FALL 2006
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Innovations: Cutting-edge research from Berkeley Engineering
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New red spot appears on Jupiter
Scientists are now analyzing images of a new storm on Jupiter
they photographed through NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. ME professor Philip
Marcus and astronomy colleague Imke de Pater snapped Red Jr.,
which first appeared in 2000 as a white spot but recently took
on the brick-red hue
of Jupiter’s 300-year-old Great Red Spot, the most powerful storm in the
solar system. Red Jr. was first white, then brown; its new red
color could mean it is intensifying, signaling a global warming
trend on Jupiter that
might have applications for Earth and other planets. Scientists
theorize that the storms stir material high above the planet’s cloud cover,
where solar ultraviolet rays initiate a chemical reaction that
causes the red
appearance.
>read more
A. SIMON-MILLER AND I. DE PATER PHOTO
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| Cheap mass production for RFID tags
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An inexpensive mass production process for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags could make the technology widely affordable. Similar to a barcode, RFID tags are tiny silicon chips placed on an object and encoded to track it electronically. EECS professor and Alien Technology founder J. Stephen Smith developed a process that could cut the per-unit price from 50 cents today to about five cents in just three years. The Department of Defense, Wal-Mart and the Food and Drug Administration plan to use RFIDs to track everything from army boots to counterfeit drugs.
>read more
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| New metamaterial could improve ultrasound
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Using tiny Helmholtz resonators—chambers that vibrate in response to a stimulus, just as the body of a guitar resonates when its strings are plucked—ME professor Xiang Zhang and colleagues have developed an ultrasonic metamaterial to get greater insight into sound waves. Metamaterial research is an emerging field that uses manmade substances to alter the way materials refract light or electromagnetic radiation. The researchers say the ultrasonic technology could be applied to enhance the resolution of ultrasound imaging, a technique widely used in medical diagnosis and treatment to visualize muscles and internal organs.
>read more
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More meaningful maps
Software that renders helpful route maps has been created by EECS professor Maneesh Agrawala, who studies human perception and cognition to make computer software capable of delivering data in truly human-friendly formats. LineDrive creates route maps that, instead of focusing on details like exact scale and irrelevant streets, emphasize turning points along the route. He also developed a system for manufacturers to create assembly instructions for products like furniture and toys that reduce assembly time by 35 percent and cut assembly errors in half.
>read more
IMAGE COURTESY MANEESH AGRAWALA
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| High-end video-conferencing in the works |
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A new video-conferencing system is in development by EECS professor Ruzena Bajcsy and colleague Klara Nahrstedt at the University of Illinois. Tele-immersive Environments for EVErybody, or TEEVE, is an inexpensive but sophisticated distributed multi-tier application that uses off-the-shelf equipment to deliver high-quality full-body images from all angles. The researchers say it is best suited for training in activities such as physical therapy, sports and the performing arts.
>read more
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How to control nanofibers
Using electric fields to make nanofibers, Berkeley researchers are able to deposit them in a direct, continuous and controllable manner. The technique, known as near-field electrospinning, imposes order on the chaotic process of spinning polymers into tiny fibers, which characteristically tangle randomly almost as soon as they are created. The work, by ME professor Liwei Lin and colleagues, offers the possibility of producing specialized materials like wound dressings and bio-scaffolds out of nanofibers.
>read more
RON WILSON PHOTO
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Household air fresheners may be toxic
Common household air fresheners and cleaners emit chemicals that could pose health risks when used regularly or in small indoor spaces, according to a study led by CEE professor William Nazaroff. “We’ve focused a lot of effort in recent decades on controlling the big sources of air pollution,” Nazaroff says. “However, now we’ve learned that we also need to pay attention to pollution sources that are right under our noses.”
>read more
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FOREFRONT takes you into the
labs, classrooms, and lives of professors, students, and alumni
for an intimate look at the innovative research, teaching, and
campus life that define the College of Engineering at the University
of California, Berkeley.
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