2020

Caltech Annual TECH Alumni ”Using the data revolution and artificial intelligence to understand social systems is a particularly tantalizing prospect.” 2020 PAGE 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS

08 TRANSFORMING 1 10 | DISCOVERY CHANNELS How Arati Prabhakar (MS ’80, PhD ’85) aims to transform our innovation ecosystem

14 | CODEBREAKERS How Caltech alumni are shaping the big-data approach to health care 18 | FINDING MY MUSE Leaving the lab for a life of literature

20 PIONEERING “I look at the surface 22 | READY TO RUMBLE motion. From that, I How Andrea Donnellan (PhD ’91) brings fault lines into sharper focus model what’s going 24 | 2020 VISION on at depth.” “We are doing a performance in the The inside story of the Mars 2020 mission PAGE 22 art of the possible. And if we’re not 30 | ONLY IN DREAMS ambitious, it’s a boring piece of art.” Moran Cerf (PhD ’09) is unwinding the mysteries of the resting mind PAGE 24 32 EXCELLING 34 | THE 2019 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD WINNERS 40 | REAL TALK Alumni mentors offer practical perspectives to students and fellow alums 42 | HOW TO DO IT ALL From solving a Rubik’s Cube in a matter of seconds to starting a podcast, Techers offer tips on how to do just about anything 48 | ALUMNI VOICES Results from the Alumni Attitude Study NASA/JPL-Caltech

51 | THE STACK

52 | IN MEMORIAM Christina Gandolfo Eric Millette; top: From

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu Caltech Alumni Annual 2020

Editors ANNETTE MOORE AND ALYCE TORRICE, CALTECH, CONTRIBUTORS WITH DOG EAR CONSULTANTS TRANSMISSION Contributing Writers STEVEN BOYD SAUM, ALEXANDER GELFAND, From the President of the Caltech Alumni Association MAUREEN HARMON, DAN MORRELL, RENEE OLSEN, ERIN PETERSON, APRIL WHITE

Copy Editor BULLETPROOF STEVEN BOYD SAUM has written for Orion, The Believer, and The Christian Photography Science Monitor, KQED FM, and other publications. KENDRICK BRINSON, CHRISTINA GANDOLFO, His work as an election observer regularly takes him to MARIO DE LOPEZ, ERIC MILLETTE Ukraine, and he was once a three-time champion on Jeopardy! IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE His first memory is the Apollo 11 moon landing, so he was Illustration thrilled to journey with the engineers and scientists here JOEL CASWELL, MATT CHINWORTH, AGATA NOWICKA, on their next mission to Mars. DAN PAGE, JULIEN PICARD As this year marks the 25th anniversary of my Caltech graduation, I have particular cause to reflect on Design the past and to look ahead. When I first arrived at Caltech in 1991, I could feel the aura of excellence. EMDASH AND BRANDON HOOK, CALTECH I still feel it when I walk the campus today, and when I engage with leaders, faculty, and staff. I MATT CHINWORTH CALTECH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION is an illustrator who creates most of his work for maga- BOARD OF DIRECTORS (2019–20) especially feel it when I meet with you, fellow alumni. Each of us has something to bring to the table. zines, newspapers, and online publications. His work has been published worldwide and recognized by American CHRIS BRYANT (BS ’95, RUDDOCK HOUSE) Illustration, 3x3 Illustration, and Communication Arts. He President Our professions and interests vary, yet we are united in the Break Through campaign is also helping Caltech lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his wife and daughter. CHRIS BRYANT (BS ’95) by our technical foundation, early training in collabo- continue to drive world-changing research, offer incred- President, Caltech Alumni Association SATOSHI OHTAKE (BS ’00, RUDDOCK HOUSE) rative problem-solving, and pursuit of excellence. The ible educational experiences, and attract unprecedented Vice President Alumni Association is a prime example of what happens support, such as the Resnicks’ recent $750 million pledge when we work together. Our board of directors is a pas- for sustainability science and innovation. 2 KEITH KARASEK (BS ‘74, LLOYD HOUSE) 3 Treasurer sionate group I am proud to work with, and together with To quote Colin Powell: “If you are going to achieve Caltech’s exceptional Alumni Relations staff, we continue excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little ERIC MILLETTE JEANNE HARTSHORN (BS ‘11, LLOYD HOUSE) to make bold strides in improving the alumni experience. matters. Excellence is not an exception; it is a prevailing has photographed everyone from world luminaries to Secretary Additionally, I have Techers to thank for connecting me attitude.” Each of us provides a unique perspective, an CEOs, from U-2 pilots to an astronaut. He has created to my first job out of college, my last job, and my current individualized skill set, and a library of experiences that, captivating portraits for a long list of clients, including JENNIFER BLANK (PHD ’93) position. I hope to contribute as much value to the net- combined, help ensure a long future of Caltech excel- Adobe, Bloomberg, Burberry, Charles Schwab, Forbes, CHRISTIE CANARIA (PHD ’08) work as I’ve been fortunate to receive. lence. Your participation matters. Greylock Partners, Kiplinger’s, LinkedIn, Salesforce, ANTHONY CHONG (BS ’10, RUDDOCK HOUSE) This magazine illustrates our individual and collective Splunk, Venrock, and The Wall Street Journal. He also LAURA CONWILL (BS ’12, LLOYD HOUSE) excellence. In these pages you can witness how excited To future excellence, KJERSTIN EASTON (BS ’00, PHD ’06, BLACKER HOUSE) cofounded the nonprofit photography organizations NICK HUTZLER (BS ‘07, RICKETTS HOUSE) alumni are to share hard-earned expertise with students BigShotStock and Editorial Photographers (EP). JENNIFER LEE (PHD ’10) via a new mentoring program; learn from your fellow DAN LIEBLING (BS ’02, LLOYD HOUSE) Techers’ career transformations, entrepreneurialism, and ALEX LOCKWOOD (PHD ‘14) use of novel methods to answer scientific questions; and APRIL WHITE KEVIN NOERTKER (BS ’09, LLOYD HOUSE) take pride in this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award is an award-winning writer, editor, and researcher who CAROL NOTTENBURG (BS ’74, FLEMING HOUSE) recipients. SANDRA OTTENSMANN (BS ’05, BLACKER HOUSE) We alumni play a significant role in ensuring Caltech’s focuses on history and food. She is currently writing ALICE TANG (BS ‘79, FLEMING HOUSE) The Divorce Colony: The Women Who Pioneered continued excellence. Our responses to the recent alumni Chris Bryant (BS ’95) surveys prompted initiatives that are helping Techers President, Caltech Alumni Association Divorce on the American Frontier, to be published CALTECH ALUMNI RELATIONS by Smithsonian Books in 2021. She has also authored across generations develop in their careers. Our gather- and coauthored a shelf full of cookbooks, including her EMILY FISCHER ings at Reunion Weekend, Seminar Day, and other events P.S. I invite you to share your thoughts, experiences, and newest, Lemonade with Zest. Interim Executive Director, Caltech Alumni Association spark fruitful connections that advance entrepreneur- perspectives about excellence with your fellow alumni on ialism, research, and individual careers. Our leadership social media. Please include #CaltechAlumni. MARGOT CLIFFORD Manager, Student & Recent Alumni Programs

BRIAN SMITH Coordinator, Communications

SHERRY WINN Connecting Caltech Coordinator, Membership The Caltech Alumni Association hosts networking and social events on campus, online,

CONNECT WITH THE CAA AND YOUR FELLOW TECHERS: and around the world—all year round. From pizza socials to the lifelong learning

facebook.com/caltechalumni opportunities of Seminar Day to our upcoming Reunion Weekend May 14–17, 2020,

@caltechalumni these programs are designed just for you. To find out more about how you can get ON THE COVER ARATI PRABHAKAR (MS ’80, PhD ’85, @caltechalumni involved and to see a schedule of upcoming events, visit: DAA ’95), former head of DARPA, intends to reimagine our innovation #CaltechAlumni ALUMNI.CALTECH.EDU/EVENTS ecosystem. See p. 10. PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIC MILLETTE Bob Paz

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ 2019 Year in Review ]

CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY OCTOBER DECEMBER MARCH AUGUST APRIL MAY JUNE JULY

[JUNE 14] [JULY 15] [DECEMBER 2] 125TH DEXTER BAILEY [SEPTEMBER 17] AMAZON COMMENCEMENT IS NEW VP FOR NEW POLYMER HEART VALVE IS ESTABLISHES CENTER [JANUARY 31] CALTECH DEDICATES Commencement speaker ADVANCEMENT IMPLANTED IN FIRST PATIENT FOR QUANTUM THE RONALD AND France Córdova AND ALUMNI Devised by Mory Gharib (PhD ’83), COMPUTING MAXINE LINDE HALL (PhD ’79, DAA ’07), RELATIONS the Hans W. Liepmann Professor AT CALTECH OF MATHEMATICS director of the National “In this pivotal role, of Aeronautics and Bioinspired The new laboratory will AND PHYSICS Science Foundation, Dexter [Bailey] will Engineering, the Tria heart valve is address fundamental Lead funding from Board charged the class of represent the Institute to longer-lasting and less expensive challenges in reaching of Trustees vice chair 2019 to dream big. the world, strengthening than other options. The first human the full potential of Ronald Linde relationships with patient received the valve in July quantum computing. (MS ’62, PhD ’64) and graduates and friends of and returned home after a safe his wife, Maxine, helped Caltech,” said President and successful procedure. [MAY 16–19] “Caltech bring to life a new home Thomas F. Rosenbaum. for the Department of REUNION WEEKEND AND SEMINAR DAY Bailey is the former has made Mathematics. According This year, 1,445 alumni returned to campus for senior VP for university Caltech’s 82nd Reunion Weekend and Seminar Day. advancement and [SEPTEMBER 26] substantial to Elena Mantovan, [FEBRUARY 13] Eighteen faculty members presented their research, executive director of the RESNICKS PLEDGE then-executive officer NASA SELECTS investments and trustee Richard H. Scheller (PhD ’80, Stony Brook Foundation. $750 MILLION for mathematics: “This CALTECH-LED DAA ’14), chief scientific officer and head of TO SUPPORT in both renovation will bring SPHEREX SPACE therapeutics for 23andMe, delivered the keynote. ENVIRONMENTAL new life and energy to MISSION [FEBRUARY 21– experimental SUSTAINABILITY the department.” A Caltech-JPL collabora- MARCH 3] “Wherever you RESEARCH AND and theoretical tion, SPHEREx (Spectro- AVENUE Q go, remember EDUCATION 4 Photometer for the History Teagan Wall (PhD ’15), quantum 5 Trustee Stewart Resnick and his wife, Lynda, of the Universe, Epoch who wrote for TV shows what brought founders of The Wonderful Company, amplified science and of Reionization and Ices including Bill Nye Saves [MAY 24] you here. You COMET INSPIRES their investment in Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability technology over Explorer mission), will the World and Young Clockwise from NASA/JPL-Caltech, SnapYourself!, top left: Caltech, Caltech, Lara Schwartzberg, Atwater laboratory, GGA Architects, Chris Flynn had a vision Institute with a pledge of $750 million, the second- scan the sky in optical Sheldon, directed a CHEMISTRY the years, and largest reported gift to an American university. The and infrared light to study student production of FOR MAKING of yourself, the gift supports collaborative research, education, and the new center the birth of our universe, Avenue Q. The puppet- BREATHABLE big ideas that shared facilities that will empower Caltech scholars the cosmic history of filled play deals with OXYGEN ON MARS will provide an to advance bold new solutions to energy and galaxy formation, and racism, sexuality, and Breathable molecular motivated sustainability challenges. extraordinary the origin of water in social acceptance with “a oxygen (O²) is hard you. Hold planetary systems. Part built-in sweetness as well to come by on other opportunity to of NASA’s Explorer as the power to shock,” planets, a problem for on to that.” maximize the Program, SPHEREx will said Caltech theater anyone with dreams of launch in 2023. director Brian Brophy. living on Mars. Inspired —France Córdova impact of those by comets, Caltech investments.” chemical engineers [NOVEMBER 23] [JULY 24] [FEBRUARY 13] [MARCH 18] discovered a way to use WOMEN’S AND SEISMOLOGISTS —David A. Tirrell, CALTECH AND THE HUNTINGTON CALTECH SCIENTISTS PROPEL OBJECTS kinetic energy rather than MEN’S CROSS USE NOVEL FIBER- Carl and Shirley Larson LAUNCH RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR THE WITH LIGHT heat to create oxygen, COUNTRY RUNNERS OPTIC NETWORK Provostial Chair HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Caltech researchers designed a way to levitate which could point to new EARN SPOTS AT THE TO MONITOR and Ross McCollum- This new collaboration gives Caltech doctoral and propel objects using light by creating specific methods for harnessing NATIONALS RIDGECREST William H. Corcoran students access to the vast collections of The nanoscopic patterns on the items’ surfaces. This O off-planet. For the first time, ² AFTERSHOCKS Professor of Chemistry Huntington Library. The institute will catalyze research could lead to new ways to power and members of both the Campus shook during [OCTOBER 10] and Chemical Engineering conversations among historians, scientists, and accelerate spacecraft. women’s and men’s the July Ridgecrest CALTECH LAUNCHES engineers and improve dialogue between the cross country teams— earthquake sequence. [SEPTEMBER 26] THE SCHMIDT humanities and STEM. ACADEMY FOR junior Claire Hu and Zhongwen Zhan OTHERWORLDLY senior Simon Ricci— (PhD ’14), assistant WORMS HAVE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING qualified for the NCAA [MAY 30] professor of geophysics, THREE SEXES Division III Cross Country Supported by Eric and [FEBRUARY 28] CALTECH LAUNCHES MERKIN INSTITUTE led a novel effort to The alien environment Championships, where Wendy Schmidt (by CAMPUS FOR TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH measure the aftershocks of California’s Mono Ricci bested his own COMMUNITY As founder and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, by firing a beam of light Lake gives rise to recommendation of Caltech record in the 8K. DEDICATES THE Caltech trustee Richard N. Merkin focuses on new down unused fiber-optic some bizarre biology. Schmidt Futures), this HAMEETMAN CENTER paths to cures and cable near Ridgecrest, Graduate students three-year pilot program Named in honor of trustee affordable, high- creating the equivalent of Pei-Yin Shih (PhD ’19) trains science-savvy soft- Fred Hameetman quality health care. 6,000 new seismometers. and James Siho Lee ware engineers and brings (BS ’62) and his His gift carries (PhD ’19) described a software engineering best wife, Joyce, the new that commitment newly discovered worm practices into Caltech campus hub welcomes to Caltech by that has three sexes, research groups. The students, faculty, staff, establishing a new lives in water three academy selects recent alumni, Associates, JPL hub that will help times saltier than the Caltech graduates in friends, and neighbors. Institute scientists ocean, and survives 500 computer science and It houses the Red Door and engineers turn times the lethal dose of related fields and hones Marketplace, the Caltech their breakthroughs arsenic for humans. Such their skills by embedding Store, and spaces for into real advances “extremophiles” offer them in laboratories Caltech musical groups in health. lessons for thriving in across campus for up to

and student clubs. (USGS) Ben Brooks Jesse Cai, Caltech, Caltech, Company, The Wonderful Caltech, left: top Courtesy from Clockwise Bailey, of Dexter difficult environments. two years.

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu WORLD-CHANGING ALUMNI STUDENT SUPPORT RESEARCH FREEDOM TO INNOVATE LEADERSHIP Financial aid allows outstanding INSTITUTES, Endowments help Caltech leaders Alumni students to choose Caltech and excel CENTERS, OR nurture high-potential initiatives and on campus. INITIATIVES fledgling innovations. giving 15 ESTABLISHED OR AMPLIFIED, steadily INCLUDING: increased FELLOWSHIPS: •Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute between 2012 169 GRADUATE for Neuroscience at Caltech LEADERSHIP CHAIRS: and 2018, STUDENTS •Richard N. Merkin Institute for 22 LEADERS countering every year Translational Research supported trends at $241 MILLION endowment raised “I am hopeful that $168 MILLION several peer this Institute will endowment raised institutions. encourage exponential improvements for society “Fellowships … by accelerating the transfer are tremendously of groundbreaking science “I hope that just having important for Caltech from Caltech’s world-class my name on this gift will and our students. laboratories to the bedside.” show female students that 45% They give PhD students —Caltech trustee RICHARD MERKIN they can have successful of alumni have contributed to the the freedom to focus •Resnick Sustainability Institute careers and give back.” campaign their energy on studies “In order to comprehensively —DONNA WEISTROP (PHD ’71) and research.” Donor of the David Shaffer and Donna manage the climate crisis, Weistrop Discovery Fund in Astronomy 6 —KIP THORNE (BS ’62) we need breakthrough 7 Fellowship donor and Caltech’s innovations, the kind that $654 Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus will only be possible through MILLION significant investment in invested by BREAK THROUGH: university research.” CAMPUS alumni in –Caltech trustee STEWART RESNICK ENHANCEMENTS SCHOLARSHIPS: the campaign THE CALTECH CAMPAIGN Thanks to Techers and other friends, Break Through: The Caltech Campaign 77 UNDER- ONE DEPARTMENT is making a tremendous difference across the Institute. Break Through aims to GRADUATES ENDOWED: secure Caltech’s future as a source of transformative discovery for the world. every year 6 Drawing on experiences on campus and as alumni, graduates protect the qualities •Andrew and Peggy Cherng BUILDING AND that make Caltech special, strengthen its reputation, and help it evolve for the $80 MILLION Department of Medical Engineering RENOVATION PROJECTS better. The strong, multifaceted involvement of alumni in the campaign inspires endowment raised New construction accelerates others to give. And every gift to Caltech, its people, and its programs during the discovery with cutting-edge facilities campaign is a Break Through gift. and collegial spaces.

“[E]xtraordinary science happens STRENGTH IN NUMBERS 59% because of endowment MORE THAN $1.13 BILLION IN NEW GIFTS AND PLEDGES: FY19 extraordinary people. 38% So, our support of donors are LARGEST EVER for Caltech’s first-time Caltech COMMITMENT TO CALTECH supporters $2,860,035,125 41% breakthroughs starts total gifts and pledges $750 million current-use with supporting pledge from Lynda and Stewart Resnick for environ- Caltech’s people.”

Break Through public launch: April 2016 mental sustainability research Dan Page —DANIELA BONAFEDE-CHHABRA

Joel Caswell (BS ’84) Scholarship donor Ronald and Maxine Linde Hall of Mathematics and Physics

ALL FIGURES IN THIS REPORT REFLECT CAMAPIGN TOTALS AS OF 09/30/19 TECHER alumni.caltech.edu 8 TRANSFORMING 9

Lure of the Rings A new hyper-realistic computer simulation of underwater bubble rings—the kind often created by scuba divers—may shed light on the mathematics and forces that govern such phenomena. ”When we make these abstractions, we still want to capture some fundamental truth about the universe,” says Peter Schröder, the Shaler Arthur Hanisch Professor of Computer Science and Applied and Computational Mathe- matics, whose team built the simulation. ”What drives me is finding these beautiful descriptions of something that looks terribly complicated but can be reduced to a few mathemati- cal key concepts. Then the rest just follows from there.” IMAGE: PETER SCHRÖDER/MULTI-RES MODELING GROUP

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Transforming ] INNOVATION BY APRIL WHITE PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIC MILLETTE

10 DISCOVERY 11 CHANNELS HOW ARATI PRABHAKAR AIMS TO TRANSFORM OUR INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Transforming ] INNOVATION

Prabhakar speaks during DARPA Demo Day at the Pentagon in 2016. Former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) director and Caltech Distinguished Alumna Arati Prabhakar (MS ’80, PhD ’85) is ready to take on the biggest research and development challenge of her career: reinventing innovation. Rapidly advancing technology gives us the capacity to solve some of the greatest societal challenges “It’s no accident facing the United States in the 21st century, she says, but only if we that the things we are still very good can quickly build a new innovation ecosystem as robust as the one we at innovating for built for yesterday’s problems. “We’re seeing a turning point, a broad are information technology, societal understanding that we have to act with urgency,” Prabhakar national security, says. And she’s already gotten started. In 2019, Prabhakar founded biomedicine, and the foundations of the nonprofit Actuate, an experiment in building a new model for basic research.” developing breakthrough technologies she describes as a “DARPA for society.” We asked Prabhakar to talk about what that model looks like, 12 and the brighter future it could offer. 13

What shaped our current innovation ecosystem? 75 years later, and it’s time to think about the challenges The pivot point in research and development in the of the next era. United States was World War II, when we discovered how to harness all the pieces of our innovation ecosys- What are those challenges? tem—ivory-tower researchers, companies, and govern- Improving access to economic opportunity, lowering the mental resources—to solve hard problems that were exorbitant cost of health care, ensuring trustworthy data Senator Tim Kaine talks with Prabhakar, critical in turning the course of the war. It’s no accident and information, and addressing climate change. We haven’t then director of DARPA, as part of a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee that the things we are still very good at innovating for built effective innovation capacities in these areas because on Emerging Threats and Capabilities are information technology, national security, biomedi- they haven’t been a priority to this point. The information hearing in April 2016. cine, and the foundations of basic research. But now it is age has opened up opportunities for us to understand and ogists—do what we do. We have the great privilege to “We have the great privilege to work on influence deeply complex systems. Using the data revo- work on technological advances that will lift humanity. lution and reasoning about causality to understand social But that doesn’t happen smoothly or easily or automat- technological advances that will lift systems is a particularly tantalizing prospect. ically. Part of our responsibility is to contribute to wise humanity. But that doesn’t happen choices about technology. Are the country’s innovators prepared to address these smoothly or easily or automatically.” challenges? What role do you hope your new venture, Actuate Inno- Since I left DARPA, this is what’s been on my mind. We vation, will play in this evolving innovation ecosystem? kids, at designing public policies to address everything need a generational shift in how we think about research We are an organization that raises funds, primarily from homelessness to the criminal justice system. The list and development, and that’s not going to happen philanthropic, and uses those funds to design and exe- is endless if we can harness what the data can tell us. overnight. There are already very interesting solutions cute research programs with two focuses. First, we run emerging from research that can make a real impact. But research initiatives that can demonstrate potentially pow- Why do you think philanthropy has a bigger role to play how do you tie those pieces together and accelerate this erful solutions to societal problems. And second, in doing in the next era of research and development? generational shift? I think the shift will emerge naturally, that work, we have an opportunity to model what the There’s an opportunity here for philanthropy to swing but it would be nice if it emerged in 20 years instead of process of innovation can look like, because it’s not going for the fences. I hope we can invoke an appetite in the 50 years. to look like the last century of research and development. philanthropic community for tackling societal challenges If you said the word “research” to someone in 1945, by supporting high-risk/high-payoff projects. The kind © US Defense via ZUMA Press What are the potential drawbacks to turning to technol- they pictured a scientist in a lab coat with a beaker full of of research we want to do is not going to be the stuff you ogy to solve societal issues? chemicals. But today’s research is more than that. One of can raise private capital for. It is going to be too risky, Technology is a raw power; that’s true of nuclear tech- our initial programs will use research from cryptography, without visible markets. But if we’re successful, these nology and it’s true of the internet. And history shows math, and computer science to create a new open-source philanthropic investments will create opportunities for us that every power can be used for good and for evil. platform for managing data in a way that allows research- governmental and commercial innovation. Philanthropy I do think that, over time, as societies deliberate about ers to link and use powerful data sets while protecting is a very important first step in this generational shift in these new technologies, they lift us up, in aggregate. privacy. It’s so exciting. Think about how much better we R&D. It can fundamentally enable bigger, better solu- ■ That’s why we—as scientists, engineers, and technol- Tech Marine Corps Sgt. Drew could be at delivering health solutions, at educating our tions to our problems.

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Transforming ] PROFILES How Caltech alumni are shaping the big- data approach to health care

An infant with a congenital heart defect, an elderly man undergo- ing radiation treatment for head and neck cancer, and a young woman with infertility concerns: Each of these people could live a longer and healthier life thanks to entrepreneurial endeavors powered by big data and led by Caltech alumni. With innovative solutions that include everything 14 15 from faster medical testing to artificial intelligence-assisted analysis, these start-ups are helping reshape the healthcare system for doctors and patients, one data point at a time.

BY APRIL WHITE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JULIEN PACAUD CODEBREAKERSCODEBREAKERS

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Transforming ] PROFILES “The more data we have, the more we Recalculating can learn from it. The Cancer Treatments more we learn, Every year, the top U.S. cancer centers collect the more we medical information on hundreds of thousands of Empowering Straight to the Heart patients. Taken together, these often-underutilized can improve data have the potential to offer insights that could An MRI heart exam can take up to 90 minutes. The health care.” lead to new courses of treatment and improved out- Women with Data diagnostic imaging is noninvasive, but the patient comes, says Christopher Berlind (BS ’11). has to lie still, alone, inside a large, noisy machine Berlind, who has a PhD in computer science, Giving Discovery When Katie Brenner (PhD ’09) found herself throughout the process. It can be difficult for adults, cofounded Oncora Medical in 2014 to use machine struggling with fertility issues and frustrated with the says Shreyas Vasanawala (BS ’94), a pediatric learning to harness the power of this informa- frequent doctor-administered blood tests necessary to radiologist at Stanford, and it is nearly impossible tion and help oncologists and patients make more a New Dimension measure her hormone levels, she did what her Caltech for children. Often, kids have to be anesthe- informed decisions. The start-up is already con- education taught her. “I went to the literature,” says tized for the exam, which can be risky for tributing to the medical literature in the field of The oncologists at Columbia Medical Center were “It’s the Brenner, who holds a master’s in electrical engineering anyone with a heart defect. radiation oncology. One recent analysis examined in a quandary: Should they advise their patients interplay and a PhD in bioengineering. There, she discovered Faced with the difficulty data from more than 2,000 patients with head and with lung cancer to get the flu vaccine? The flu can a simpler way to monitor reproductive health: saliva. of diagnosing his youngest neck cancer who underwent radiation treatment. be extremely dangerous for a patient weakened by between AI As it turns out, scientists have known for decades that patients, Vasanawala began Evaluating more than 700 variables, Oncora built a cancer, but the vaccine also can wreak havoc on the and 3-D the hormones found in blood are also present in saliva. experimenting with the use model that forecasts whether a new patient is likely immune system. The answer lay buried in reams of Brenner decided that women should have the option of compressed sensing, a to experience significant weight loss or require a patient data—until Virtualitics, a Pasadena-based visualization of using saliva to measure their hormone levels by method of data sampling feeding tube. Another study weighed the toxicity of data-analytics start-up, plotted it in a 3-D virtual in virtual themselves. And bluDiagnostics was born. that could capture high- radiation against the efficacy of the treatment for reality landscape. reality that “I don’t know that there’s a millennial woman left quality information about breast cancer under certain conditions. “This isn’t a question you can address with a 2-D who isn’t concerned about her fertility,” Brenner says. a patient’s heart in signifi- Understanding who is at risk for serious side effects graph of the number of flu deaths among lung cancer allows us to “But there aren’t a lot of ways for a woman to get clear cantly less time—requiring as allows a physician to customize a treatment plan for patients,” explains Virtualitics cofounder Michael really see the answers about her health. We needed a new solution.” little as 10 minutes in the MRI each patient. “The doctor can come up with a proposed Amori (MS ’07). “You need to consider what stage bluDiagnostics, based in Madison, Wisconsin, and machine. But the process produced treatment, and we can get a pretty good prediction of the cancer is, how old the person is, how long they’ve insights in cofounded by Brenner in 2015, created a device that large, multidimensional data sets. whether these side effects are likely to occur,” Berlind had cancer, and more.” the data.” allows women to chart their hormone levels with an “Radiologists were not used to looking explains. The predictions can also save money by When Columbia Medical Center doctors put on at-home saliva test. Each day, the user spits into a 16 at information like this,” Vasanawala says. reducing the need for emergency procedures to treat virtual reality goggles to view Virtualitics’ 3-D land- lipstick-sized tube and inserts the container into a 17 “We needed new visualization techniques, too.” unanticipated side effects. scape, they gained a whole new perspective. They cylindrical base. The machine measures the hormones That’s when fellow radiologist Albert Hsiao (BS When the Philadelphia-based company launched, could stand amid the data, with variations depicted in the saliva and automatically transmits ’00) joined the effort. Then a Stanford medical resident it focused on gathering, organizing, and analyzing by color, shape, size, and texture. They could even the information to an app, which with a PhD in bioengineering, Hsiao had been working data already collected by cancer centers. “That’s watch the data around them change over time. allows the woman and her on software to analyze radiological data more accu- a lot of work,” Berlind admits. “That’s why no one Most important, Virtualitics’s AI could direct the doctor to monitor long-term rately and efficiently. Building on that work, Hsiao had done it before.” Because not every institution doctors to patterns that they otherwise might have trends and short-term created a software prototype for quickly analyzing 4-D has the infrastructure to capture high-quality data, overlooked in the vast amounts of data. “It’s the changes in hormone lev- flow MRI data sets (which image blood flow patterns Oncora also worked with MD Anderson Cancer interplay between AI and 3-D visualization in virtual els that affect fertility, in three spatial directions over time), so physicians Center at the University of Texas to create software reality that allows us to really see the insights in the perimenopausal symp- can use the information to manage individual patients. that streamlines the process of recording informa- data,” Amori says. toms, and migraine This design became the foundation tion. Giving doctors instant access to data accel- Amori first encountered the technology he would headaches, among of Arterys, the company the duo erates research insights that could lead to future adopt for Virtualitics at a Caltech alumni event where other things. launched in 2011. That ini- breakthroughs. The company plans to expand its he met George Djorgovski, director of the Institute’s The at-home test, tial prototype was the first focus from radiation oncology to include medical and Center for Data-Driven Discovery. Djorgovski had which the company AI-assisted, cloud-based surgical oncology data. been using virtual reality and machine learning to expects to bring to medical imaging software to “The more data we have, the more we can learn analyze astronomy data. Amori, who had spent most market in the coming gain FDA clearance. from it,” Berlind says. “The more we learn, the more of his career in quantitative finance, realized that year, is part of a broader “Until recently, in we can improve health care.” the technology could be a boon in that sector as well. trend toward consumer cardiac imaging, we Together with Djorgovski, then-Caltech computational engagement with health also used to measure scientist Ciro Donalek, and Scott Davidoff of the Jet care. “There’s a change under the size of the heart and Propulsion Laboratory, Amori launched Virtualitics in way in how people interact with its function by drawing 2014 with the goal of building “a platform that allows their health care,” Brenner says. “They’re much more circles by hand,” Hsiao you to understand your data even if you aren’t a data proactive. They’re fed up with not having answers, and explains. “That’s really labor scientist.” He adds, “That’s going to be more and more they want to take control. They want to have the data.” intensive. Our algorithms important as more and more data are generated in The data collected by bluDiagnostics will allow a can now do much of this analysis every sector.” woman’s physician to make diagnoses and monitor automatically.” This technological advance saves sev- Today, the company is working to solve complex the impacts of treatments in real time. It also could eral hours of Hsiao’s time for each cardiac MRI and data problems in fields from marketing to defense to contribute to more significant advancements in the allows doctors to diagnose more patients. Arterys medicine. medical understanding of women’s health, a tradi- has begun to apply this type of AI analysis to other At Columbia Medical Center, the doctors used tionally understudied topic. With users’ permission, types of diagnostic imaging. “The dream is for all of Virtualitics to navigate through their data and zero anonymized bluDiagnostics data will be used “for the imaging exams that we do—whether x-ray, CT, in on the most interesting trends. Their findings research to better women’s health and to illuminate or MRI—to generate a preliminary report automat- could save lives: Some lung cancer patients, they new pathways for diagnosis and treatment of women’s ically,” Hsiao says. “Current AI applications show discovered, should get the flu vaccine, and others health conditions,” Brenner says. “We want women to promise that we will get there someday soon.” should not. have better options in the future.” ■

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Transforming ] PERSPECTIVES

where I wrote a series of short stories and a novella called Jellyfish Have Eyes. (Yes, they do have eyes!) In the process, I found myself conflicted between the drive NEW PATHS TO A to write and the desire to continue in science. The fear of starting anew as a writer at my age battled with my determination not to be a quitter in my proven pro- fession. Though it was a difficult decision, I closed my BETTER WORLD laboratory in 2009 and have no regrets. After retiring from science, I published the short stories I had written as a collection called The Open Milton (PhD ’69) and Rosalind Chang made a gift to Caltech in 2018 to create the Milton and Door. My novella grew and was published as a dystopian Rosalind Chang Career Exploration Prize. The annual prize enables alumni who have graduated in the novel that weaved together my science experiences with last 10 years to explore new careers outside academia. Prize funding—up to $65,000—gives winners fiction and foreshadowed a grim future in which funding the freedom to develop leadership skills and pursue projects that will have positive impacts on society. for basic research was shortchanged—a reflection of In October, Caltech announced the 2019 winners of the Chang Prize: what I feared was happening in the real world of science. I believed then, as I still do today, that support for basic scientific research for the sake of knowledge alone and Preethi Periyakoil driven by curiosity is crucial for advancing medicine, (BS ’18, computer science) as well as for a greater understanding of nature. Thus, Periyakoil, who spent time as an associate software engineer at writing added a new way for me to express my beliefs as Salesforce in San Francisco, is today an MD/PhD student in the Tri- well as a creative challenge. Institutional Program at Weill Cornell Medicine. But it was her time as As science and fiction blended as narratives in my a volunteer crisis counselor for the San Francisco Suicide Prevention mind, I wanted to write a more personal memoir through hotline that sparked an idea for a texting platform that could help an artistic lens. However, I wondered, who would be reduce campus suicides and suicide attempts. Periyakoil will use interested in a privileged government scientist who had Chang Prize funds to explore a platform at Caltech and the Univer- never experienced hardship? Marcel Proust came to my sity of California, Berkeley, to provide round-the-clock crisis support. rescue. I was impressed by his extraordinary autobio­ graphical novel, In Search of Lost Time, which is based “College students are vulnerable to stresses on what I considered to be relatively uneventful experi- 18 ences, such as superficial social salons, visits to museums, that come from academic pressures, new 19 and agonizing over sexual conflicts. I realized that it is living conditions, and interpersonal not the events, but the personal reactions of the author relationships,” Periyakoil says. “I propose to that make a story compelling. What I chose to write about in my memoir, then, were create a student support text line prototype instances etched in my mind that had changed me. These that will enable college students to receive included my amazement when I first glimpsed the magni- peer support and counseling in a safe, fying power of the clear eye lens; my awe when a lone jel- supportive, and secure online platform.” Finding My Muse lyfish—soon followed by others—rose majestically at night toward a light by the dock in La Parguera, Puerto Rico; the time Alberto Monroy, a scientist I admired, told me when Why I walked away from a successful career as I was a novice graduate student at Woods Hole, “Only real Nicole Tetreault scientists would be playing hooky at the beach on such a (PhD ’13, biology) a scientist to follow a calling to write beautiful sunny day”; my curiosity when Professor Leigh A neuroscientist, author, speaker, and meditation teacher, Hoadley asked the embryology class at Harvard, “What do Tetreault aims to combine her diverse skills to help rehabilitate you think would happen if a fertilized frog embryo were to women who have been incarcerated. She will use funding from BY JORAM PIATIGORSKY (PHD ’67) be cut in half?”; and my pride when my father, after he had the Chang Prize to develop a program called “Beyond the Cell” ILLUSTRATION BY FABIO CONSOLI played a concert with Zubin Mehta at the Casals Festival, to assist people in prison who have experienced mental, physical, touched my cheek backstage before turning his attention to or emotional trauma. a line of admirers. These events—the biology of lenses, my I doubt that my mother, the French sculptress born urge to write and give voice to a frustrated desire—no research project at Woods Hole, what happens when a fer- “This opportunity provides imaginative Jacqueline de Rothschild of the banking dynasty famous doubt partly inspired by my family—for artistic expres- tilized frog egg is cut in half, and the details of the concert for their art collections, or my father, the renowned sion. But what to write about? my father played—are all interesting, but the transient, freedom to create ‘Beyond the Cell,’” says Russian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, would have been sur- A few ideas lingered, while others slid past, not unlike personal moments outlasted the events themselves. So, I Tetreault, who describes the work as “a prised by my switch from science to writing. My parents the process of searching for a research project in science. wrote my memoir, The Speed of Dark, to reflect on these transformative program to rehabilitate lived art and knew nothing about science—my father, for I settled on the idea of two teenage boys hunting caribou and other special happenings. example, fantasized about whales, elephants, and snakes in the Arctic, a subject that touched my interest as a col- Today I devote my time to writing and exploring new incarcerated women through teaching as castles in the air, not matters of biology. Thus, I grew lector of Inuit art. Each sentence prompted the next, and boundaries that lie beyond the clear-cut facts of science. guided meditation, neuroscience, literature, up seeing the natural world tinged with magic and filled the imaginary scenes of glittering snow dazzled me as if I see switching from science to writing as a continuing and expressive writing to cultivate positive with mystery and beauty, a poetry of sorts, as well as an real. I felt exhilarated being a midwife to fictional charac- journey in creativity. As I wrote in my memoir, whether neural, mental, and behavioral patterns opportunity for scientific advancement. ters with ink as blood and giving them experiences that doing science or writing, I “have struggled with the I started writing fiction at age 56, in the middle of my I dreamed about having myself. I felt I couldn’t let this impossibility of touching bottom or reaching shore. I had for healing.” full-time career as a scientist at the National Institutes new form of creativity and vicarious expression escape; no destination to reach, no rules that had to be followed of Health. This despite the fact that my research on gene I had to continue writing. Since science gobbled my time or boundaries that I couldn’t cross, which made my life Find more information about past winners and their projects—and expression in the eye, and my responsibilities as chief of when I returned from vacation, I decided to confine my infinitely challenging and never complete.”■ about how you can apply—at alumni.caltech.edu/changprize. the large laboratory I had established, left little time for writing to very short pieces, and these accumulated to other outlets. The wish to write began during a hike with form a foundation for my future writing. Joram Piatigorsky is a retired scientist turned writer. my wife, Lona, on holiday in Maine. We rested at a quiet In the evenings, after leaving the lab, I attended work- His new collection of short stories, Notes Going

spot overlooking a beautiful bay when I suddenly had the shops at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and Nicole Tetreault Periyakoil Courtesy of Preethi Underground, will be published this year.

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu 20 PIONEERING 21

Etched in Your Mind The key to lasting memories, Caltech researchers have determined, is teamwork. When recollections are encoded­ by “teams” of neurons firing in unison—as illustrated above—it helps memories persist over time. ”For years, people have known that the more you practice an action, the better chance that you will remember it later,” says Carlos Lois, research professor of biology, whose lab con- ducted the study. “Our results suggest that increasing the number of neurons that encode the same memory enables the memory to persist for longer.” IMAGE: CALTECH

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Pioneering ] RESEARCH

Ready to Rumble How Andrea Donnellan brings fault lines into sharper focus

BY ALEXANDER GELFAND PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTINA GANDOLFO

When the first of two powerful earthquakes struck near struck Southern California during her first semester the town of Ridgecrest, some 160 miles northeast of Los of PhD studies at Caltech, Donnellan switched her Angeles, this past July, geophysicist Andrea Donnellan focus to faults. (PhD ’91) was scuba diving in Hawaii. As a principal For her doctoral thesis, Donnellan used GPS data to research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who analyze a large fault system in California’s Ventura Basin. studies the underlying dynamics of earthquake faults, It was backbreaking work: At the time, researchers had to Donnellan receives automated quake alerts and knows a lug 90-pound GPS receivers powered by car batteries up lot of earthquake experts. So news of that first Ridgecrest mountaintops to gather just a few data points per year. quake reached her fast. “I surfaced, and I had 85 text mes- It was also prescient. Donnellan and several colleagues sages,” she says. estimated that the Ventura Basin could generate a 6.4 Donnellan was soon back in California and out in the field, magnitude temblor, and, within two months, the magni- using a drone to take aerial photographs of a section of the fault tude 6.7 Northridge earthquake struck the San Fernando system that generated the Ridgecrest quakes, which caused Valley along one of the faults she had modeled. billions of dollars in damage. By periodically taking additional Donnellan is quick to point out that she did not predict photographs of the system’s surface and manipulating the when and where the earthquake would occur. No one could images with software, she plans to create three-dimensional have. Experts have gotten better at estimating whether topographic maps of the area as it changes over time. a quake might occur within a fault system within the This type of information, along with measurements next 10 years, but predicting that a tremor will strike a 22 from GPS stations and orbital imaging satellites, helps specific location on a specific date remains impossible. And 23 Donnellan understand how the earth’s crust deforms the higher the magnitude, the more difficult forecasting through the movement of the vast tectonic plates deep becomes. “The big ones are hard,” Donnellan says. below its surface. Other scientists use her findings to generate earthquake forecasts that help shape disaster plans and focus seismic retrofitting efforts to make build- The future of forecasting ings earthquake-resistant, saving both lives and money. Improving forecast accuracy is possible, Donnellan says, but it requires better data and a deeper understanding of the physical processes associated with earthquakes. And Shaky ground Donnellan sees progress on both fronts. Earthquakes in California are caused by the motion of the Rather than relying on sparse GPS data alone, Donnellan Pacific and North American plates—the world’s two largest now can feed her models continuous measurements gath- plates, covering nearly 70 million square miles—as they ered by a network of more than a thousand GPS stations, grind past each other and fracture the earth’s crust to form along with optical and radar imaging data from airplanes, faults. When opposite sides of a fault slip violently against satellites, and drones. Advances in computing power allow one another, the earth literally moves beneath our feet. her to run many of her simulations on a laptop rather than Measuring how many millimeters a fault slips or how a supercomputer, while machine learning and data mining many centimeters a mountain grows in the wake of an reveal patterns in her data that weren’t visible before. earthquake helps Donnellan develop computer models of “I embrace new technologies and see them through— fault behavior: how faults rupture, accumulate strain, and from difficult-to-use and error-prone to operational and even heal over time. “I look at the surface motion,” she scientifically mainstream,” she says. says. “From that, I model what’s going on at depth.” All of this helps Donnellan see more clearly into the Those models allow Donnellan to suss out the mechan- earth. Using radar images and computer modeling, for ics of what’s happening miles underground. They also example, she and her colleagues showed the connection improve our ability to gauge the risk of future earth- of a fault system that extends all the way from northern quakes, such as the catastrophic Big One that experts Mexico to Southern California. The researchers also believe will inevitably strike the San Andreas Fault, so gained new insight into how earthquakes transfer stress that we can better prepare for them. from one fault to another—findings that could improve With enough high-quality data, Donnellan can deter- estimates of whether a quake south of the border might mine whether a fault system is likely to produce earth- trigger one in Los Angeles. quakes at all and, if so, how big they might be. The planned launch in 2022 of a new radar satellite that will provide unprecedented global coverage of changes in the earth’s crust will only make things better. (The sat- Digging deep ellite is being developed through a partnership between Donnellan wasn’t always interested in earthquakes. NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization, with She started off studying the motion of ice sheets in JPL managing and implementing NASA’s contributions.) Antarctica, and her work in glaciology proved so sig- “That will give us a fire hose of data,” Donnellan says. nificant that a glacier now bears her name. But when And it just might make the science of earthquake fore- the magnitude 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake casting a little less shaky. ■

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Pioneering ] An engineer conducts EXPLORATION tests on NASA’s Mars 2020 rover.

2020 24 VISION 25 Caltech alumni at JPL have starring roles in the dramatic three-act play of the Mars 2020 mission: Send a rover to the surface of the Red Planet, collect samples, and bring them back to Earth. Success could advance our understanding of the planet’s history— and its potential for future human exploration.

BY STEVEN BOYD SAUM NASA/JPL-Caltech

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Pioneering ] EXPLORATION

It’s a warm autumn day in Southern California, but inside a pair “We are doing a performance of buildings on the campus of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in the art of liquid nitrogen floods the walls and conditions are distinctly the possible.” —Adam Steltzner chillier—hovering around –80° Celsius. The air pressure is a frac- (MS ’91) | Project Chief tion of Earth’s, and the atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide. Engineer

These are exactly the conditions that the Mars 2020 An hour after the meeting, walking across campus to rover will find at its ultimate destination. It’s the most meet a group of visiting VIPs, Steltzner runs into his ambitious Mars mission yet, and JPL—which is managed friend, JPL engineering fellow Miguel San Martin, whose by Caltech for NASA—is running the show. team took a closer look at that battery control board Today is the last day of testing for the rover. “We’re anomaly. A flyby conversation here, with a tentative con- putting the vehicle through some day-in-the-life stuff,” clusion: It might be time for the equivalent of open-heart says Adam Steltzner (MS ’91), chief engineer for the surgery to fix the board. mission. “We’re way in the thick of it now.” The Mars 2020 launch is slated for July 2020, with For the project engineers and scientists, the pressure landing in February 2021. The rover is a near-twin to is considerable. By February, the rover will ship to Cape Curiosity but carries some new tech, including a fully Canaveral. Meanwhile, two anomalies have been discov- automated sampling system. A future mission will pick up ered: one in the battery control board, and the other in the samples and send them into orbit. A third mission will the robot-powered sampling system designed to collect bring them back to Earth. dozens of Martian samples that will be brought back by Curiosity also is collecting samples, but testing them another craft on a future mission. as it explores. It cooks those samples in its micro- In Building 248, where that sampling system is being wave-sized Sample Analysis of Mars instrument that, put through its paces, Steltzner watches as a couple of among other things, can heat rocks to 1,800° Fahrenheit engineers send commands to the robots to take another and measure the results. All of that analysis takes time. swing at moving the drill bit into the round clamp that “Humans check every piece,” Steltzner says. “If we holds it while it does its work. That sampling system is asked humans to okay each decision on Mars 2020, it 26 ambitiously complex, comprising three or—depending would take three weeks to go through the process that 27 on whom you ask—four robots. On Mars, no humans will would cook the sample.” With the process scientists be able to tinker with it hands-on, so that’s not allowed and engineers are planning, Steltzner explains, weeks during testing, either. The first time around, the drill bit become hours. “We collect each sample autonomously didn’t slide in as easily as expected. “As the first sampling in 200 minutes, seal it up, and move on. The new system tube was put into the bit, the forces were about 10 times is 100 percent autonomous—and I can assure you I’m higher than we anticipated,” Steltzner says. questioning the brilliance of that right now, as we stare The rover’s drills and sample tubes also have to be at these anomalies up the hill.” hyperclean to avoid contamination from Earth. And that The sky crane also returns, with a sophisticated addi- hyperclean requirement poses challenges. First, expose tion: terrain-relative navigation, which allows the rover to a perfectly clean titanium tube to air, and within seconds set down in a tighter, trickier spot than was available for particles will begin to accumulate on its surface. Second, Curiosity. During descent, cameras will take pictures and almost everything we know about friction is based on how match them to images in the rover’s memory, then use materials behave in Earth’s atmosphere. So what was the the images to determine where the rover should divert to problem with the bit? “We don’t know whether to attribute as it sheds the parachute. Here on Earth, we’ll be able to see it all in high-definition video. head shot of “For the first time ever, we’re LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION Katie Stack Morgan - going to have high-definition need contacts video of a spacecraft landing on We can thank Matt Wallace (MS ’91)—and his daugh- ter’s love of gymnastics—for the rover’s array of cam- another planet.” eras. When she was about 9 years old, she saw videos of Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) will employ NASA’s Mars 2020 will land in gymnasts doing flips wearing GoPro-style cameras. “She electrolysis to convert CO into oxygen, which could be Jezero Crater, shown here. The 2 image was taken by instruments —Matt Wallace (MS ’91) | Deputy Project Manager said, ‘Dad, I want one of those!’” Wallace says. He saw used for both rocket fuel and breathing. on NASA’s Mars Reconnais- her in action with it and thought, “We really need one of Some tech used in 2012 turned out not to be as plug- sance Orbiter, which regularly it to dust or to changes in the friction coefficients between those on the spacecraft!” and-play as expected. The heat shield cracked early in takes pictures of potential landing the various hardware elements,” Steltzner says as he hoofs Wallace is deputy project manager for Mars 2020. testing; a new one had to be built. The supersonic para- sites for future missions. it down the hill from Building 248 to a meeting to figure The EDL cameras (for entry, descent, and landing) are chutes turned out to need an upgrade; they’re the same out next moves for the drill. “Testing is an act of humility.” dispersed all over the spacecraft, to look up as the para- size as Curiosity’s—21.5 meters in diameter—but with Steltzner has spent 28 years at JPL. He grew up in chutes deploy and the propulsion system fires, and down a stronger canopy, and they slow the rover’s descent Marin County, California, kicking up dirt and breaking as the rover descends. “For the first time ever, we’re from 1,000 mph to around 200 mph before the sky bones on mountain bikes. Meet him on the street and you going to have high-definition video of a spacecraft landing crane takes over. As for the anomalies: “Always look- might peg him for a rockabilly guitarist: slicked-back on another planet,” Wallace says. ing around the corner, constantly questioning whether pompadour, cuffed jeans, scuffed black boots, and a black In addition to the cool factor, there is of course some you’re making a good decision, whether you have the T-shirt that says “Derby Dolls”—as in roller derby—in valuable engineering knowledge to be gained. Mars 2020 right people doing that work, or whether you’ve done gothic script. But he’s not performing rockabilly: Instead, is meant to be a precursor to human travel. Spacesuit enough testing in this domain—that comes with the he and his team developed the sky crane that landed the material will go along for the ride to test for radia- territory,” Wallace says. “If you’re not doing that, then

Curiosity rover on Mars in 2012. tion exposure. Additionally, the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Brinson; NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Kendrick top: From you’re probably not doing it right.”

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Pioneering ] EXPLORATION

available to scientists more broadly right away. “That’s INTO THE DELTA really important for this mission,” she says, especially given how ambitious the goals are—both on the surface head shot of When the rover lands, the engineering team will hand of Mars and, someday, back on Earth. Katie Stack Morgan - over the keys to the science team. The landing site is Jezero Crater, an ancient lakebed about 40 kilometers need contacts across, where a once-flowing river formed a delta rich with “We haven’t hit the sediment. From Jezero, the rover may head into highland head shot of peak of the roller terrain known as Northeast Syrtis, which has its own dis- Katie Stack Morgan - tinctive geology. For project scientist and Caltech’s W. M. coaster yet.” Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry Ken Farley, need contacts it’s an unprecedented opportunity to learn about the his- —Sarah Milkovich (BS ’00) “Mars had tory and geology of the Red Planet. Here on Earth, deltas Science Systems Engineer a traumatic are good places to find fossilized evidence of past life. Farley headed Caltech’s Division of Geological and climate change Planetary Sciences for a decade. It was in his lab that event. There were a now widely practiced technique was developed to use PEAK OF THE ROLLER COASTER rivers, lakes, helium isotopes and other noble gases to establish the cooling and exhumation history of rocks. Farley describes Meanwhile, Sarah Milkovich (BS ’00) and her team, who glaciers, all sorts his groundbreaking work in deceptively simple terms. “I are working on the rover’s instruments, are digesting of features that do things like geochronology,” he says. “I date rocks.” One what they’ve learned from the system thermal test—the key instrument for that is a mass spectrometer that uses Mars-environment testing of everything from the weather certainly don’t a 1,000-pound magnet. The spectrometer can’t go to Mars, instruments to the ground-penetrating radar. As science exist today.” so Mars is coming to the magnet in the Mars 2020 sample systems engineer, she’s in some sense the glue between tubes—where they’ll be investigated by the full arsenal of teams of scientists and engineers. This means both ensur- —Ken Farley a terrestrial lab and its experts. ing that lessons learned from the testing data are applied Project Scientist We know a couple of things already, Farley says. “Mars and looking for efficiencies in how tactical planning will had a traumatic climate change event. There were rivers, happen on the Martian surface. It also means things don’t lakes, glaciers, all sorts of features that certainly don’t exist slow down once the rocket launches. “We haven’t hit the today.” What happened? To try to answer that question— peak of the roller coaster yet,” she says. and others scientists don’t yet even know to ask—the rover Milkovich, who has a doctorate in planetary geology, 28 will take samples from about 35 locations and rock types. points out that the ambitious goal of sample gathering 29 NASA is presently considering a plan that could have also entails documenting context in detail. “These rocks samples back on Earth as early as 2031. Then, Farley are going to represent Mars to us,” she says. Apollo says, we’ll face a deeper question: “How do you look for astronauts brought back rocks from the moon and rev- life as you don’t know it?” olutionized how we understood the formation of not just the moon but also Earth, she says. With Mars we’ll go from two data points to three. “It’s a pace of sampling no head shot of other mission has come close Katie Stack Morgan - ART OF THE POSSIBLE to accomplishing.” need contacts At the end of the day, over the hills above JPL, a couple —Kathryn Stack Morgan (MS ’11, PhD ’15) of canary-yellow Canadian Super Scooper planes fly by, Deputy Project Scientist carrying water to dump on wildfires burning to the west. Adam Steltzner hustles to pick up his four-year-old son from the JPL early childhood education center. (Steltzner is a father of three, with two older daughters.) He has AMBITION AND BALANCE his rover: a mud-spattered SUV, mid-’90s vintage, with off-road tires and jerry cans on the back. U2’s “Beautiful Kathryn Stack Morgan (MS ’11, PhD ’15) is deputy Day” is playing on the radio. project scientist on Mars 2020. She’s also part of the “When we start a mission, we have a pretty good idea scientific team for Curiosity. In her graduate work at of the thing that needs to be done, but it’s imperfect,” Caltech, she used orbital and rover data to study the Steltzner says. “As the mission progresses, our under- geology of Mars. At JPL, she’s one of a handful of people standing of exactly what we need to accomplish and how fluent in moving between orbital and rover data sets. to do it evolves and improves.” Gearing up for Mars 2020, she and other scientists have The fact that the samples from Mars 2020 will come back been collaborating with engineers to ensure that the rover to Earth gives this mission a whole new dimension. “We has the instruments it needs to get the job done—deter- don’t have to chisel out the questions we need to ask,” he mining which capabilities are critical and which can go says. New questions can be posed as scientists test the sam- because of cost or schedule delays. Morgan also is shaping ples here. “We can have the full ingenuity of this nation to the process scientists will use to make day-to-day science answer them. People who look at the sampling system think decisions about where the rover will travel and for how it’s far too ambitious. I agree. We have a standing invitation long. A central task is compressing the turnaround time to the universe to teach us how to do this more simply.” between when new data are downloaded and when new That word—ambitious—seems to crop up time and again. commands need to be uplinked. That’s essential to gath- “I personally think that’s our job—the Jet Propulsion ering a cache of samples in just one Mars year—slightly Laboratory’s job, and Caltech’s job: to ride the sharp under two Earth years. “It’s a pace of sampling no other edge of ambitious. We are doing a performance in the art mission has come close to accomplishing,” Morgan says. of the possible. And if we’re not ambitious, it’s a boring Morgan also has designed a process to make new data piece of art.” ■

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Pioneering ] PROFILE

Only in Dreams Moran Cerf is unwinding the mysteries of the resting mind

BY APRIL WHITE PHOTOGRAPH BY SAVERIO TRUGLIA

Moran Cerf (PhD ’09) started his career as a hacker: when you wake up from your dreams.” first to improve his own video gaming, and later for the Now, instead of waiting for people to wake up and Israeli army and private security firms. “I am still a describe their dreams, Cerf and other scientists are try- hacker,” says the professor of neuroscience and business ing to watch neurons fire in the brain to understand what at Northwestern University, “just with a different black sleepers are dreaming about. It is a first step toward box to peer into: our human brain.” influencing the unconscious, Cerf says. Already, some For the last 15 years, Cerf has investigated how people researchers have discovered that dreams can be affected think, feel, make decisions, and dream by eavesdropping by outside stimuli. For instance, if you spray the smell of on the activity of neurons in their brains. This research rotten eggs at the right moment during the sleep cycle, could lead to the creation of devices controlled entirely by the subject will report having had a bad dream. The thought and allow scientists to reprogram people’s brains scent of roses will nudge the dreamer toward a positive to help them change negative behaviors. one. Other olfactory cues can steer dreams to specific For a hacker like Cerf, the first challenge was to find a memories and, at times, specific thoughts and ideas that way to glimpse the inner workings of the brain. To peer can then influence awake behaviors. inside a living brain, Cerf‘s mentor, then-Caltech profes- The ability to change behaviors is powerful, Cerf sor Christof Koch, established a collaboration with neu- says, and as the science advances, society will have rosurgeons who were using an innovative new treatment to think carefully about its consequences. “Imagine to help patients with severe epilepsy. The doctors opened that someday we could give people full access to their 30 patients’ skulls, attached electrodes directly to the brain, dreams,” he says. “Scientists could then rewrite the 31 and left them in place for several days to capture data script for those who relive trauma in their sleep, or on the next epileptic seizure. During this period, the use dreams to deliver narratives.” He imagines giv- patients participated in a thought-mapping experiment ing people control over their dreams, a kind of virtual in which Cerf showed them pictures and observed how reality played out inside the brain. “That said, that same their brains reacted. When a patient saw images of her technology could be used for commercial purposes,” mother, for example, certain cells in her brain were acti- Cerf cautions. “Many companies are already after our vated repeatedly. The same was true if the patient simply attention and choices. In the wrong hands, this could thought about her mother. help people hack into our minds. Your brain is program- This thought-mapping approach led Cerf to think mable. If you don’t program it, someone else will.” about decoding additional narratives created by the Cerf’s work is driven by big, fundamental questions brain—including aspects of dreams that have long such as, What is consciousness? And, can we explain how mystified humankind. “Dreams are something humans dreamed content and experiences can change our person- have been enchanted by since the dawn of time,” Cerf ality? He is the first to admit that his research sometimes says. “But even Freud and Jung, who are the epitome of sounds like science fiction. “But the difference between dream researchers, could only study the stories you tell science fiction and science,” he says, “is timing.” ■

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu 32 EXCELLING 33

The Life of Clouds A study that used supercomputers to simulate clouds and their motions raises new concerns about climate change. The issue: Marine stratus clouds could face extinction if atmospheric car- bon dioxide (CO2) concentrations get too high. And without the clouds’ cooling effect, the planet’s surface temperatures would rise. “I think and hope that technological changes will slow carbon emissions so that we do not actually reach such high CO2 concentrations,” says lead author Tapio Schneider, Theodore Y. Wu Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, senior research scientist at JPL, and head of the Climate Modeling Alliance (CliMA), a multi-institutional con- sortium that is building a new climate model. “But our results show that there are dangerous climate change thresholds that we had been unaware of.”

Brocken Inaglory Brocken IMAGE: BROCKEN INAGLORY

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Excelling ] ALUMNI AWARDS

THE 2019 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS Caltech recognizes five graduates who have become respected leaders in fields ranging from astronomy to entrepreneurship.

First presented in 1966, the annual awards recognize a particular achievement of extraordinary value, a series of such achievements, 34 35 or a career of extraordinary accomplishment.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIO DE LOPEZ

ANNEILA I. SARGENT observatories and helped acknowledges, but her shape international mil- drive to succeed comes (MS ’67, PhD ’77, ASTRONOMY) limeter-wave astronomy from within. “I like inter- Ira S. Bowen Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, Caltech through her leadership on esting problems,” Sargent various boards. She has says. “I like finding For her contributions to our understanding of how stars and planetary systems form things that nobody has and evolve, her dedication to enhancing observatory capabilities for the scientific community, served as chair of both and her national and international leadership in her field. the National Research ever imagined before.” Council Board of Physics Anneila Sargent is morning to analyze data advancing technologies to and Astronomy and among the most respected from late-night telescope understand how stars and NASA’s Space Science astronomers in her field, sessions, a task that was planets form and evolve Advisory Committee, and as she reflects on even more challenging over their lifespans. The and was appointed to the her career, she expresses during the early years of advances she made in mil- National Science Board by deep gratitude about her career as she parented limeter-wave astronomy, President Obama. her trajectory. “I was her young children. “I a cutting-edge field at the Sargent is a fellow of the amazed to be admitted would do my computing in time, helped illuminate American Academy of Arts as a graduate student to the office—there were no inflection points in very and Sciences and an hon- Caltech,” she says. “I was laptops then—and even- early stellar evolution as orary fellow of the Royal amazed to become a ten- tually I would go home well as potential sites for Society of Edinburgh. ured professor. And I am because the babysitter had planetary formation. “It She received NASA’s even more amazed to be a to leave,” she recalls. “I’d was wonderful to be on Public Service Medal, and distinguished alumna. It’s come in the next morning the ground floor of some- asteroid 18244 Anneila was a series of amazements.” to finish up.” thing,” she recalls. named in recognition of Like most astronomers, The juggling act had In addition to making her achievements. Sargent keeps a largely its challenges, but she groundbreaking dis- The accolades and untraditional schedule. She excelled. She went on to coveries, Sargent has professional recogni- often labors into the early pioneer the use of rapidly directed Caltech’s radio tion are rewarding, she

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Excelling ] ALUMNI AWARDS

EMILY A. CARTER (PhD ’87, CHEMISTRY) Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, UCLA For her visionary leadership in sustainable energy and engagement with the broader scientific community and for her development of powerful theoretical methods based on quantum mechanics that have greatly influenced chemistry and engineering. When Emily Carter studied under the tutelage of legendary chemistry and applied physics pro- fessor Bill Goddard (PhD ’65) at Caltech, she did more than advance her knowledge as a theoretical physical chemist—she internalized a philosophy that 36 continues to guide her today. “Bill Goddard taught 37 me that it’s not enough to generate data,” she says. “You should extract insights from the data that can change the way that people think. It’s great to dare to go out on a limb.” Her life’s work has embodied that fearlessness and ambition. Carter’s research has included nuanced investi- gations of fuel cells, biofuels, and lightweight metal alloys, all linked to sustainable energy production. Her findings have helped scientists understand photoelectrocatalysis, a light-driven electrochem- ical process used in solar fuels applications. In addition to breaking new ground throughout her career, she has broken glass ceilings. In 2017, she became the first woman to receive the prestigious Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics from the American Physical Society. A year later, she was CHARLES M. RICE III Around this same for the Advancement the first woman to receive the American Chemical time—the early 2000s— of Science, and a recip- Society Award in Theoretical Chemistry. (PhD ’81, BIOCHEMISTRY) Rice was recruited to The ient of the Beijerinck, Her 15-year tenure at Princeton University Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor, The Rockefeller University Rockefeller University Dautrebande, Robert included serving as founding director of the to continue his studies of Koch, and InBev-Baillet For developing a treatment for patients chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, that is highly effective (99 percent cure rate) and has no significant side effects. For this HCV and pursue therapeu- Latour prizes. The citation where she oversaw an interdisciplinary and innova- achievement, Charles Rice, along with Ralf Bartenschlager and Michael J. Sofia, received tic approaches. Rice and for his Lasker Award tive program of research and teaching devoted to the highly prestigious Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award in 2016. his team used their HCV recognizes Rice and his finding sustainable energy solutions for the world. expertise to develop better colleagues for their work From 2016 to 2019, she was dean of the School of Charles Rice, one of the includes the yellow fever, viviruses. This ultimately systems for drug discovery on a system to study the Engineering and Applied Science. world’s leading virologists, West Nile, Zika, and led Rice to shift the focus and evaluation. These and replication of HCV and for In the public sphere, Carter has been a powerful has dedicated decades of dengue viruses. After he of his investigations. other advances led to a revolutionizing the treat- advocate for action to prevent climate change. She his career to understand- completed his postdoctoral In his early work, Rice new course of treatment ment of the disease. has been invited to speak on this issue in venues ing the hepatitis C virus work at Caltech and joined sought to understand that cures hepatitis C in “There wasn’t a single ranging from Capitol Hill to the World Economic (HCV), which affects 71 the faculty at Washington how the virus replicated. almost all cases. moment that broke things Forum in Davos, Switzerland. million people worldwide University in St. Louis, a Eventually he and his Rice is a member of open,” Rice says of the In fall 2019, she brought her vitality and ideas to and results in 400,000 biotechnology company team obtained a full- the National Academy decades-long process. UCLA, where she is now executive vice chancellor deaths annually. showed that post-transfu- length cDNA clone of of Sciences, a fellow of “But there was a series of and provost. “Every day, I wake up trying to figure As a graduate student sion non-A, non-B hepati- HCV RNA that they could the American Academy ‘aha’ moments separated out how I can have the most impact,” she says. “I was at Caltech, Rice studied tis, which they called HCV, transcribe in vitro and use of Arts and Sciences and by years of blood, sweat, looking for a challenge, and I got one.” flaviviruses, a genus that was distantly linked to fla- to initiate infection. the American Association and tears.”

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu READ MORE ABOUT OUR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AT ALUMNI.CALTECH.EDU/DAA-2019 [ Excelling ] ALUMNI AWARDS

FRED A. BLUM (MS ’64, PhD ’68, PHYSICS) CEO, Trilience Research For his entrepreneurial leadership in the development and commercialization of high-performance GaAs and GaN semiconductor electronic and optical devices with revolutionary applications in communications and lighting.

Fred Blum became enamored with physics while attending high school in Texas and aimed for a PhD. He landed at Caltech, a pinnacle of physics education and investigation. “My graduate research taught me how to pursue knowledge in unknown territories, beginning the adventure of a lifetime,” he says. After conducting basic research at Caltech and MIT, Blum moved into applied research at Texas Instruments and Rockwell International in the 1970s. At Rockwell, he rose quickly from research manager to vice president of the microelectronics research center. He focused his personal leadership on GaAs (gallium 38 arsenide) and GaN (gallium nitride) semi- 39 conductor technology, which offered great promise but left much to be proven. In the 1980s and 1990s, Blum became a pioneering entrepreneur in this field. He founded GigaBit Logic, the first GaAs digital circuit company, and cofounded Nitres, a venture company that developed world- leading GaN LEDs for lighting. He even- tually sold Nitres to Cree, which became a preeminent LED lighting manufacturer. Semiconductor GaAs and GaN devices have grown to be a $40 billion industry. Critical infrastructure enablers of much of today’s digital world, they revolution- important ideas in the parallel computer systems cations. Together with ized cell phone and fiber optic communi- WILLIAM (BILL) DALLY field, he chose Caltech. that demonstrated fast classmates, he founded his cations, enabled internet networks, and (PhD ’86, COMPUTER SCIENCE) Dally was intrigued by the communication and syn- first start-up while still at made high-efficiency LED lighting pos- Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President pioneering contributions chronization mechanisms. Caltech, and he cofounded sible. They also were the basis for Nobel of Carver Mead (BS ’56, Dally also created much of three others before Prizes in physics awarded in 2000 and of Research, NVIDIA MS ’57, PhD ’60) to very the underlying theory for landing at the technology 2014. (Two awardees had been university Professor of Computer Science and Electrical large-scale integration interconnection networks. company NVIDIA. consultants to Blum’s organizations at Engineering, Stanford University (VSLI) technology, a pro- Later, at Stanford, he At NVIDIA, Dally has Rockwell and Nitres.) For his significant contributions to the architecture of cess that greatly increased developed stream process- helped pioneer advances Now retired, Blum gives back as CEO interconnection networks. He developed much of the the number of transistors ing, which led to graphics in deep-learning plat- of his nonprofit, Trilience Research, which technology found in modern interconnection networks, that could be placed on a processing unit (GPU) forms that support every- supports the integration of biology and including wormhole routing, virtual-channel flow control, semiconductor chip. computing. He also con- thing from image analysis neuroscience into the social sciences. global adaptive routing, modern network topology, At Caltech, Dally structed accelerators that to language translation to From the beginning, Blum’s aim has been deadlock analysis, performance analysis, fault-tolerance worked with Charles enhanced the performance self-driving cars. “Here, to pursue meaningful work with curiosity and methods, and equalized high-speed signaling. Seitz on multiprocessors. of deep learning and you get to see ideas go ambition. “In the 20th century, we mastered After earning his degree, bioinformatics applica- from theory to prototypes the physical sciences and brought unimaginable To Bill Dally, few fields year that hadn’t been he joined the faculty at tions, including the rapid in the lab to real products changes to the way we live, communicate, travel, felt as dynamic and trans- possible just a few years MIT, where he focused assembly of genomes. for real people,” he says. and work,” he says. “In the 21st century, we will formative as computing before,” he says. on fundamental issues Even though Dally’s He sees enormous master the life sciences, bringing on unimaginable in the mid-1980s. “The So, when he went look- linked to parallel comput- academic pursuits cen- possibilities ahead. “You changes in health care, how we think, and how we technology was improving ing for a PhD program ing and interconnection tered on fundamental get to make big jumps,” relate and govern. I have spent my life in search so rapidly that new things that would connect him networks. He and his theory, he often had an he says. “There’s always a of excellence, hoping I would make a difference to became possible every with some of the most team built experimental eye to practical appli- new game.” society and mankind.”

READ MORE ABOUT OUR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AT ALUMNI.CALTECH.EDU/DAA-2019 TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Excelling ] MENTORSHIP

Real Talk Alumni mentors offer practical perspectives to students and fellow alums

When Caltech’s Department of Computing + Mathe- CMS MENTOR CMS MENTEE matical Sciences started thinking about how to connect Adam Slovik (BS ’88) Myra Interiano (BS ’17) students to alumni, they decided to buck the trend of ANGEL INVESTOR DATA ANALYST AT BLIP, traditional higher-ed mentoring programs, in which ONE OF ADAM SLOVIK’S COMPANIES alumni act as generalists for all things post-graduation. From CEOs to students: In my work, I like to be a very Instead, they developed the CMS Mentoring Program, hands-on investor, so I roll up my sleeves and sometimes Embracing a winding path: After graduation, I real- which connects students with mentors who offer more take an operating role. I just love the whole energy ized there’s this whole level of knowledge about the job specific guidance. For example, one mentor may help and atmosphere of start-ups—and I love mentoring the search that I was totally unaware of. My older sister with presentation or interview skills, while another might CEOs, other managers, and staff. So when I heard about had attended college, but neither of my parents did. offer insights into a potential employer. the opportunity to mentor at Caltech, I was excited. I started going to career programming through the The program launched in February 2017, and, thanks Alumni Association and forced myself to talk to people. I to an endowment recently funded by Phil Naecker “You’re as good as anyone else out there.” One of the asked them about their trajectories and realized there’s (BS ’76), it now boasts 25 alumni mentors who come to things I tell Caltech students over and over—because no straight line—even once you’ve had a job. That helped campus several times a year to spend one-on-one time I needed someone to tell me this—is that you might me be less hard on myself. with everyone from undergraduates to postdocs to other feel like you are barely keeping up, like everyone else alumni. is doing better than you. Maybe you’re getting a B for Making connections: I went to one of the CMS mentor­ “Our alumni have incredible networks and know a ton the first time in your life. I was constantly struggling at ing presentations on technical interviewing given by about industry, so to have them come here to offer advice Caltech. But then you go into the real world and realize Caltech alums Phil Naecker and Mason Smith (BS ’09), and open their networks is so valuable,” says Claire how lucky you were to have had access to the professors which was super helpful in demystifying the process and 40 Ralph, who directs the program as well as Caltech’s you did, as well as your fellow students. helping me feel better about interviewing. I was reintro- 41 Career Development Center. “Alumni can be really great duced to Phil at another CMS alumni mentoring event allies to the current student body.” What he gets out of mentoring: First, I really enjoy and had a one-on-one session with him where I got more We asked Adam Slovik (BS ’88), a current mentor in it. I enjoy talking to students and hearing about their feedback about interviewing and projecting confidence. the program, and one of his mentees, Myra Interiano projects. Second, I want to make Caltech a place that I Since then, the mentoring program has taught me a lot (BS ’17), to share what the experience has taught them. could unreservedly recommend to my kids and know that about the possibilities that are out there when one has if they went there, they would have a great experience. a Caltech education and is willing to engage with other And finally, if I gained access to some of these students alums—something I honestly didn’t fully appreciate until as interns or potentially as alums I could hire into my I had all of these conversations. companies, that would be absolutely fantastic. Her first (nervous) meeting with Adam Slovik: At On mentoring Myra: I got a call about Myra, a recent first, I was scared because I wasn’t sure what to expect. alum who was working an hourly job somewhere. So we I looked Adam up beforehand, and he’s featured in had a Skype call, and, like so many Caltech graduates, YouTube videos. I thought he might be a tough person she was comparing herself to all the other Caltech grad- to talk to. But no, he was really supportive, telling me: uates. I said, “Listen, I’m going to get you a job at one “Caltech’s a tough place, and you got through it. Tell me of my companies—not because I’m so magnanimous, but what you can do, and let’s see if we can find a place that because any company of mine that has you on its staff is matches your interests and skills.” I ended up with two so much more likely to succeed.” I didn’t realize at the job offers from his companies, and the CMS mentoring You CAAN, too time how much impact this would have; I found out later program helped me figure out how to make a decision. Interested in mentoring Caltech students that what I said made her feel more confident. For instance, “Is this the right thing to say when I’m and alumni? Find yourself in need of asking for more time to make my decision? And how do I career direction and advice? ask for an interview without being pushy, because I need to tell the other company yes or no?” That’s the kind of The online CALTECH ALUMNI information I would never have known on my own. ADVISORS NETWORK (CAAN) On her new job as data analyst at Blip: On day one, connects Caltech students and alumni to my supervisor said, “Okay, this is what you need to do; a broad network of graduates who can get started.” They give me a lot of autonomy, noting, offer career insights and advice. From “You’re really good at working by yourself—we can just negotiating a salary to crafting a personal tell you what we need, and you go get it done.” That type statement to plotting a career path, CAAN of problem-solving, where every step isn’t spelled out, is helps students and alumni find the advice what I learned doing research and problem sets. I like they need. that. I welcome it. ■ JOIN THE NETWORK AT ALUMNIADVISORS.CALTECH.EDU Agata Nowicka Agata

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Excelling ] FEATURE

HOWFrom solving a Rubik’s Cube® in a matter TO DO IT ALL of seconds to starting a podcast, Techers offer tips on how to do just about anything.

BY RENÉE OLSON ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATT CHINWORTH

42 43

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Excelling ] FEATURE

HOW TO BE READY FOR ANYTHING Hsu balances patience and nimbleness, like the time he’d been waiting two years for a high-profile subject only to get a call at 7:30 Start a one morning asking if he could do the inter- view in 45 minutes. The Spinney interview offered a milder version of that challenge. “I Podcast somehow got in touch with his wife,” Hsu says. “She tells me, ‘We’re traveling in an RV across The thing that shocked Richard Hsu (BS ’89) most the country right now. Call me in a month.’” about starting his interview podcast: how many guests actually said “yes.” That list is more than 200 and grow- DON’T PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW HOW TO ing, and features marquee names like Steve Wozniak “What works best for me is not to have a list of and Mark Cuban. Hsu, a former law firm partner who questions. I ask the kinds of natural, organic ques- is now a legal recruiter with Major, Lindsey & Africa in tions that I would ask you over dinner.” Manage San Francisco, offers insight about what he’s learned ROPE IN CALTECH ALUMNI by building his two-time award-winning podcast, Hsu “I’ve interviewed pioneering origami artist Robert (pronounced “shoe”) Untied. Lang (BS ’82, PhD ’86), food scientist and writer Your Mess Harold McGee (BS ’73), and Caltech trustee FOLLOW YOUR HEART Bill Gross (BS ’81), entrepreneur and founder of Former mechanical engineer and misplaced–cell phone survivor Meghan “I reached out to Caroll Spinney, the voice behind Big IdeaLab.com. Of course, they were all great.” Smith (BS ’02) owns OrganizeSmith, a Phoenix-based company that Bird and Oscar the Grouch, because I thought, ‘Oh man, offers solutions for the clutter-weary. Her engineering background helps: that would be so cool to interview him.’ That was my THINK BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINE “Organizing is about being able to think analytically and logically,” she only criterion. He was probably my favorite interview “If you’re looking to make money, that’s going to be because he was a delightful gentleman, so fun and so really hard. My only goal from the very beginning says, “then coming up with creative solutions.” entertaining. It reminded me of childhood. He sang for has been to do something I really enjoy. So it’s me and everything.” never felt like a job for me.” DON’T CONFUSE ORGANIZING WITH DOWNSIZING Organizing doesn’t make more space, Smith says. “When you put stuff in a 44 container, the container takes up more space than just shoving your stuff in 45 the corner. What organizing does is make it easier to find everything—and a good system makes it easier to keep things tidy.”

MASTER THE ART OF NEATNESS Smith thrives on creating order out of chaos. “I’m able to take the bigger pic- ture and chop it up into smaller, more manageable pieces,” she says. “It’s a lot of space management—being able Once people hit middle age, it’s common to ing is what helps “condition your body” by adding two to visualize things, problem-solving, miles a week until you reach 20 miles. Smith thrives on and coming up with unique and put a marathon on the bucket list. While older creative solutions.” Sometimes that’s DON’T LET MATURITY STOP YOU creating order out helping a cook whittle down her athletes lack the strength of the young, they’re Once people reach middle age, it’s common to put of chaos. “I’m able spatula collection by keeping only better at learning to pace themselves. a marathon on a bucket list, despite the fact that run- four for the countertop. Or advising ning a full marathon “is like torture,” Suising says. to take the bigger a tech enthusiast that he doesn’t While older athletes lack the strength of the young, need to hold on to a computer from they’re better at learning to pace themselves for picture and chop it the 1980s. Or digitizing photos and endurance sports. up into smaller, more receipts to clear off the dining room table for meals. But the client always FIND YOUR PEOPLE ON YOUR FEET manageable pieces.” has a say. “Sometimes you just have HOW TO “After I did two half-marathons, I thought, ‘Oh, I can “Shoes are the most important equipment,” says the to talk it through,” Smith says. do this; I can train myself,’” Suising says. “But then I budget-minded Suising, who ran her first half-mar- thought, ‘I want to shoot for a full marathon,’ and I knew athon in “gym shoes” and the next in cheap running REPURPOSE, SAVE SPACE, SHARE THE LOVE that I needed some help.” She joined the Leukemia and shoes. “Now I’ve ended up with some actual foot Repurposing has worked especially well for clients who are dealing with the Train for Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, which offers vol- issues, which are limiting my performance.” She now emotional weight of a deceased relative’s belongings. “Some people create unteer coaches and mentors in return for raising money swears by stability (normal gait) running shoes with ‘memory bears,’ which are stuffed animals made from loved ones’ apparel,” for cancer research. maximum cushioning for angry metatarsals. Smith says. “Another person took her family quilt and cut pieces to fit into a Marathon shadow boxes. It had been in a chest, buried under stuff. It wasn’t being A TRIO OF TRAINING METHODS KNOW YOUR LIMITS seen, it wasn’t being loved. Now it is.” Spurred on by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Riya Speed training involves running intervals on a track “at a Suising has no interest in tackling a 100-miler, which Suising (BS ’88), whose longest run at that point had strong speed, about 80 or 95 percent of your maximum,” can eat up 20 to 30 hours. Says Suising, “I really pre- DEFINE YOUR SPACE Suising says, and then resting for three minutes before fer to finish a race, eat a good dinner, have a warm “My crafting supplies have to fit on one shelving unit, and if they don’t, some- been five miles, gave herself less than a week to train repeating the sequence for a total of three miles of “hard shower, and then sleep in a bed.” thing’s got to go.” for her first half-marathon. “Now I race almost every work.” (By the way, resting doesn’t mean standing, but weekend,” says Suising, a massage therapist and CEO rather staying in motion and allowing your body to recover.) FUEL UP JOB WELL DONE of Silicon Valley Body Renewal. And she trains others to Tempo training involves running a simulated five-mile race The night before a run, Suising likes carb-loading. “I’ve had customers who keep greeting cards that just say ‘Love, Mom.’ It’s meet that 26.2-mile mark. as part of a group, keeping a steady pace. Endurance train- Her go-to? Denny’s $4 All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes. a greeting card. Its job is to say, ‘Hey.’ Did it? Then let it go.”

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Excelling ] FEATURE

PUP STARTS Work on one command “We start training as soon as we get the puppies at eight weeks, working on ‘sits’ and ‘downs.’ And we cuddle with at a time. And remember, them and play with their paws and ears, and make sure consistency is everything. they are well socialized from an early age.” “If you’re consistently FOOD FOR THOUGHT Training treats don’t always have to be special. Choi and praising the dog for the Flatt put regular kibble in a food pouch that they carry behavior you want,” Choi says, around for day-to-day training activities. Sometimes, they use “high-value treats,” such as sausage or tasty “the dog will learn over time.” dog biscuits, when they want to teach a difficult com- mand or train in distracting environments.

STEADY HAND classes, designated distractors would vie for the HOW TO Work on one command at a time. And remember, consis- dogs’ attention during training. “If the dogs don’t tency is everything. “If you’re consistently praising the interact during those distractions, you give them dog for the behavior you want,” Choi says, “the dog will a treat right away,” Choi says. “And if they try to learn over time.” interact, you give them a correction—a quick tug on Train Your Puppy the leash to say, ‘No.’” DOWNWARD GREETING DOG Attorney Anita Choi (BS ’04) and her husband, Chris Flatt (BS ’04), Dogs that meet new humans with a leap? “We call that TRAIN YOUR FRIENDS the excitable greeting,” Choi says. “It’s one of the harder “Your friends come over, the dog gets really excited, a lead engineer for Google Assistant, have trained four puppies for habits to break.” Why? Because environments aren’t and then they start petting the dog when it jumps on Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), a national organization that always easily controlled—sometimes the “excitable them. That reinforces the wrong behavior. Instead, HOW TO provides assistance dogs. Here, Choi shares the lessons learned from greeting” can be the result of the activity around a dog at we ask our friends to look away, not to move, and not raising CCI puppies. any given time. In Choi’s and Flatt’s Canine Companions to give the dog attention.” Crush It at 46 Open Mic Night 47 When not researching ultracold neutrons at Los Alamos National Laboratory, HOW TO that’s not considered very fast—the record is under nuclear physicist Kevin Peter Hickerson (BS ’02, MS ’11, PhD ’13) four seconds, and most of the top speed solvers can likes to warm up crowds at comedy clubs. His advice to aspiring comics? routinely solve the Rubik’s Cube in under eight.) Don’t even start. But if you must, here are his pointers. Speed solvers who can complete the cube in under 20 seconds are averaging three to five turns per second. Beat the ROBOT JOKES ARE GOOD—SCIENCE NOT SO MUCH DO THE MATH “I’ll do a bar show out in the desert, and if I say something about neutrons, the Most speed solvers solve the cube using the Fridrich audience looks at me like I’m from outer space. But the one thing that almost Cube Method. Named for its inventor, Jessica Fridrich, all audiences like is a good robot joke. Everybody is scared of robots.” the method consists of four seemingly simple steps: Tyson Mao (BS ’06) took two hours to conquer Solve a cross on one side; then solve two layers of UNDERSTAND THE RAZOR’S EDGE his first Rubik’s Cube while working at a summer the cube; then match all stickers on the last side; While academia is safe and honest, Hickerson says, comedy has to be honest camp in 2003. “I want to say it was July 24, 2003, and then move the remaining eight pieces into place. but has to be sort of dangerous, too. He explains: “When you publish a scientific if indeed July 24 was a Thursday,” he says. (Editor’s This is not as simple as it sounds. “To match all the finding, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you figured out what causes cancer, that’s great!’ colors on the last side, you have to learn 57 different Everybody’s happy; no one likes cancer. With comedy, you want to say some- note: He’s right, of course.) Today, he’s a cofounder move sequences—or algorithms—that correspond to thing that’s true and funny, and you want to be the first person to say it out of the World Cube Association and 2005 world- a unique pattern,” Mao says. “The last eight pieces loud. That’s sometimes very dangerous, because you don’t want the joke to fall record holder for fastest Rubik’s Cube solved while take another 21 algorithms.” Mao teaches people a flat by going too far. The ultimate goal is to get the audience to laugh at your blindfolded—one minute and 58.32 seconds. Mao, reduction of the Fridrich Method that optimizes the new dangerous truth without the crowd bringing out pitchforks. It’s a lot like who is also a product manager at Google, offers way most people commonly learn: Start with the top trapeze artists: Everybody agrees they’re really fun to watch, but you know advice for aspiring cube masters. layer and work your way down. we’re watching because there’s some chance they might miss and fall. Trapeze artists get to have safety nets. Comedians don’t.” TWIST ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS UPGRADE YOUR RIG, NOT YOUR BUDGET Spend some time with the experts. Mao, for instance, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FAMILY SUPPORT “You can buy fantastic cubes now for less than $10 each recently offered a video walkthrough to WIRED “My wife writes most of my jokes. I didn’t even know she had that talent, but on the internet, and they turn fabulously. Back in 2003, magazine online that is a good starting point. “Two she’s really good at it. The rest of my family members are the butt of the joke.” you would have to break a cube in, you’d have to prepare people can spend the same amount of time working it, and it just didn’t turn as well. Now a faster-turning on a Rubik’s Cube, and one person will get 10 times DO IT IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA cube allows different types of turning techniques.” better than the other person if they learn the right “Some really good advice I got from [comedian] Joe Rogan—yes, I’m way,” Mao says. “So you can take all the information name-dropping—is to film yourself on stage. You’ll think you’re crushing it and KNOW THE DEFINITION OF FAST people have learned over the years and start from everyone loves you, and then you’ll watch the tape and see everything you’re Mao notes that his record for solving a cube without a there instead of making all the mistakes my prede- doing wrong, and you’ll cringe. Eventually you’ll get past this and start to enjoy blindfold is 12.75 seconds. (In a speed solver’s world, cessors and I made.” yourself on stage.”

RUBIK’S CUBE® USED BY PERMISSION OF RUBIK’S BRAND LTD WWW.RUBIKS.COM TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ Excelling ] ALUMNI ATTITUDE STUDY We Listened

CALTECH ANALYZED YOUR MOST REQUESTED TYPES OF PROFESSIONAL ALUMNI VOICES DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT FROM THE 2016 STUDY AND TOOK ACTION.

Networking with alumni in your field 61% WHAT INFLUENCES We Asked ACTION Lifetime @alumni.caltech.edu email address LIFETIME YOUR RESULTS FROM THE ALUMNI ATTITUDE STUDY 45% OPINION email Caltech’s continued distinction is closely tied to Performance Enhancement Group to conduct ADDRESSES the achievements of and support from you, our alumni. Caltech’s first all-alumni survey in 2016. In 2019, we OF Access to research All alumni are invited to Similarly, Techers enhance their lives and careers by reached out to you with a second survey. I am happy 41% claim their lifetime CALTECH? connecting with the Institute. This mutually benefi- to present a summary of your latest responses here, @alumni.caltech.edu cial relationship requires ongoing dialogue in order and to highlight the innovative programs the CAA has email addresses. to promote alumni engagement and enable Caltech implemented in response to what you told us in 2016. Career advice and counseling ACTION 93% to deliver on your requests for programs that enrich Your feedback directly fuels and informs our program- 37% Value of/respect for your lives, accelerate your professional success, and ming. Don’t wait until the next survey to share your degree strengthen our global alumni network. thoughts; we are listening. — Emily Fischer The Milton With this in mind, the Institute and the Caltech Interim Executive Director Career-transition support (PhD ’69) and Alumni Association (CAA) partnered with Caltech Alumni Association 36% Rosalind Chang Career 89% Exploration Prize Accomplishments The prize enables recent alumni to of alumni, faculty, Networking with alumni outside your field 34% explore opportunities to make a and students positive impact on society out- You Answered side of academia and their 48 current career paths. ACTION 49 75% Continuing education in your field Global impact 33% CAA Career RESPONSES FROM LOYALTY Webinars PROMOTING This series engages guest speakers to HOW DO 2,008 ALUMNI Management-skills development CALTECH UNDERGRADUATE GRADUATE 30% ACTION share expertise on topics ranging from YOU VIEW Graduate interviewing skills to career explora- degrees TecherTalks tion to leadership. Alumni can listen 27% to recordings of the 19 webinars YOUR These panel discussions bring hosted to date on YouTube 65% 6% Loyal Résumé/CV development alumni back to campus to speak RELATION- Both 29% at alumni.caltech.edu/ with students about life after Caltech graduate and 46% career-webinars. of you reported that you SHIP WITH undergraduate and to showcase the diverse array Undergraduate promote Caltech degrees of career opportunities open to CALTECH? degrees to others regularly Mentoring matches Techers. The CAA hosts one or all the time Somewhat 28% TecherTalk with each division Loyal over the course of each ACTION 92% 22% academic year. Consider attending Serving as Handshake 77% Negotiation and conflict resolution 27% Caltech a GOOD OR ambassadors This online recruitment tool, spon- GREAT decision Not sored by the Career Development Male Female promoting Loyal Center, enables alumni, postdoctoral Caltech scholars, and graduate and under- Caltech in My My lab Networking by industry 23% 79% general house group graduate students to search for Describe the alumni to others jobs, connect with employers, and was ACTION experience as sign up for career fairs, work- EXCELLENT OR shops, and counseling SECOND Recent undergraduate alumni show GOOD Writing and presentation skills 22% Caltech Alumni appointments. greater loyalty to organizations, activities, HIGHEST and clubs than previous generations. Advisors Network 88% in your rankings (CAAN) of you described your of important things This online mentoring platform 83% overall current opinion of for alumni to do Report having had Share your experience connects alumni and students Caltech as GOOD (sharing job or internship opportunities an EXCELLENT with Caltech organizations, activities, with graduates who are willing OR EXCELLENT with alumni and students was first) OR GOOD experi- and clubs on social media. Be sure to to offer career insights ence as a student use the hashtag #CaltechAlumni. and advice.

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu [ The Stack ]

Why These 12? Why not any of the remaining 89.83%?

CREATED BY STACEY HONG, CALTECH ADVANCEMENT COMMUNICATIONS

MN

PA NE IN MD CO CA MO

AR 50 Calling GA 51 AL All Alumni! LA FL

NOTE THAT NE IS ABOVE AR, AND AL, GA, AND IN ARE STACKED. (3)

(4) (2) HINT Homage to a Rose Bowl hoax, with an air of distinction 2 rays Under a table, the BEDECK OR DECORATE = caption is accurate. ______88 IN 98

89 IN 99 HINT GREETING, HYBRID NAG = ______The key elements for this special alchemy? People: CARNITAS-LIKE, OR BACONY, PLUS N = R ______+ N ______Reunion Weekend Reconnect with fellow Techers and check out ______what’s new on campus. Enjoy house reunions, 91 8 8 5 May 14–17, 2020 the Caltech Fund Cocktail Party, the Half STRONG, DOMESTICATED TAURUSES = becomes ______+ N ______Registration opens March 1. Century Club Luncheon, Seminar Day, and more! ______We’ll also celebrate milestone reunions for 6 13 52 6 1 undergraduate alumni whose class years end in 5 or 0. (3) HINT Complete the sequence below to discover the missing three For more info: Timing is everything. 52 52 53 58 ______105 109 namesakes are continent city country alumni.caltech.edu/reunion HINT Toiling through this thorny task, you’re a real Throoper! Figured out which 12? And why these 12?

TECHER alumni.caltech.edu FOR HINTS, ANSWERS, AND MORE PUZZLES: ALUMNI.CALTECH.EDU/STACK [ Obituaries ] [ From the Archives ]

IN MEMORIAM Recording Electroscope We mourn the loss of the following members of our Caltech alumni family Among other interests, Robert A. Millikan, Caltech cofounder and the Institute’s first Nobel laureate, was ID #: ST-CR-10 captivated by a kind of radiation initially believed to emanate from Earth. When electric charges associated Materials: Steel, quartz, paper 1931 Robert L. Collins (MS ’48) 1955 Harold L. Gier (BS ’60, 1970 with it were detected in the air, this cast doubt on its earthly origins. Millikan helped design a tiny electro- Harry Matison (BS ’31) Kenneth W. Hedberg Edward M. Boughton MS ’61) Fredrick M. Cady Donors: Millikan family (PhD ’48) (BS ’55) Dale R. Simpson (MS ’58, (MS ’70) scope to record charges at extreme altitudes. He had four built in the Caltech physics shop in 1922 and sent Robert S. Stone (BS ’48) John A. Carlson (MS ’52, PhD ’60) Thomas A. Nagylaki 1935 them aloft via balloons. Data from the two that reached the stratosphere suggested that the radiation must Watch for an Archives Jack W. Schwartz PhD ’55) (PhD ’70) exhibit in February to (BS ’35, MS ’36) 1949 George E. Madsen (BS ’55, 1961 Eldon B. Priestley originate in space. Millikan dubbed it “cosmic rays.” The name stuck, although scientists later proved that the celebrate the centenary of Manuel N. Bass (BS ’49, MS ’58) Kirk M. Dawson (BS ’61, (PhD ’70) Caltech’s name. 1939 MS ’51) Richard A. Manley (BS ’55) MS ’62) radiation is made of charged atomic fragments rather than rays. Walter H. Munk (BS ’39, Edward L. Bennett Frederick Martin (BS ’55) Viktor Evtuhov (MS ’57, 1971 MS ’40) (PhD ’49) Rodrigo A. Restrepo PhD ’61) David P. Hill George J. Brown (PhD ’55) Concetto R. Giuliano (PhD ’71) 1940 (BS ’49) Edwin B. Seidman (PhD ’61) Randlow Smith (BS ’40, Richard J. Harer (MS ’49) (BS ’55) 1972 MS ’41) Byron C. Karzas (BS ’49) James P. Wade (BS ’55) 1962 Paul S. Zygielbaum Vincent U. Muirhead Donald E. Welch (BS ’55) Ralph C. Greenough (BS ’72, MS ’73) 1941 (ENG ’49) Gordon W. Whitaker (PhD ’62) John H. Carr (BS ’41, Richard L. Patterson (MS ’55) Gidali Gutner (MS ’62) 1973 MS ’43) (BS ’49) Maurice L. Whitaker Elisha R. Huggins (PhD ’62) Arnold J. Sierk Robert L. Noland (BS ’41) William C. Taylor (BS ’49) (EX ’55) G. Thomas Sallee (BS ’62) (PhD ’73) Ralph W. Spitzer (PhD ’41) Wilton W. Webster Jr. Jack J. Stiffler (MS ’57, William N. Sullivan (BS ’49) 1956 PhD ’62) (MS ’69, PhD ’73) 1943 Thomas H. Bergeman Robert M. Bragg (BS ’43) 1950 (BS ’56) 1963 1974 James H. Leonard Fernando J. Corbato Arthur H. Blair (MS ’56) Sigmund J. Hoverson Joseph F. Karnicky (MS ’43) (BS ’50) Hugh Dubb (BS ’56) (BS ’63) (PhD ’74) Arthur O. McCoubrey David B. MacKenzie Robert G. Ghirardelli Fernando Mexia-Algar (BS ’43) (BS ’50) (PhD ’56) (MS ’63) 1976 52 Roland Smoot (BS ’50) Arne Kalm (BS ’56, Donald G. Swanson Theodore D. Tarbell 53 1944 Howell N. Tyson Jr. MS ’57) (MS ’61, PhD ’63) (PhD ’76) Robert C. Bogert (MS ’44) (BS ’50) Jack L. Kerrebrock Harris E. Ulery (PhD ’63) William H. Bond (BS ’44) (PhD ’56) 1979 D. T. Greenwood (BS ’44, 1951 Francis J. Petracek 1964 Jose A. Rial (PhD ’79) MS ’48, PhD ’51) James Q. Denton (BS ’51) (MS ’51, PhD ’56) Donald W. Davies (BS ’64) Richard A. Searfoss (MS ’79) Richard E. Kuhns (BS ’44) Marshall L. Klarfeld Joseph K. Swindt II Augustine H. Gray Jr. Bruno H. Pilorz (BS ’44) (BS ’51) (BS ’56) (PhD ’64) 1980 William M. Whitney Robert J. McEliece (BS ’64, Janet A. Rice (BS ’80) 1945 (BS ’51) 1957 PhD ’67) Kenneth R. Burrell Jr. Steve Andreas (BS ’57) 1983 (BS ’45) 1952 Howard W. Bloomberg 1965 Jay W. Ellison (MS ’80, Paul R. Gardner Jr. Stanley Groner (BS ’52) (BS ’57) Roger L. Peterson PhD ’83) (BS ’45) William W. Irwin Peter P. Gaspar (BS ’57) (PhD ’65) Clive T. Jackson (BS ’45) (BS ’52) Gerald Klaz (BS ’57) Donald H. Webb (PhD ’65) 1985 Marshall E. McElhannon Charles L. Primbs (BS ’52) Allan M. Goldberg Stanley D. Kuo (BS ’85) (BS ’45) (BS ’57, MS ’58) 1966 Kaveh Taleghani Donald W. Sinclair 1953 Ronald S. Douglass (BS ’85) (BS ’45) Moshe Arens (MS ’53) 1958 (BS ’66, MS ’67) Payson S. Tseu (MS ’45) R. Keith Bardin (BS ’53, Stuart Goff (BS ’58, William G. Herkstroeter 1986 PhD ’61) MS ’59) (PhD ’66) Michael D. Crawford 1946 R. Dysart CoNine George N. Oetzel (BS ’58) Edward H. Perry (BS ’66, (EX ’86) John A. Anderson (BS ’46) (BS ’53, MS ’54) Richard L. Van Kirk MS ’67, PhD ’70) James M. Bowie Richard W. Flygare (BS ’58) 1987 (MS ’46, ENG ’47) (MS ’53, ENG ’55) 1967 Richard C. Compton Robert J. Mackin Jr. (MS ’51, 1959 Zachary Martin (BS ’67) (PhD ’87) 1947 PhD ’53) Luis Baez-Duarte (BS ’59, Earl D. Reiland Sr. (BS ’67) L. Edward Klein (MS ’47) Robert H. Wood PhD ’65) Dorothy Y. Tuan Lo (PhD ’67) 1996 John L. Mason (BS ’47, (BS ’53) Paul P. Craig (PhD ’59) John M. Montgomery MS ’48, PhD ’50) Michael T. Gray (BS ’59) 1968 (PhD ’96) Arthur B. Pardee 1954 Eldridge M. Moores William A. Stinger (MS ’43, PhD ’47) William E. Dibble (BS ’54, (BS ’59) (MS ’68) 1999 Eugene S. Rose (BS ’47, PhD ’60) Tanya S. Schlusser MS ’48) Laverne G. Eklund 1960 1969 (BS ’99) DO YOU KNOW MORE Joe Rosener Jr. (BS ’47) (MS ’54) Thomas E. Bowman Gary N. Billerbeck about this specific instrument, Arthur F. Vieweg (BS ’47) S. R. R. Valluri (MS ’50, (BS ’60, MS ’61) (BS ’69) or did you use one like it while 2017 you were at Caltech? Tell PhD ’54) Lowell E. Clark (BS ’60) James E. Leininger (BS ’69) Chance C. Crompton us at techer.caltech.edu/ 1948 K. Norman Easley (MS ’17) from-the-archives. Mihran S. Agbabian (MS ’48) (MS ’60) Caltech Archives Caltech

LISTED FROM SEPTEMBER 2018 TO NOVEMBER 2019 TECHER alumni.caltech.edu SEND ALL ADDRESS CHANGES TO: Caltech Alumni Association MC 1-97 1200 E. California Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91125 PHONE: 626.395.6592 EMAIL: [email protected]

83RD ANNUAL

MAY 16, 2020

Learn the latest from those pushing the boundaries of discovery. Join us for Seminar Day, featuring talks by faculty and researchers from all six divisions and JPL.

» More than 18 different seminars

» Presentation of the Distinguished Alumni Awards For more info: » Tours, open houses, and exhibits alumni.caltech.edu/reunion