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In a galaxy
far, far away . . .
STARRY SKY: White
foam balls float on transparent line above the lobby in Hearst
Memorial Mining Building. No, it’s not the 2 a.m. prank
of Red Bull-fueled undergrads, but an official art installation
by the university’s artist-in-residence, J. Ignacio Diaz
de Rabago. The creation is entitled “Round Room.”
MSE staffer Judith Foster works in Hearst. “It’s
quite an experience to walk around the lobby and look at it
from different angles, as well as seeing it from the different
landings on the floors above,” she told Engineering News.
“Everyone thinks of planetary constellations when they
see it.” (Photo Credit: Steve McConnell Photo)
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In a classroom on the lower level of Bechtel Engineering Center, 11-
and 12-year-olds are trying to get their cars to work. Their assignment
is to design and build a toy robot car powered by a solar cell. It’s
a big task, and the teams don’t get much handholding. “You’ve
got to do black to black and red to red!” one boy instructs another.
“I told you we had the wires backward. I told you so.”
It’s summer, the time K-12 students give their brains a rest,
but these students are attending the College of Engineering’s
TEAMS (Teaching Engineering Applying Math Science) Academy, a six-week
summer enrichment program conducted jointly by Pre-Engineering Partnerships
and the Professional Development Program. TEAMS targets underserved
minority seventh through twelfth graders from local schools. [FULL STORY]
This summer, BioE senior Angela Wu rubbed elbows with a bunch of poets,
though not the literary kind. Wu was an undergraduate researcher in
BioPOETS, also known as the Biomolecular Polymer OptoElectronic Techno-logy
and Science group, led by BioE associate professor Luke Lee. For 10
weeks, Wu tested and performed data analysis on a microfabricated device
for single cell-level studies. The micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS) device is essentially a lab-on-a-chip, and about the size of
a Scrabble tile. In this particular project, the goal of the device
is to screen for drugs at a high rate by measuring currents and voltages
in cell behavior.
Wu conducted experiments on the device by adding different drugs and
testing the device’s ability to characterize them. “What
I’m doing is essentially applying drugs to see how they might
affect the cells in our bodies,” she explains. “MEMS is
a pretty new field and I like the novelty of it. It’s a great
way to learn things.” For Wu, that’s been about learning
a technique called patch-clamping and how to use the lab equipment.
Gaining new knowledge and skills is the idea of Berkeley’s Summer
Bioengineering Research Program, sponsored by the BioE department and
the Guidant Foundation. This past summer, Wu and 21 other undergraduates
participated in the program. They conducted full-time research, and
earned a $3,200 stipend and the chance to add the experience to their
resume. [FULL STORY]
In the spring of 2003, ME student John Makar found himself choking
in a gas chamber. He was breathing chlorobenzylidene malonitrile, or
crystal saline gas, commonly used as a riot control agent. It filled
his lungs and burned his skin. After following the drill sergeant’s
instructions and clamping on his gas mask, Makar was finally allowed
to stumble out into the fresh air at Fort Knox, Kentucky. “It
was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had,” the senior
says. “But it’s meant to show you that your protective mask
works.”
In the military, like engineering, sometimes you have to apply a theory
to understand it. That spring, Makar was on leave from Berkeley Engineering
to do his basic training as an enlisted Army recruit.
“I was broke and I needed the money,” he says. Makar, who
wasn’t interested in the military when he arrived as a freshman,
joined up. Despite difficult moments like the gas chamber, he now enjoys
it, so much so that he moved from enlistment to officer training and
is now a graduate of Cal’s Army ROTC program. In December, after
he finishes at Berkeley, he’ll serve four years, he says, and
maybe make the Army a career. As an engineer, Makar says, “most
probably I’m going to Iraq.” [FULL STORY]
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