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National Engineers Week at UCSD »
Hottest Posters
Controlling Stem Cell Differentiation
When Wind Turbines Face Earthquakes
Sea Cliff Erosion in San Diego
Deck the Halls with Renewable Fiber
"Origami Optics" for Future Cell Phone Cameras
Privacy-preserving Video Surveillance
Object Recognition Using Common Sense
Most Complex Silicon Phased Array Chip in the World
Elk Antlers are Impact Resistant
Controlling Stem Cell Differentiation
Engineers from UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering have entered the exciting and largely unexplored territory of direct control of stem cell differentiation through the application of nano-science approaches. One goal is to use magnetic nanoparticles to physically induce changes in local temperature and mechanical strain so that stem cell differentiation and growth can be controlled. In order to examine the effects of such physical stimuli in the stem cell culture system, researchers must be able to selectively integrate magnetic nanoparticles or gold-coated magnetic particles inside the stem cells. The UCSD researchers present their work in this direction.
Poster #171: CONTROL OF EMBRYONIC STEM CELL CULTURE AND DIFFERENTIATION USING NANOTECHNOLOGY
Primary Student: Karla Sue Brammer
Faculty Advisor: Sungho Jin
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Research Institute Affiliation: Graduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering
When Wind Turbines Face Earthquakes
Under earthquake conditions, wind turbines may exhibit unique dynamic behavior not seen in traditional building structures – and this behavior remains to be fully quantified. Nevertheless, wind turbines are regularly installed in seismically active regions. In California the three regions that collectively contain approximately 95 percent of the state's installed wind turbines are all located near known faults. New research from UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering is aimed at more accurately estimating design loads for earthquake loading. Research in this direction is important for enabling turbines to perform better under anticipated earthquake loading and provide reliable electrical power following an earthquake. In contrast to a city comprised of many different structures, a wind farm consists of very few types of unique structures. This homogeneity means that an earthquake with potentially unfavorable characteristics may have a wide impact for a wind farm.
Poster #216: SEISMIC LOADING OF WIND TURBINES
Primary Student: Ian M Prowell
Faculty Advisor: Ahmed Elgamal
Department: Structural Engineering
Sea Cliff Erosion in San Diego
UCSD researchers are observing the temporal sediment changes in sea cliffs to better understand and scientifically predict the sea cliff erosion that plagues the coastline of northern San Diego County. A team of researchers from the structural engineering, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and Calit2 continuously monitors sea cliff erosion using a suite of cutting-edge technologies. In addition, UCSD graduate students are spearheading a rapid response team that surveys sea cliff failures as soon as they are reported, providing a unique opportunity to study the erosional patterns and boundary conditions needed for the formulation of a theoretical model that can properly capture and eventually help predict these events. The ability to respond immediately to an erosional event allows data to be acquired before waves remove talus deposits and rework the sediment into the beach. It also allows researchers to pinpoint specific failure mechanisms and model the sequence of events at sites that undergo multiple failures. Terrestrial LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) serves as a fundamental surveying tool, capturing detailed three-dimensional models of the cliffs, which are subsequently compared, correlated and interactively visualized. This Research Expo poster describes several cliff failures currently being studied as part of this rapid response program. The research team will use the models and results produced from this analysis and the visualization enhancements to educate and assist the public, city councils, and government agencies responsible for the future of the coastline. Are you a UCSD grad student or undergrad interested in learning more or getting involved in this project? Contact Michael Olsen at mjolsen AT ucsd DOT edu or visit http://lidarweb.ucsd.edu/coastalstudy/
Poster #237: RAPID RESPONSE TO SEACLIFF EROSION IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY , CALIFORNIA USING TERRESTRIAL LIDAR
Primary Student: Michael J Olsen
Faculty Advisor: Falko Kuester
Department: Structural Engineering
Research Institute Affiliation: California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2)
Deck the Halls with Renewable Fiber
It's all part of a sustainable makeover of building products. Walls, roofs and decks may soon be made from hemp – the same renewable plant fiber being used in bags, socks and other textiles. Gillian Cutter, a master's degree student in structural engineering at UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering has aligned hemp fibers in sheets, coated them with plant-derived resins and heated and compressed them in order to create strong, lightweight "biocomposites" that she tested and characterized. Contrary to previous findings, Cutter's research suggests that non-petroleum-based, biodegradable composites are capable of serving as secondary structural elements — such as doors, window frames and wallboards. This work points to a sustainable alternative to a variety of wood, metal, and fiberglass products currently used in the construction industry.
Poster #228: HIGH STRENGTH RENEWABLE RESOURCE BASED COMPOSITES FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
Primary Student: Andrea G Cutter
Faculty Advisor: Vistasp Karbhari
Department: Structural Engineering
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| Gillian Cutter, a UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering graduate student, demonstrates how she uses hemp fiber threads to make renewable construction materials. Photo credit: UC San Diego |
Automatic Cameraman, Really
Jacobs school computer scientists have developed an automatic camera pointing system that can locate and track a human speaker using audio localization and face detection. In real-time, the automatic cameraman can locate a person and record their audio and video. It can also switch to new speakers as they appear. Watch the system in action:
More information and videos at: http://www.cs.ucsd.edu/~yfreund/cameraman/index.html
Poster #62: AUTOMATIC CAMERAMAN
Primary Student: Evan Ira Ettinger
Faculty Advisor: Yoav Freund
Department: Computer Science & Engineering
"Origami Optics" for Future Cell Phone Cameras
UCSD electrical engineers are making ultra-thin imagers that look more like lens caps than barrel lenses. The so-called Origami Optics squeeze long focal lengths into a thin package and still collect enough light for fast sharp exposures. Compact imagers for micro-UAV surveillance craft and miniature telephoto lenses for future cell phones are just two possible applications. The researchers will also present preliminary results from their Montage cluster camera: an ultra-thin 11 megapixel camera cluster spanning a 30 degree field of view using an array of 5.5 mm thick Origami Optic cameras.
Poster #109: "ORIGAMI OPTICS" FOR ULTRA-THIN IMAGERS
Primary Student: Eric Julian Tremblay
Faculty Advisor: Joseph Ford
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
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| Eric Tremblay, an electrical engineering grad student at UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering looks at an "origami optics" prototype lens. More images and information. Photo credit: UC San Diego |
Toward Renewable Plastics
Using systems biology methods to metabolically engineer micro-organisms, UCSD bioengineers are laying the biotech groundwork necessary for turning microbes into cell factories. With a combined computational and experimental approach, bioengineers are generating products such as amino acids for pharmaceuticals and synthesis blocks that can be used for biopolymers and renewable plastics. One highlight of this effort is a genome-scale reconstruction of E. coli, iAF1260. This reconstruction and model is the largest and most complete metabolic network of a micro-organism to date, and contains 1260 genes and gene products from the latest genome annotation resulting in over 2000 transport and intracellular reactions. The researchers utilizing this model are examining the myriad of strain designs that can be generated using E. coli and experimentally generating their designed strains in the lab.
Poster #32: MODEL-DRIVEN METABOLIC ENGINEERING OF E. Coli TO PRODUCE HIGH-VALUE COMPOUNDS
Primary Student: Adam Michael Feist
Faculty Advisor: Bernhard O. Palsson
Department: Bioengineering
Privacy-preserving Video Surveillance
Electrical engineers present a privacy-preserving video surveillance system that estimates the size of pedestrian crowds traveling in different directions. The system first segments the video into different crowds, and then measures the size of each crowd. Because the system examines the crowd as a whole, rather than examining each individual, the system is privacy-preserving. While there is great interest in vision technology for monitoring all types of environments, the deployment of vision technology is often met with skepticism by society at large, given the perception that it could be used to infringe on privacy rights of individuals. This work introduces one way to address this tension.
Poster #149: PRIVACY PRESERVING CROWD MONITORING: COUNTING PEOPLE WITHOUT PEOPLE MODELS OR TRACKING
Primary Student: Antoni B. Chan
Faculty Advisor: Nuno Vasconcelos
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
Object Recognition Using Common Sense
The image below illustrates a new object recognition system that incorporates "common sense." The top left image is the input image consisting of an airplane, trees, sky and grass. It is first processed through a segmentation-based object recognition engine. The recognizer outputs an ordered shortlist of possible object labels; only the best match is shown for each segment (top right). Without appealing to context, several mistakes are clear – the grass and sky are switched and the airplane is labeled as a boat. Semantic context in the form of probable object co-occurrence allows one to correct the label of the airplane, but leaves the labels of the sky and grass incorrect (bottom right). Finally, spatial context asserts that sky is more likely to appear above grass than vice versa (bottom left).
Poster #48: OBJECT RECOGNITION USING COMMON SENSE
Primary Student: Carolina Galleguillos
Faculty Advisor: Serge Belongie
Department: Computer Science & Engineering
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| This four-part image from computer science graduate student Carolina Galleguillos from UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering shows how spatial context information can be used to improve automated object recognition systems. |
Most Complex Silicon Phased Array Chip in the World
This Jacobs School poster presents the latest research regarding the world's most complex "phased array" -- or radio frequency integrated circuit that the team presented in fall of 2007. This DARPA-funded work is expected to find its way into U.S. defense satellite communication and radar systems. In addition, the innovations in this chip design will likely spill over into commercial applications, such as automotive satellite systems for direct broadcast TV, and new methods for high speed wireless data transfer. Finally, the electrical engineers present a novel W-band imaging system based on low cost SiGe amplifiers. These imaging systems consume only 30 mW of power per pixel and will allow detection of concealed objects for security applications.
Poster #139: MICROWAVE AND MILLIMETER-WAVE SiGe/CMOS PHASED AND IMAGING ARRAYS FOR WIDEBAND COMMUNICATIONS AND IMAGING APPLICATIONS
Primary Student: Kwang Jin Koh
Faculty Advisor: Gabriel Rebeiz
Department: Electrical & Computer Engineering
Research Institute Affiliation: Center for Wireless Communications (CWC)
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| The UCSD DARPA Smart Q-Band 4x4 Array Transmitter, the world's most complex silicon phased array chip. Read more here. Photo credit: Gabriel Rebeiz |
Hopping Robots at UCSD
Researchers at the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab are teaching iHop, a hopping, miniature-aussi-sized three-wheeled rover, to perform tricks that will send other robots off with their tails between their legs. In addition to rolling around on all of her wheels like many other robots, iHop balances on both her back wheels and on her toe, and even jumps and twists in mid-air by pushing against her reaction wheels. Thanks to her patented spring-loaded dual four-bar hopping mechanism, iHop always has plenty of energy stored up for jumping on command. iHop's coordinated moves are made possible by her inner ear, which is packed with MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) gyroscopes and accelerometers. This, in turn, feeds sophisticated on-board attitude estimation and stabilization algorithms in iHop's carefully designed brain. iHop's life-like moves lend her well to a variety of applications for engaging play, such as fetching and throwing miniature tennis balls for Prof. Bewley's miniature aussi, Checkers. However, don't be misled by iHop's playful demeanor: her combination of simplicity, efficiency, and maneuverability make iHop an appealing miniature candidate for several non-miniature missions in the search and rescue, defense, and homeland security sectors. New mechanical components and control algorithms are currently being developed for iHop's newest tricks, such as efficiently hopping up and down stairs. The Jacobs School team has also developed iLean, iHop's non-hopping little sister, who mounts obstacles or steps by first standing up high on her toe, then leaning onto the top of the obstacle. New physical prototypes will be presented at Research Expo 2008. Further info at: http://robotics.ucsd.edu
Poster #164: A SELF-TRANSFORMING REACTION WHEEL-STABILIZED CLIMBING ROVER
Primary Student: Christopher Matthi Schmidt-Wetekam
Faculty Advisor: Thomas Bewley
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Research Institute Affiliation: Center for Control Systems and Dynamics (CCSD)
Poster #169: HYBRID OPTICAL AND VISUAL SENSOR FOR IMPROVED DECISION-MAKING
Primary Student: Brett R Nadler
Professor: Thomas Bewley and
Joseph Ford
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| Researchers at the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab are teaching iHop, a hopping, miniature-aussi-sized three-wheeled rover, to perform tricks that will send other robots off with their tails between their legs. Credit: Thomas Bewley |
Toucan Bills Mysteries
A toucan's beak is one third of its entire length but comprises only about one thirtieth to fortieth of its mass. Nevertheless, toucan beaks are extremely stiff, which is crucial for the gathering of food. The outside of a Toucan beak is made of beta-keratin and the inside is an “internal foam” made from bone. This internal foam is an extension of the skull and is usually hollow at the center. UCSD researchers are studying the relationship between the structure and mechanical properties of Toco Toucan beaks. The engineers report that Toco Toucan beak structure is a sandwich composite with an exterior of keratin and a middle comprised of a fibrous network of closed cells made of bone. The researchers determined the tensile strength of the keratin exterior, which is made of polygonal scales glued together. Components of the internal part of the Toco Toucan beak have a Young's modulus twice as high as the keratin shells due to their higher calcium content. The engineers report a synergistic effect between the internal foam and keratin shell as evidenced by experiments and analysis establishing the separate responses of shell, foam, and foam+shell.
Poster # 188: MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURE OF BIRD BEAKS
Primary Student: Yasuaki Seki
Faculty Advisor: Marc A. Meyers
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
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| Photograph of a toucan beak taken by UCSD graduate student Yasuaki Seki. The white parts of the illustration superimposed on the photograph represent the foam structure found on the inside of the beak. The black area is hollow. The dotted line traces the empty or hollow region of foam. Photo credit: Yasuaki Seki / UC San Diego |
Greener Air Conditioning
A new kind of air conditioning system causes the air in a room to stratify so that the air in the lower parts of the room – where the people are – stays the coolest. These systems – called Under Floor Air Distribution (UFAD) systems – can increase the efficiency over conventional air-conditioning systems by as much as 40 percent. In 2005, Jacobs School professor Paul Linden published work on predicting the height at steady-state of the actively cooled lower occupied zone. New research presented at Research Expo 2008 examines the transient response of the cooled zone to time-varying heat loads through laboratory experiments which simulate a UFAD system using a salt-water analogy. The engineers used these results to estimate the time-varying response in a real building cooled by a UFAD system.
Poster #180: TRANSIENT BEHAVIOR OF UNDERFLOOR AIR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
Primary Student: Jong Keun Yu
Faculty Advisor: Paul F. Linden
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Elk Antlers are Impact Resistant
According to new research, elk antlers are especially impact resistant. This makes sense, Jacobs School researchers say, since the primary function of elk antlers is for ritualistic fighting for control of reproductive rights. Compared to bones, antlers have a similar composition and microstructure but are less mineralized. Antlers, the fastest growing neo-natal tissue in animal kingdom, can reach a growth rate of 2-3 centimeters per day. The UCSD engineers put elk antlers through bending, compression, fracture toughness, and hardness tests in order to better understand the mechanical properties of this understudied animal tissue. The strength, mineral content and elastic modulus were similar to other antlers but lower than bones. However, antlers had a much higher fracture toughness compared with bones, which correlates with their main function in combat as a high impact resistant, energy absorbent material.
Poster # 184: STRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF AMERICAN ELK ANTLERS
Primary Student: Po-Yu Chen
Faculty Advisors: Joanna Mckittrick and Marc A. Meyers
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Research Institute Affiliation: Graduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering
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