Engineeringnews Uri Suzuki Earned a Ph.D

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COLLEGE OFENGINEERING • UNIVERSITYOFCALIFORNIA, BERKELEY of note OFFICE HOURS < > An interview with MSE professor Yuri Suzuki engineeringNews uri Suzuki earned a Ph.D. in Biggest problem facing engineering Y over the next 50 years: “Reducing applied physics from Stanford in APRIL 23, 2009 VOL. 79, NO. 7S 1995. In 2003, she joined the Berkeley our footprint on the environment. faculty after five years on Cornell Of course, this isn’t just a problem University’s faculty. Her research for engineering, but various engi- focuses on the synthesis and character- neering disciplines can certainly His next thrill ride ization of complex oxide thin films contribute by, for example, building energy efficient systems. I do Rock star professor and nanostructures, magnetism at RACHEL SHAFER PHOTO ME alum twists roller coasters into surfaces and interfaces at the nano- magnetism research, and we’re a satisfying career In March, BioE/ChemE professor Jay Keasling meter-length scale and magnetic HT OREYO I JACOBI TIM OF COURTESY PHOTO was named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 junction and photonic devices PHOTO SHAFER RACHEL im Jacobi Agents of Change.” Keasling was chosen for his for information technologies. T(M.S.’08 ME) work engineering microbes to produce cheap adores hurtling malaria drugs, synthesizing biofuels and advancing Call her: Professor Suzuki through the air, the field of synthetic biology. Other honorees whipping around included Al Gore, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Bill Teaching this spring: MSE hairpin turns and Gates and President Barack Obama. Get all the 117, Properties of Dielectric feeling his stomach details at www.rollingstone.com/news/story/ and Magnetic Materials do loops. The Dec- 26754176/the_rs_100_agents_of_change. Q ember graduate is a Office hours: Tuesday, 2 to roller coaster junkie 3 p.m.; Wednesday, 10:30 who put his gradu- to 11:30 a.m. ate studies on tem- porary hiatus in 2004 to join a small Earliest science experi- AN ENGINEER’S DELIGHT: Roller cadre of mechani- ment: “I entered school coaster engineer Tim Jacobi rec- science fairs, but I don’t ommends the Medusa coaster at cal engineers who really remember them. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in specialize in amuse- I’ve never been the tinker- Vallejo for its bending track and ment park rides. ing type. I enjoy science in a more PASS/NO PASS sophisticated control system. Now employed at theoretical way, for the process.” thrill ride manufac- asking ourselves whether we can GAME ON: Engineers from EECS and BioE face off, part of an turer S&S World- engineeringNews manipulate electrons via their spin wide, Jacobi designs roller coasters. How she got into the field: “I grew Engineering Week basketball tournament that ended with and not so much their charge, so “I always thought coasters were cool,” says up in Berkeley and went to a college mechanical engineers winning the championship. E-Week activi- prep high school, but when I start- that the electrons don’t dissipate as Jacobi, recalling the excitement of his first ride ties such as sports competitions and a wine and cheese party University of California ed college [at Harvard], the math much electricity. And now that I aboard a suspended coaster known as the Hang- persuaded students to suspend coursework for a bit to socialize, Engineering News and physics classes were a rude have kids and think more about man at the now-shuttered Opryland theme park 312 McLaughlin Hall what the planet will be like when meet others and have fun. Berkeley, California 94720-1704 awakening. I wondered, ‘Do I really in Nashville, Tennessee. Phone: 510 642.5857 they are grown, it’s not just a theo- belong here? What should I really Continued on page 2 Fax: 510 643.8882 be?’ I was pretty scared, actually. retical problem. It hits home. We need to do better to make our [email protected] But I kept at it. My dad is a physics professor here at Berkeley, and I impact sustainable.” avoided physics initially because of my dad. Now, some of his col- In her spare time: “I spend time POP with my kids. We like to take walks www.coe.berkeley.edu/news-center/ leagues are my colleagues, too.” publications/engineering-news or go hiking. I used to play the vio- lin, and I’d like to take it up again. Published biweekly on Thursdays during the academic year by Has a weakness for: “Sweets. And QUIZ the Engineering Marketing and Communications Office, College my kids. If they want to play with Maybe in 10 years.” of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Copy deadline me, I’m easily distracted.” is 4:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding publication. Best thing about her job: “I get to Rachel Shafer If she could teach any course: “It help undergraduates learn how to managing editor and writer Brian Yeh, would be on the materials science think and help graduate students Geoff Theiss, Jacob Neal, Tara Srinivasan, IEOR junior Megan Mansell Williams of gourmet cooking. What are you become scientists. Once you’re out ChemE senior Eng.Sci. junior BioE sophomore reporter What’s “Main lecture room at the “If it’s just me with “For GSI-held review ses- “101 O’Brien. The room doing to food when you cook it? in the real world, it’s not as much the best place Goldman School of Public friends, Dwinelle. You can sions, 105 Stanley is a nice is not so good, but they S. Shankar Sastry And what about those different about knowing the material as it is Policy. The chairs swivel have your own space with big lecture hall with a pro- have this guy there named dean pots and pans… is All-Clad worth about being able to think and go to hold a review through an analytical process.” Q nicely, and there’s a slope your own chalkboard, and jector screen and board Jeff Strahl who holds the Karen Rhodes the money? Of course, it would be a session? to the room so you don’t they always have rooms space. People can come best math review sessions. executive director, marketing and communications demonstration class, and we’d eat have to worry about seeing available.” and go easily.” He’s the bomb.” lunch. I’m not a terribly good cook, over people.” but a class like that would be fun.” 4 engineeringNews APRIL 23, 2009 Issue 7S April 23.qxp 4/21/2009 10:10 AM Page 3 Issue 7S April 23.qxp 4/21/2009 10:10 AM Page 4

His next thrill ride Get the complete College calendar at Continued from page 1 announcements www.coe.berkeley.edu/events. Since joining S&S, Jacobi has worked on < > more than a dozen big projects, including swing rides — attractions with gigantic pen- Nano conference Commencement. Good luck on finals, and have a wonderful sum- dulum arms that soar back and forth. One of mer break! Send feedback and suggestions to the editor anytime at the biggest is the Skyhawk, a ride in Ohio’s [email protected]. Cedar Point amusement park that sends rid- You’re invited to attend the Berkeley Nanotechnology Forum 2009 ers flying 125 feet in the air. on SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Haas School of For Jacobi, creating roller coasters means Business. The forum will feature speakers on molecular engineer- grappling with such factors as fluids, dynam- ing, renewable energy, nanoelectronics, health care and the busi- Feed the Bears! ics, machine design and stress analysis. ness and public policy of nanotechnology. See details and register “There are good coasters and bad coasters,” to attend at www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~nano. Are you in need of a Finals Week study break? Then stop by the he says. “It’s not easy to design a good ride.” Berkeley Engineering Alumni Relations (BEAR) “Feed the Bears” His latest — and perhaps most spine- table on FRIDAY, MAY 15, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., outside Kresge tingling — assignment involves devising the Spring dance Library at the Bechtel Engineering Center. Grab a free snack and launch system for what is expected to be the drink! We’ll see you there. world’s fastest pneumatically launched roller All engineering undergraduates are invited to the first annual coaster. The ride, set to debut in Germany “Spring Fling” dance on FRIDAY, MAY 1, in the Betty and Gordon this summer, will propel passengers from Moore Lobby of Hearst Memorial Mining Building. The casual Career Center on northside AHLSAE PHOTOS SHAFER RACHEL zero to 135 mph in less than three seconds. dance, organized by undergrads, will run from 8 p.m. to midnight While creating such excitement is an obvi- and feature the DJ talents of CEE student James Jackson. Tickets All engineering majors are invited to meet with a Career Center ous goal, Jacobi considers safety a priority. are $5. Contact Kris at [email protected] for details. counselor for drop-in hours EVERY TUESDAY, 3 to 5 p.m., in the Rides must have an inherently sound design, ASCE student office, located on the third floor of Davis Hall (main he says, and include redundant safety fea- entrance). Before the semester ends, stop by and ask questions tures or safety factors requiring structural A send-off for seniors about resume building, interview skills, job or internship possibil- elements that are many times stronger than ities, careers in engineering and Career Center resources. career.berkeley.edu needed for the loads they carry. “On real Congratulations to the class of 2009! You are graduates of the critical areas, where people’s lives are dep- greatest public university in the country and one of the finest ending on it, you overdesign for it,” he says. engineering colleges in the world. The College of Engineering “We’re morally responsible to be safe.” invites you to a festive celebration on MONDAY, MAY 11, 5 to 6:30 Spend the summer in Germany Jacobi’s engineering path has taken its p.m., in the Betty and Gordon Moore Lobby of Hearst Memorial own share of twists and turns. As a Yale Mining Building. Reserve your space by e-mailing Dawn Kramer at Have summer plans yet? Spice up your resume with a research undergraduate, he weighed several career [email protected]. We wish you much success and happiness and internship at Hamburg University of Technology, a prominent options before turning to mechanical engi- welcome you to the alumni community! research university in Germany. You will be working one to two neering. He graduated in 2000 and spent a months with a team of highly motivated young scientists at the year doing engineering analysis for Institute of Mechanics and Ocean Engineering. We will provide Zamperla, a ride manufacturer in Vicenza, you with all the support you need, including an attractive grant of Italy. Returning to the United States as the Last Engineering News $500/month that makes up for most of the extra costs of staying amusement industry tanked following the abroad. Put your knowledge into practice doing research, and at This is the last regular issue of Engineering News for the 2008–2009 September 11 terrorist attacks, Jacobi signed the same time stay in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. academic year. Look for our special Commencement issue on on as a maintenance worker at Playland Park Interested? Contact [email protected] or [email protected]. FAST TIMES FOR TEAM THURSDAY, MAY 14, in the blue newsstands and of course at in Rye, N.Y. By the fall of 2003, he decided it was time for more schooling and headed to FORMULA SAE Cal, where he studied mechanical design with ME professor Alice Agogino. IN THE SHOP: Cal’s formula-style race car “Below the Mean” is When his dream job opened at S&S, “I team is preparing for the Formula SAE created by BioE alum decided to jump on it,” he says, and later West competition in June, where college Charles Yong (B.S.’07). found the time to write his thesis and com- teams race and exhibit the small-scale cars plete one remaining class for his degree. they’ve designed and built. Above, from “It was clear that his passion was roller left, ME junior Raechel Tan, ME junior Jaya coaster engineering, and we figured out a Iyer and ME graduate student Joe Silber in way to make that dream happen,” says Agogino of her first-ever student specializing the team’s shop at Richmond Field Station. in roller coasters. Q Members experimented with a new chassis this year, eschewing a standard steel tube frame for a carbon-fiber monocoque, a one-piece “skin” that adds sophistication, subtracts weight and —Written by Abby Cohn and first published in makes it easier to assemble the car. Above right, Iyer has been on the team since Innovations January 2009. her freshman year. fsae.berkeley.edu

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