News & Events

06-07-23

New research by Caltech's Alireza Marandi, assistant professor of electrical engineering and applied physics, uses optical hardware to realize cellular automata, a type of computer model consisting of a "world" (a gridded area) containing "cells" (each square of the grid) that can live, die, reproduce, and evolve into multicellular creatures with their own unique behaviors. These automata have been used to perform computing tasks and, according to Marandi, they are ideally suited to photonic technologies. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS EE Alireza Marandi Christian Leefmans James Williams Gordon Li

06-06-23

The winners of the 2023 New Horizons Award were announced at the end of this academic year. Claire C. Ralph was recognized for many efforts, often on a volunteer basis, in faculty recruitment, outreach, curriculum design, mentoring, and teaching in CMS and the broader community, with a special focus on community efforts that bring in new members or that support individuals who come from underserved backgrounds. Angela Gao was recognized for efforts to improve the climate on campus through participation and leadership on the EAS and CMS DEI steering committees, organization of the Women in CMS group, and service to the CMS graduate student community. Jacqueline R. Tawney was recognized for sustained and positive impact to GALCIT and the broader aerospace community as a student leader, advocate, and author on topics involving history, ethics, and identity, and on improving equity in qualifying exams. Newton Nguyen was recognized for efforts to improve access to STEM fields for blind and disabled students at Caltech and the broader community and for serving as a role model and advocate for others. Prachi Thureja was recognized for leading Womxn in EAS by connecting women, including students, staff, postdocs, and faculty members, in the Caltech community and providing resources to support professional growth and development.

Tags: APhMS honors GALCIT CMS ESE Claire Ralph Jacqueline Tawney New Horizons Award Angela Gao Newton Nguyen Prachi Thureja

06-02-23

The Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes are awarded annually to PhD candidates selected for the best thesis, publication, or discovery in select fields. Saransh Sharma, advised by Professor Azita Emami, has received the prize in Biotechnology or Related Fields for his research in developing ultra-low power and highly miniaturized medical electronics for in-vivo localization and tracking. Nathaniel Wei, advised by Professor John Dabiri, has received the prize in Environmentally Benign Renewable Energy Sources or Related Fields for his research that explores the ways in which unsteady flows in the atmosphere can be leveraged in wind-energy systems for enhanced performance, robustness, and operational longevity. Rebecca Gallivan, advised by Professor Julia Greer, has received the prize in Nanotechnology or Related Fields. Coupled with the development of novel materials processing, Gallivan's research focuses on uncovering fundamental insight into the relationship between length-scale and microstructural features on nanomechanical phenomena in order to lay the foundation for advanced engineering and complex design of materials in nanotechnologies.

Tags: APhMS EE honors GALCIT MedE MCE John Dabiri Julia Greer Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes Azita Emami Rebecca Gallivan Saransh Sharma Nathan Wei

06-01-23

A space solar power prototype that was launched into orbit in January is operational and has demonstrated its ability to wirelessly transmit power in space and to beam detectable power to Earth for the first time. Wireless power transfer was demonstrated by MAPLE, one of three key technologies being tested by the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1), the first space-borne prototype from Caltech's Space Solar Power Project (SSPP). SSPP aims to harvest solar power in space and transmit it to the Earth's surface. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS EE GALCIT MCE Harry Atwater Ali Hajimiri Sergio Pellegrino

05-03-23

On Wednesday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. PDT in Beckman Auditorium on the Caltech campus, Chiara Daraio, the G. Bradford Jones Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, will continue the 100th anniversary season of the Earnest C. Watson Lecture Series with "Making Wearable Materials Smarter."

Advances in materials science, manufacturing, and computer science have enabled transformative innovations in wearable materials, with designs that can monitor metabolic activity, change stiffness on command, and even interpret our mood. These new materials will allow garments and fashion to bring together the physical and digital worlds. In this lecture, Daraio will show examples of how these materials will help us stay healthy, how they will revolutionize the way we communicate, and how they will adaptively support our everyday needs. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS Chiara Daraio MCE watson lecture

04-27-23

A newly discovered phenomenon dubbed "collectively induced transparency" (CIT) causes groups of atoms to abruptly stop reflecting light at specific frequencies. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS EE Andrei Faraon Riku Fukumori Mi Lei Manuel Endres

04-06-23

Simulating solar flares on a scale the size of a banana, researchers at Caltech have parsed out the process by which these massive explosions blast potentially harmful energetic particles and X-rays into the cosmos. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS research highlights Paul Bellan Yang Zhang

03-22-23

EAS faculty from multiple departments are on project teams that have received an award from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Initiative (MURI) Program. 

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Tags: APhMS honors GALCIT MCE CMS ESE Tapio Schneider Tim Colonius Kaushik Bhattacharya Andrew Stuart Aaron Ames Animashree Anandkumar H. Jane Bae

03-09-23

In the latest advance in nano- and micro-architected materials, engineers at Caltech have developed a new material made from numerous interconnected microscale knots. The knots make the material far tougher than identically structured but unknotted materials: they absorb more energy and are able to deform more while still being able to return to their original shape undamaged. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS research highlights MedE Julia Greer Sammy Shaker Weiting Deng Widianto Moestopo

02-22-23

Nearly a decade ago, researchers heralded the discovery of a new wonder class of ultrathin materials with special optical and electrical properties that made it a potential rival for graphene, a form of carbon discovered in 2004 whose own special properties interest both scientists and engineers. Now, Caltech engineers have shown that one of these wonder materials, tungsten diselenide, is not just a rival to graphene but also a complement to it. [Caltech Story]

Tags: APhMS research highlights Stevan Nadj-Perge Cyprian Lewandowski Alex Thomson Yiran Zhang Robert Polski Jason Alicea Étienne Lantagne Hurtubise