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NEWS FROM THE UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING March 2008
Singh Elected to National Academy of Engineering
P aul Singh’s research career has been
devoted to something we often take
for granted—until it’s gone, of course.
Food. “Really a very complex material,”
Singh says. The National Academy of
Engineering recognized the impact of
Singh’s research about this fundamental
part of life by honoring him with one of
the highest distinctions for engineers in
the United States. Singh is the first food
engineer to be elected to the National
Academy.
A member of the UC Davis faculty
since 1975 in the department of bio-
logical and agricultural engineering,
the distinguished professor has made
discoveries in energy conservation,
post-harvest technology, freezing pres-
ervation and mass transfer in food pro-
cessing. Singh’s laboratory is currently
DEAN’S MESSAGE
E ngineers, by their very nature,
believe in the future.
But the challenges ahead are dif-
ficult. Among them complex health
issues; a worldwide information
network that is both promising and
vulnerable; and a global community
that urgently needs renewable, clean
energy and efficient transportation.
The UC Davis College of
Engineering is striving to meet these
and other challenges with technical
solutions that will serve California, the
nation and the world.
For more news and information about UC Davis Engineering: http://engineering.ucdavis.edu
working on the design and develop-
ment of food processing equipment for
NASA’s manned mission to Mars, which
could allow crew members to safely and
efficiently grow and process their own
food. Research findings will have ap-
plication to life on Earth, as well, Singh
says.
Singh’s textbook, Introduction to Food
Engineering, is in its 4th edition, has
been translated into four languages and
is used around the world. He consid-
ers teaching to be his greatest career
contribution. “This is the compounded
contribution that universities make to
society,” Singh says. “We educate stu-
dents through our research and teach-
ing and they go on to make their own R. Paul Singh is recognized for his work
contributions for 50 or 60 years. This is in food engineering, with applications
why we are here.” ranging from food processing to space
exploration.
Through
international
educational
IN THIS ISSUE
collaboration, page 3
through partnership with industry to Alumni Honored
bring technology more quickly to the
marketplace, through cutting-edge
research and excellent teaching, and page 5
with the engagement and generosity of Technology Transfer to
alumni and friends, we are addressing Marketplace
these socially significant needs.
Together we are making a difference— page 6
today and for the future. Distinguished Alumni Medal
Nomination Packets due
– Enrique J. Lavernia, Dean, April 11
UC Davis College of Engineering
 Building Bridges with Middle East
Professor Emeritus Dick Walters
D ick Walters, professor emeritus
in computer science, has been
appointed by College of Engineering
dean Enrique Lavernia to help UC Davis
develop collaborative agreements in
computer science, medicine and distance
NSF CAREER Awards Support Promising
Young Teacher/Scholars
N ael El-Farra and Yayoi Takamura,
both assistant professors in the
Department of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science, have received
National Science Foundation (NSF)
CAREER Awards.
The pres-
tigious
five-year
NSF award
supports
the early
career
Asst. Professor Yayoi Takamura
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learning with educational institutions in
the Middle East.
The appointment, at the request
of Bob Kerr, Assistant Vice Provost of
International Alumni and Development,
will support the revitalization of his-
toric academic ties between UC Davis
and Egypt. UC Davis Chancellor Larry
Vanderhoef launched the new collabora-
tion model with a visit to Egypt in 2007.
Walters has more than 40 years of expe-
rience in computer science, medicine, and
distance learning with four academic units
of the university – the School of Medicine,
the College of Engineering and the College
of Letters & Science, as well as the School
of Education. He also has a rich interna-
tional history, both personally and profes-
sionally. “My commitment to promoting
international cooperation and to promot-
ing ties between UC Davis and the Middle
East is very strong,” Walters says.
development activities of
teacher/scholars who effec-
tively integrate research and
education, and serves as an
important indicator of the
quality and future promise
of young faculty.
Takamura and
her students will
study the growth
and characterization
of nanometer scale
Asst. Professor Nael El-Farra
oxide films grown by
a laser-assisted deposi-
tion technique. In particular, they will
investigate the unusual magnetic and
electronic properties that occur at the
interfaces between two dissimilar lay-
ers. Takamura’s research could lead to
improvements in the miniaturization,
Professor Daniel Sperling
A Piece of the Nobel
“I never dreamed I would ever be able
to claim a tiny piece of the Nobel,” says
Daniel Sperling, professor of civil and
environmental engineering and direc-
tor of the Institute of Transportation
Studies, who contributed to the recent
lauded report by the United Nations’
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC). The Nobel Peace Prize
was awarded to the IPCC and former
Vice President Al Gore on Dec. 10, 2007.
“The Peace Prize is a great honor for all
of us who have worked for years to study
the link between transportation and
climate change,” Sperling says.
storage capacity, speed, and energy
efficiency of information storage
devices, sensors and fuel cells.
El-Farra’s group will focus on
wireless sensors and actuators
to control industrial chemical
processes. Control systems
in chemical plants cur-
rently rely on hard-wired
networks. Augmenting
these systems with wire-
less networks promises to
expand the capabilities of
process control technol-
ogy through high-density sensing and ac-
tuation in plant environments. El-Farra’s
research aims to overcome the existing
technical obstacles of designing fully
effective and affordable wireless process
control systems.
Picnic Day 2008
Y ou’re invited to visit the College of
Engineering on Picnic Day, Saturday,
April 19th!
Picnic Day is packed with fun activi-
ties and exhibits, including crowd-pleas-
ing engineering student demonstrations
ranging from the laser maze to liquid
nitrogen ice cream. Watch for the engi-
neering float in the parade, and stop by
the front steps of Bainer Hall where the
Steel Bridge team will demonstrate their
latest competition entry.
From 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,
engineering students at the welcome
station in the Kemper Hall lobby will
offer free refreshments, information
about the day’s activities and the College,
special gifts for alumni, and the chance
to enter a drawing.
Prospective students and their families
are also encouraged to visit the College
of Engineering Dean’s Tent near Freeborn
Hall along the parade route, where Dean
Enrique Lavernia, associate deans, staff
advisors and student peer advisors will
be present to answer questions.
For more information about Picnic
Day activities, go to http://picnicday.
ucdavis.edu/.
Alumni Honored for Service
and Innovation
E ngineering alumni Mahmoud Abu-
Zeid, minister of public works and
water resources for Egypt, and software
executive Timothy Bucher were among
six UC Davis alumni honored with
Cal Aggie Alumni Association (CAAA)
awards at a ceremony on January 26,
2008.
Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, M.S.’60, Ph.D.
’62, received the CAAA’s Emil M. Mrak
International Award for his distinguished
career and service outside the United
States. In addition to his ministry post in
the Egyptian government, Abu-Zeid is a
founding member and president of the
Tim Bucher ’86
World Water Council and has consulted
for the World Bank, Software executive Tim Bucher ’86
the World Health was awarded the Cal Aggie Outstanding
Organization, the Alumnus Award for displaying
United States outstanding achievement, promot-
Agency for ing innovative change, and making
International professional contributions to the
Development, community and UC Davis. Bucher has
and numer- helped develop such innovative con-
ous other sumer products as the iMac, Mac mini,
organizations. the iPod, WebTV and more. Bucher’s
Mountain View, California startup
company, Zing Systems, recently
purchased by Dell, developed
wireless technology that connects
consumers to their favorite music
and entertainment systems.

Mahmoud Abu-Zied, M.S. ’60, Ph.D. ’62

Undergrad Researchers Claim Statewide Merit

The American Institute of Chemical

Engineers (AIChE) student chapter dem-
onstrates the creation of liquid nitrogen
ice cream to local middle school stu-
dents as a part of the Engineering Joint
Council’s National Engineering Week
events on Feb. 20–23, 2008.
T hree UC Davis undergraduate re-
searchers received “Special Merit in
Research” awards at the 2008 Statewide
Symposium for CAMP (California
Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority
Participation in Mathematics, Science
and Engineering) on February 22-23,
2008 at UC Irvine. The Symposium
annually recognizes minority student
research for originality, depth of un-
derstanding, and likelihood of spark-
ing further research. Graciela Cruz
was honored for her oral presenta-
tion (Physical Sciences/Engineering/
Computer Science), while Debi Thomas
and Alexandra Arreola received awards
for their poster presentations (Biological
Sciences/Life Sciences).

For more news and information about UC Davis Engineering: http://engineering.ucdavis.edu

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 Support for the College of Engineering Mission

T he College of Engineering’s mission is to teach, perform research and serve society.

The human and financial investment required to accomplish that mission is consid-
erable. While the base of the College’s budget comes from state allocation, an important
mainstay is the generosity of corporations, alumni and friends for whom a thriving
College of Engineering is a philanthropic priority. Here are some of their stories:

Child Family Tradition of Giving outstanding faculty members within the

Two new endowed professorships
have been added to the roster of signifi-
cant gifts from brothers Mike Child ’76
and Jeff Child ’82 and their wives. The
inaugural holders of each professorship
will be announced later this year.
Mike and Reneé Child endowed
the Child Family Professorship in
Engineering and Entrepreneurship
to honor professors who emphasize
developing technology with value to
society. This is Mike and Reneé’s second
endowed professorship. They started the
tradition of extraordinary family philan-
thropy in 1995 when they first created
the Child Family Professorship to reward
outstanding engineering faculty inter-
ested in “the interrelationship of engi-
neering and entrepreneurship.” Professor
Biswanath Mukherjee of the Department
of Computer Science currently holds this
professorship.
Jeff and Dianne Child’s first endowed
professorship, the Child-Whitaker
Professorship in Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science, will honor the
exceptional qualities of Jeff’s favor-
ite teacher, Professor Emeritus Steve
Whitaker, and continue Jeff and Dianne’s
practice of giving. Initially inspired by
Mike’s example, Jeff and Dianne cre-
ated the Child-Whitaker Fund for
Distinguished Teaching and Scholarship
in 1999 to provide financial resources to
To learn more about how your gift,
of any amount, can benefit the
UC Davis College of Engineering,
contact:
Amy McGuire
Assoc. Director of Development
almcguire@ucdavis.edu
530-752-3960
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Department of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science. It is currently held
by Professor Tonya Kuhl. Jeff and Dianne
also endowed the Child-Whitaker
Scholarship to encourage undergraduate
excellence.
Endowed professorships are support-
ed by gifts that are invested in perpetuity. Professor Kazuo Yamazaki
Each year income from the fund is ex-
pended to support the holder’s academic just Mori Seiki but the manufacturing
activities. The minimum gift to establish industry as a whole.
an endowed professorship at UC Davis is
currently $500,000. Blacutt-Underwood
Professorship
$4.25 Million Gift for Machine Alumnus Brian Underwood, M.S. ’91,
Tool Research and his wife, Carol Blacutt-Underwood,
The Mori Seiki Company, one of the have established the Blacutt-Underwood
world’s largest manufacturers of ma- Professorship to support research and
chine tools, will donate $4.25 million teaching in materials science.
during the next five years to support Underwood has helped found and
Professor Kazuo Yamazaki’s research grow a number of successful ven-
in the Department of Mechanical and tures. Most recently he advised Jigsaw
Aeronautical Engineering. Technologies, a productivity-optimi-
The gift will support Yamazaki’s work zation software company for the min-
on machine tools controlled by comput- ing industry, acquired by Leica out of
ers. But while Yamazaki’s laboratory is Switzerland. Blacutt-Underwood holds
developing sophisticated, applied tech- law degrees from the Universidad Mayor
nology, his real goal is to develop human de San Andres in Bolivia and Santa Clara
resources, he says. University, and she has worked as a cor-
“The aim of our lab is to develop top- porate attorney for Informix.
notch engineers, not just academics, and
we must work closely with industry to
do that,” Yamazaki said. Industry needs
students who have experience in all
areas of machine tool technology, from
mechanics to software design, and who
understand how these machines are used
in practice, he says.
Adam Hansel ’00, president of Mori
Seiki’s subsidiary DTL Corp. in West
Sacramento, says supporting such fun-
damental research enables the company
to secure a supply of enthusiastic and Brian Underwood, M.S. ’91, and wife
well-trained engineers, benefiting not Carol Blacutt-Underwood
Transferring Research to the Marketplace
By some estimates, electricity used to
The University of California has a long history of working with industry to bring cool data centers accounts for nearly half
research to the marketplace. UC Davis InnovationAccess, as part of the University’s of the power such facilities consume.
Office of Research, plays an active role in this mission—focusing particularly on The facilities themselves gobbled up 1.5
protecting and commercializing intellectual property and fostering entrepreneur- percent of all electricity consumed in the
ship within the campus community. Recently there has been a notable increase in the nation in 2006, a percentage expected to
number of startup companies emerging from campus research and technologies, with double in the next five years. SynapSense
nearly 20 new companies founded since 2005. Through InnovationAccess, engineer- projects that its technology could cut a
ing faculty have accelerated the transfer of technology to the marketplace, as the data center’s cooling costs by 30 percent.
following stories illustrate.
Electromagnetic Goes High-Tech
For more than a century, hundreds
of millions of components that isolate
A New Frontier in Plug-in Solar Technology
and shape signals were made by wind-
Hybrid Technologies Performance Advantage
ing wire by hand around a circular piece
Pioneering inventions in plug-in Q1 NanoSystems of West Sacramento of magnetic material. PlanarMag Inc.,
hybrid vehicle technology and transmis- is creating higher performing, lower-cost a new startup company in Sacramento,
sion systems developed at UC Davis have solar technology. Their exclusive licens- is developing higher performance, flat
been licensed to Efficient Drivetrains ing agreement with UC Davis covers de- electromagnetic components that can
Inc. (EDI) of Palo Alto. The technology velopments that allow the manufacturing be produced at lower cost with more
draws on more than 30 years of work by of extremely thin and very small wires, advanced manufacturing technologies.
Andy Frank, professor of mechanical and films and other structures with a precise PlanarMag grew out of talent at UC
aeronautical engineering, and EDI was chemical makeup. Davis and local electronics companies.
founded in 2006 specifically to com- Inventions for the company were Anh-Vu Pham, associate professor of
mercialize his technology. The company generated by Pieter Stroeve, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is
plans to partner with auto designers and chemical engineering and materials sci- the company’s part-time chief technology
manufacturers so they can rapidly intro- ence, along with postdoctoral researcher officer. There is a several billion dollar
duce advanced plug-in hybrid technol- Ruxandra Vidu and Saif Islam, assistant market for electromagnetic components,
ogy into their vehicles. professor of electrical and computer en- used in prod-
Frank’s designs for a “parallel” hybrid gineering. Graduate student Jie-Ren Ku ucts such
powertrain allow significant increases also worked on the project. Vidu, Stroeve as cable
in fuel efficiency compared with and Ku are among the co-founders of television
hybrids currently on the Q1 NanoSystems. boxes,
market. The licensing Ethernet
package also includes an hardware
SynapSense Innovates
“intelligent,” continu- and stream-
Data Center Cooling
ously variable transmis- ing video
sion that automatically Raju Pandey, associate profes- devices.
selects the right power sor of computer science, lever-
ratio and eliminates gear aged his research to co-found
shifting. “The plug-in SynapSense Corp., a Folsom
hybrid displaces startup company that devel-
more oil than any oped a system of wireless
other technique, sensors to help rein in the
without a change burgeoning power drain Assoc. Professor Raju Pandey (left) and
in infrastructure,” exerted by electricity-hun- Assoc. Professor Anh-Vu Pham (above)
Frank said. gry computer data centers.

For more news and information about UC Davis Engineering: http://engineering.ucdavis.edu

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#1800
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
UPCOMING DATES
Picnic Day
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Spring Commencement
Friday, June 13, 2008
Recognize a Distinguished Alum
T he Distinguished Engineering
Alumni Medal is awarded each year
to an alumnus whose professional and
personal achievements bring special
honor to the College of Engineering.
The medal, sponsored jointly
by the College of Engineering and
the Cal Aggie Engineering Alumni
Association, is presented as part of the
June commencement ceremony for
undergraduate students.
Each nominee must be a UC Davis en-
gineering graduate with 15 or more years
of professional experience; have a record
of outstanding professional or techni-
cal achievement; and have rendered
distinguished service to the College of
Engineering, the engineering profession,
or to the community at large.
ALUMNI
Any UC Davis alum or faculty mem-
ber may nominate a candidate. We invite
you to participate in this important rec-
ognition by submitting your nomination
for the award. Please use the online form
at https://secure.engineering.ucdavis.edu/
coe/alumni/deam/
This form will be submitted directly
to the College of Engineering Dean’s
Office. You may submit the candidate’s
curriculum vitae, letters of support, and
other supporting materials electronically
to almcguire@ucdavis.edu; via fax at
530-752-3849; or by mail to:
Amy McGuire
Engineering Dean’s Office
Nomination packets
Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal must be submitted by
One Shields Avenue April 11, 2008
Davis, CA 95616-5294