It takes two to tango STRICTLY BALLROOM: EECS juniors Donny Winston and Amanda Liu learn to tango at a class on March 3. The two were part of a group from several student societies -the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers, Eta Kappa Nu (the electrical engineering honor society), Society of Women Engineers, and the Association of Undergraduate Women in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering -who went to the class as a fun social get-together. As the music played, shyness and awkwardness gave way to confident pairs dancing the night away. Warning for the ladies: This is one class where you have to let the gents lead. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

Hispanic Engineers and Scientists team wins second place for "Sleeping Bag Roller" design

Rolling a sleeping bag is a pain. It bunches. It comes undone. It doesn't fit in a stuff sack because the roll is too big. A team from the Berkeley chapter of Hispanic Engineers & Scientists (HES) agreed. What was needed, the team thought, was a device to make rolling the bag easier. And so began an idea that would nab them second place in the student product design contest at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers' National Technical and Career Conference this past January in Dallas.

"We went through thousands of ideas before we landed on this one," says Loucynda Escobar, an ME senior. "This is very simple, but that's the beauty of it. Keep it simple."

The team began working on the project last September. They first interviewed...[FULL STORY]

MSE Ph.D. student finds a knack for photographing the outdoors

Mike Scarpulla, a fourth-year MSE Ph.D. student, gets out of the lab -- way out. He climbs rock, scales ice and summits mountains, often in the Sierras and often with CHAOS, the Cal Hiking and Outdoor Society. When he's out, he photographs what he encounters. Two of his pictures are now on display at Brewed Awakening as part of a CHAOS photography exhibit that Scarpulla organized. The exhibit runs now through the end of April.

"I have an artistic side, but I'm really bad at drawing," he says. "Instead, I like taking pictures when I'm out doing outdoor stuff. As a photographer, I'd call myself an interested amateur."

His photographs, which were exhibited...[FULL STORY]

Cory Hall's 1975 Moore Room gets a twenty-first century makeover

In the retro-seventies Moore Room, 2005 has arrived. Since mid-fall semester, officers of the Cal chapter of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) have been renovating the hangout spot, which is located in the Cory Hall courtyard and managed by IEEE. While it's not the dramatic transformation of TV makeovers, EE students should be pleased with the changes.

The old carpet has been replaced with a new carpet that doesn't smell of mildew. Swanky black leather couches and chairs invite students to lounge in style. New (used) tables and chairs are perfect for working on laptops, eating pizza, or playing poker. Still on their way, says EECS senior and IEEE external liaison officer Linus Liang, are a new sound system, TV, computers, a ping-pong table --hold your breath...[FULL STORY]

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