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October 6, 2006 Vol. 77,
no. 8F
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CLAIRE
TOMLIN
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EECS professor wins prestigious MacArthur award, first for the College
What would you do with $500,000? That’s the pleasant
dilemma facing EECS associate professor Claire Tomlin (Ph.D.’98
EECS), who recently won a 2006 MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship.
Tomlin was one of 25 recipients chosen for their creativity, originality
and potential to make important future contributions. Fellows receive
a $500,000 “no strings attached” grant over the next five
years.
“
It was really out of the blue,” Tomlin told the San Francisco
Chronicle about the surprise phone call. “I was sort of shaking
on the phone.”
Fellows don’t apply for the award but are nominated and chosen
in a secret process. “Our call offers the new fellows the gift
of time and an unfettered opportunity to reflect, explore and create,” says
MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton.
Tomlin, who also holds a faculty appointment in Stanford’s Department
of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is the 40th researcher at Berkeley
to receive the award since the fellowships were first given out in
1981. She is the first from the College of Engineering.
Tomlin’s work focuses on aeronautical applications of hybrid
systems research, particularly aircraft flight control and air traffic
conflict resolution. She has developed algorithms to help determine
when interactions become increasingly complex and unsafe conditions
may arise as variables. Her research on autonomous control of unmanned
aerial vehicle teams holds potential applications in fields ranging
from military operations to business strategies to power grid control.
More recently, Tomlin has expanded her research on control theory to
the differentiation and development of biological tissues. She’s
thinking of using some of her award to further her knowledge in the
biological sciences. “I’m thinking about a sabbatical,” she
told the Chronicle. “I might immerse myself in medical school.”
For more information on Tomlin’s research, go to www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/tomlin.
—
Sarah Yang, UC Berkeley Public Affairs, contributed to this report
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