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He Y, Si N Se I S Co O Li O
ELEMENTAL:
At left is the world’s first printed version of the periodic table, which
was acquired by the Bancroft Library in 2001. Pay your respects to this mother-of-all
contributions to modern science at the Berkeley Art Museum’s exhibit, The
Bancroft Library at 100: a Celebration 1906-2006. Here’s a little refresher:
The periodic table was developed by Russian chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev
between 1869 and 1871. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “Mendeleyev
left gaps in places where he believed unknown elements would find their place.
He even predicted the likely properties of three of the potential elements. The
subsequent proof of many of his predictions within his lifetime brought fame
to Mendeleyev as the founder of the periodic law.” (Courtesy the Bancroft
Library)
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Last fall, EECS junior John Torous was studying in the office of Cal’s
chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
This being IEEE, one wall was filled with electronic devices and parts.
Torous, being an electrical engineer, found the wall more interesting
than his math-based homework. “I took a study break and started
fiddling with things. I ended up making circuits so I could see random
lights flash,” he says, smiling. “It was more fun and hands-on
than my homework. I realized if I was having fun, others might have
fun, too.”
Torous, an industrial relations officer in IEEE, convinced his fellow
officers to facilitate a DeCal (Democratic Education at Cal) class.
An EE introduction for engineers and non-engineers alike, it would
meld theory and math with building circuits. They approached EECS professor
Edward Lee, who helped them brainstorm a curriculum that would cover
the basic tenets: voltage, currents, resistance, inductance, capacitance,
and transistors.
In January, a full roster showed up to the first class
of EE 98/198, dubbed IEEE’s Hands-On Electronics. [FULL STORY]
Imagine if the milk in your refrigerator could sniff itself, changing the
color of the carton if its contents were spoiled. EECS graduate student Josephine
Chang is building just such an “electronic nose.” Fabricated with
a modified inkjet printer that squirts organic electronic inks, the e-nose
could potentially beat the sensitivity of today’s commercial gas analyzers
at the cost of tens rather than tens of thousands of dollars.
“Right now, electronic noses are so expensive they’re mainly
used by the military or sometimes in industry,” Chang says. “But
if we can significantly lower the cost, they could be everywhere, inside toasters,
medicine cabinets, possibly even food packaging.”
Chang is a graduate student in the research group of EECS associate
professor Vivek Subramanian. Subramanian and his students are pioneers
in organic
electronics, a form of electronics that uses conductive polymers, or
plastics, in lieu
of inorganic materials such as the copper or silicon found in traditional
circuits. Previously, the researchers have demonstrated an inkjet printer
and family of electronic inks that can pattern circuits onto paper,
plastic or cloth without damaging the material. [FULL STORY]
Three years ago, BioE Ph.D. student Nicolas Fawzi met history Ph.D.
student Tom Burnett when they were both looking for a place to live.
They ended up as housemates, together with two other first-year graduate
students. None of the four shared the same field and their academic
and personal differences were rich ground for social and philosophical
discussions. “There were four of us living in this house, and
we realized we had something special,” says Fawzi. “All
my engineering colleagues were like, ‘Wow, you know people outside
of engineering?!!’ We wanted to make that available to the rest
of campus. So our house became the seed for the club.”
The club is Fiat Lux, a 60-member Berkeley student group dedicated
to enlightenment, now in its fourth year. “We’re not just
about personal enlightenment or finding ways to feel good about ourselves,” explains
Burnett. “We’re more about asking important questions together,
learning new things from each other, and maybe changing the world in
a small way.”
Although it sounds like a scholarly group dedicated to intellectual
exercise, the club is lively and social, bringing together students
from all over campus — undergrads and grads, majors and backgrounds
of all kinds — to discuss issues, and in so doing, find friendship.
Twice a month, the club has dinner at a cafe to examine a predetermined
topic; recently, that topic was understanding human fears. [FULL STORY]
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