parsons Corporation Jay L. Kear, BSME ’60 Gordon M. Anderson, BSME ’54 HamiltonTech Capital Partners Retired, Santa Fe International Corporation James J. Keenan, BSEE ’61, MS ’67 Sonny Astani, MSISE ’78 Retired, Hendry Telephone Astani Enterprises, Inc. Kenneth R. Klein, BS BMEE ’82 Carton H. Baab, BSEE ’81 Wind River Systems, Inc. Raining Data Corporation Dean Geraldine Knatz, MSENV ’77, Ph.D. BISC ’79 Yannis C. Yortsos William F. Ballhaus, Jr. The Port of Los Angeles The Aerospace Corporation Marie L. Knowles, BSChE ’68, MSChE ’70, MBA ’74 Chief Executive Officer Ronald R. Barnes, BS ACCT ’76 Retired, ARCO External Relations Norris Foundation David Lane, BSEE ’81 Christopher J. Stoy Gregg E. Brandow, BSISE ’59 Diamondhead Ventures Brandow & Johnston Associates Robert Lee, BSEE ’70 USC Viterbi Engineer Edgar Brower, BSISE ’59 Retired, Pacific Bell Retired, Pacific Scientific Alexander Livanos Editor Simon (Xiaofan) Cao, MA PHYS ’85, MSEE ’87, Northrop Grumman Space Technology Annette Blain Ph.D. PHYS ’90 Alfred E. Mann Blain Special Projects Group Arasor Corporation Advanced Bionics Corporation, USC Trustee Yang Ho Cho, MBA ’79 Managing Editor Gordon S. Marshall, BS BUS ’46 Bob Calverley Korean Airlines, USC Trustee Retired, Marshall Industries, USC Trustee David W. Chonette, MSME ’60, ENGME ’64 Paul Martin Production Director Versant Ventures, Brentwood Venture Capital Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Kirstin Strickland Leo Chu Fariborz Maseeh Hollywood Park Casino and Crystal Park Casino Hotel Picoco, LLC Contributing Writers Diane Ainsworth, Bob Calverley, Malcolm R. Currie Bryan B. Min, BSISE ’86 Retired, Hughes Aircraft Company, USC Trustee Epsilon Systems Solutions, Inc. Teresa Hagen, Eric Mankin Kenneth C. Dahlberg, MSEE ’69 John Mork, BSPE ’70 Science Applications International Corporation Art Direction & Graphic Design Energy Corporation of America Tracy Merrigan Creative John Deininger Bonnie Optekman J.D. Investments, Inc. NBC Universal Media Works We wish to acknowledge the Feng Deng, MS CENG ’93 Donald L. Paul following individuals for their Northern Light Venture Capital Chevron Corporation contributions to this issue of Vinod Dham Allen E. Puckett NewPath Ventures Retired, Hughes Aircraft Company, USC Trustee USC Viterbi Engineer: Tisha Armatys, Matt Bates, Steve Bucher, Wendy David DiCarlo, Ph.D. EE ’79 F. Edward Reynolds, Jr., BSCE ’81 Northrop Grumman Space Technology The Reynolds Group Campbell, John Cohoon, Kathleen Concialdi, Heather Curtis, Jason Albert Dorman, MSCE ’62 George E. Scalise, BSEE ’88 Founding Chairman, AECOM Dziegielewski, Clint Fulton, Barbara John F. Shea, BS ENG ’49 Myers, Jacqueline Williams, Jana Daniel J. Epstein, BSISE ’62 J.F. Shea Co., Inc. ConAm Management Corporation, USC Trustee Wilson-Wade, Louise Yates. Darlene Solomon Alan J. Fohrer, BSCE ’73, MSCE ’76 Agilent Technologies Southern California Edison USC Viterbi Engineer is published Peter Staudhammer twice a year for the alumni and Alice P. Gast, BSChE ’80 Alfred Mann Institute, USC Lehigh University friends of the Viterbi School of Richard D. Stephens, BS NSMA ’74 Engineering at the University of Thomas O. Gephart, BSME ’62 The Boeing Company Ventana Capital Management Southern California. Mark A. Stevens, BS EE ’81, BA ECON ’81, MS CENG ’84 Hester Gill Sequoia Capital, USC Trustee Letters to the editors and comments M.C. Gill, BSChE ’37 Parviz Tayebati, Ph.D. Physics ’89 are welcome. Please send them to: M.C. Gill Corporation, Honorary USC Trustee Azna Corporation USC Viterbi Engineer, Olin Hall 500, Ed Glasgow, BA ’70 Cyrus Y. Tsui, BSEE ’69 Los Angeles, California Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Retired 90089-1451 or email them to Kenton Gregory, BSEE ’76, MD ’80 Andrew J. Viterbi, Ph.D. EE ’62 [email protected]. Oregon Medical Laser Center Viterbi Group, LLC, USC Trustee Jen-Hsun Huang William P. Wiesmann http://viterbi.usc.edu/ NVIDIA Corporation BioSTAR Group DEAN’Sm ESSAGE
Viterbi Springs Centennial
Spring at Viterbi… It is a wonderful time. It is the culmination of a year of relentless efforts in teaching and research. Students graduate and carry with them all the rich experiences they have accumulated from their interaction with Viterbi faculty and staff. New students will join us in the fall and the cycle will recommence… It is this renewal process — the farewell to the graduates and the welcome to the new ones next fall — that we are celebrating. As this academic year comes to a close, I can only say that it has been my privilege the past year — our 100th Year — to steer the magnificent ship that is the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. And it is with even greater pride that I accept my new position as permanent dean of the School at a moment when we are charting the exciting waters of a new and even more promising century. During the past century, a tiny regional technical program at USC has blossomed into an international engineering and technology powerhouse. One with outstanding faculty, students and staff, that is winning tough competitions with top universities for national research centers. To celebrate our 1100100 (think binary) years we held a high-profile series of academic lectures and a gala event at the California Science Center. These events were nothing short of magnificent. If you walk through the Engineering Quad, and pass by Ronald Tutor Hall you cannot miss the colorful banners that display our pride in the School’s history. And I am very fortunate and proud to share more good news about the School. Since last June, four of our junior faculty won highly competitive National Science Foundation Career awards. Another, Elaine Chew, received the PECASE or Presidential Early Career Award given annually to only 50 young academics in science and engineering. Our faculty, the lifeblood of all institutions of higher education, continues to thrive and grow in stature. And by (mathematical?) harmony, we have some very recent wonderful news to end the academic year: On April 24, Len Adleman, the Henry Salvatori Chair in Computer Science and winner of the 2003 Turing Prize, and Bob Hellwarth, the George T. Pfleger Chair in Electrical Engineering, were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). One day later, we learned that Len Adleman was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). With these elections, Len and Bob have now joined a very elite group, one that holds simultaneous memberships in the three academies AAAS, NAE (National Academy of Engineering) and NAS. And I am very proud that the Viterbi community now counts four members (along with University Professor Sol Golomb and Presidential Chair Andy Viterbi) with this remarkable distinction. During the past year, we have also seen two loyal and visionary alumni step forward to boost the Viterbi School even higher. John Mork and his family named the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. And in this issue you will read in Yannis Yortsos detail about Ken Klein’s passionate plan to nurture undergraduate engineering students. Named Permanent With the Klein Institute for Undergraduate Engineering Life, or KIUEL (pronounced Dean of the “cool”), a new paradigm in engineering education is emerging at USC. This institute, which USC Viterbi School we believe is unique in the country, recognizes that each engineering undergraduate is a For complete announcement, precious commodity. Ken Klein explained the purpose of his new institute this way: see page 4. “It’s an institute with the sole purpose of making the life of the undergraduate engineering student better. That means easier, balanced, fulfilling, comfortable...” i r r On their journey to become engineers, Viterbi students not only learn from a demanding o M curriculum, they also receive the benefits that come from an overall collegial experience outside the classroom, whether n a i r it’s by building community, service learning or in USC’s initiative on the Arts and the Humanities. B y
b This year, the Viterbi spring is centennial — and “cool”… o t o h p
— Yannis C.Yortsos s o s t Dean r o
Y USC Viterbi School of Engineering
USC Viterbi Engineer Vol. 4 No. 2 Spring/Summer 2006 SPECIALa NNOUNCEMENT
BREAKING NEWS Yannis Yortsos Named Dean of the Viterbi School
Yannis C.Yortsos, who had been serving as School’s faculty and student body, named to the post of USC Provost, he dean on an interim basis since June 2005, has continuing aggressive fundraising efforts immediately tapped Yortsos to serve as dean been named permanent dean of the USC and furthering ongoing efforts to build for an interim period. Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of global partnerships that offer new During his time overseeing the Viterbi Engineering. The announcement was made possibilities for education and research. School’s academic affairs, Yortsos facilitated by President Steven B. Sample and Provost Yortsos is a distinguished and an impressive overhaul of the undergraduate C. L. Max Nikias, as this issue of USC Viterbi internationally known chemical engineer curriculum, and the School enjoyed signifi- Engineer went to press. who has held the Chester F. Dolley Professor cant gains in student strength and in the His appointment comes at a symbolic of Petroleum Engineering since 1975. He is quality of academic programs for freshmen. time with the School cele- He also presided over brating its centennial year. the merging of two Effective June 1, it is the departments — chemical culmination of an eight- engineering, including its month international search petroleum engineering during which the search program, and materials committee identified and science — that now form reviewed more than 200 the Mork Family candidates for the position. Department of Chemical “Yannis Yortsos has Engineering and Materials shown tremendous Science, named when leadership skills since alumnus John Mork (BSPE arriving at USC,” Sample ’70) endowed it with a $15 said. “He is a world-class million gift. In addition, scholar who understands alumnus Ken Klein (BS the Viterbi School’s BMEE ’82) established the limitless potential, and he Klein Institute for also understands how to Undergraduate mobilize the school’s faculty, Dean Yortsos, President Sample and Provost Nikias enjoying the Viterbi Engineering Life (KIUEL), students, alumni and staff to School's centennial celebration gala event. described in detail in this issue, fulfill that potential.” during the period that Yortsos Nikias said: “Professor Yortsos has highly regarded for innovative work in served as dean for an interim period. won acclaim for describing what the ‘new chemical engineering relating to the “I am humbled and honored to be engineer’ of the 21st century must look like. mechanics of fluids in porous media, and named dean of the USC Viterbi School of He has argued that the future of engineering in petroleum engineering relating to oil Engineering,”Yortsos said in accepting the — as well as that of other disciplines that recovery. He earned a diploma in chemical position. “The School has become a global seek to impact our world — will require a engineering from the National Technical leader in innovations in engineering, and ‘seamless blending of left-brain and right University in Athens, Greece. After coming I am thrilled to be part of its future brain skills,’ which necessitates creative to the United States for graduate work, he enhancement and growth. In this century, alliances between engineers and counterparts earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering will flourish in exciting new areas in other sciences, the social sciences, the engineering from Caltech. that require interdisciplinary research and humanities and the arts.” From 1991 to 1997, Yortsos chaired the teaching, and alliances across disciplines and Nikias, who co-chaired the international Viterbi School’s department of chemical across the globe. I am convinced that with the search, said that Yortsos has laid out engineering. He served as the School’s continuing, unparalleled help of our friends, ambitious strategies to enhance the School’s associate dean and then senior associate dean the Viterbi School will reach new heights of profile as an elite institution, by building for academic affairs during the four years excellence in creating new paradigms of additional strength and diversity within the that Nikias served as dean. When Nikias was engineering education and research.”
4 USC Viterbi Engineer
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