Spring/Summer 2007 Department of

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Spring/Summer 2007 Department of

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

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3 AMessagefromtheChair

4 FeaturedResearch

4 ToddAustinandValeriaBertacco

TheSelf-HealingChip:Designingresilient,bulletproof,computingsystemsforthefuture

7 KamalSarabandi:BridgingtheDivideofFundamentalScienceandTechnology

10 DepartmentNews

10 WilliamGouldDowDistinguishedLecture

10 PartnershipwithSeoulNationalUniversity

10 WIMSPlansfortheFuture

11 FacultyHonorsandAwards

13 StudentNews

13 StudentActivities,Honors,andAwards

15 SnapshotsofourAward-WinningStudents

17 AlumniNews

17 AlumniSocietyPresident’sMessage

18 AlumniAwards:GeorgeI.Haddad,DanielP.Siewiorek,G.RobertMalan,RobertD.Scott

20 AlumniNotes

TheRegentsoftheUniversityofMichigan

JuliaDonovanDarlow,Ann ArborLaurenceB.Deitch,Bingham FarmsOliviaP.Maynard,GoodrichRebeccaMcGowan,Ann ArborAndreaFischerNewman,Ann ArborAndrewC.Richner,Grosse Pointe ParkS.MartinTaylor,Grosse Pointe FarmsKatherineE.White,Ann ArborMarySueColeman,(ex officio)

The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with

all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including

TitleIXoftheEducationAmendmentsof1972andSection504oftheRehabilitationActof1973.

TheUniversityofMichiganiscommittedtoapolicyofnondiscriminationandequalopportunityfor

allpersonsregardlessofrace,sex,color,religion,creed,nationaloriginorancestry,age,marital

status,sexualorientation,disability,orVietnam-eraveteranstatusinemployment,educational

programsandactivities,andadmissions.InquiriesorcomplaintsmaybeaddressedtotheSenior

Director for Institutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator, Office of Institutional Equity,

2072AdministrativeServicesBuilding,AnnArbor,Michigan48109-1432,734-763-0235,TTY734-

647-1388.ForotherUniversityofMichiganinformationcall734-764-1817.

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

1301BealAvenueAnnArbor,Michigan48109-2122

PH734764-2390FX734763-1503www.eecs.umich.edu

Editor:CatharineJuneDesign:LauraHower

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Chip design by Lynda Conley. First printed in the EE Times article, “Chip, Heal Thyself,” August 28, 2006, www.eetimes.com.

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Exciting opportunities areon the horizon for EECS!We witnessed the dedica-

tionofournewComputerScienceand Engineering Building—whichhasevensurpassedexpectationsthefacultyhadforacongenialen-vironment inwhich tocollaborateandenvisionwaystousecomput-ersciencetotransformsocietyforthebetter.

The renovation and expansion of the Michigan Nanofabrica-tionFacility(MNF)isreallytakingshape!Irecentlytouredthefacilityfromthebasementtothetopoftheroofandwastrulyimpressedathowmuchthoughthasgoneintoeachaspectofthedesign,fromspaceandequipmentneeds,toairandwaterhandling,totheshowcasetouraisle.Buildingonmorethan20yearsofcleanroomexperience,this$40Minvestmentguaran-teesthepositionoftheMNFnowandinthefutureasoneofthepremiernanofabricationfacilitiesintheworld.

Constructioncrewsarealsoonsighttearingapartlargeareasof the first floor atrium, while students are getting ready for fi-nalsandavarietyofsummerinternships,coops,andresearchopportunities.Whentheyreturn in theFall, they’llbetreatedto a newly renovated atrium, showcase lab, and upgradedclassrooms. We’re all looking forward to the new commonsareawherestudentsandfacultycancometogetherandtakeabreakfromtheirwork!

Duringthesummer,someofourstudentswillbegaininginter-national experience as part of a study-abroad program. OurstudentshaverecentlystudiedinRussia,Germany,andAus-tralia.KwanChongTan,whosestoryisfeaturedinthestudentsection,studiedatShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity—whichhasaspecialpartnershiprelationshipwiththeCollegeofEngineer-ing.RecentlytheEECSDepartmentsignedaresearchpartner-shipagreementwithSeoulNationalUniversity(seepg.10)tofacilitategraduateresearchbetweenthetwoinstitutions.Pro-vidingopportunitiesforinternationalexperiencewillcontinuetobeafocusforEECS.

Inadditiontointernationalstudy,ourstudentsaddtotheirMich-igan education with extra-curricular interdisciplinary projects,such as U-M’s well-known Solar Car team. Read about ourstudents’involvementintheSolarElevatorGames(MClimber)andFormulaSAEracingonpg.13.Theseandotherexperi-ential practicums enrich the education of students in uniqueways,andmayevenbecomeintegratedintothecurriculumofthefuture.

Our faculty continue to be recognized for their remarkableachievements inallareasof research,which inevitably leadstonewtechnologyinthemarketplace.StephenForrest,EECS

facultymemberandU-MVicePresidentforResearch,hasal-readymadean impact throughout theUniversityby initiatingpolicychangesthatwillencourageandrewardthistransferoftechnology.Toformallyrecognizethosewhohavetransferredresearch innovations to the marketplace, Forrest’s office initi-ated theDistinguishedUniversity InnovatorAward.Prof.Mo-hammed Islam is the first to receive this award (see pg. 11).

Prof.Forrestbringswithhimaverystrongresearchprogramas director of the Optoelectronic Components and MaterialsGroup.Hisgroupisorientedtowardtherealizationofpracticaloptoelectronicdevices.Asaco-founderofApogeePhotonics,andwithstronginvolvementinseveralothercompanies,heisnaturally suited to enabling the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish atU-M.

U.S.EnergySecretarySamuelBodmanvisitedForrest’sECElabduringhisvisit toU-M inFebruary todeliver thekeynotespeech at the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy InstituteEnergySymposium,called“EnergyScience,Technology,andPolicy: Facing the Challenge.” EECS at Michigan will be in-volvedinsolvingthischallenge.

Intherealmof technologyadvancements,JessyGrizzlewaslisted as one of Scientific American’s 50 top leaders in science andtechnologyforhisworkinrobotics,andtheAdvancedCom-puterArchitectureLabreceiveda2006MicroprocessorReportAnalysts’ChoiceAwardforInnovation,basedontheirworkwithARM,Ltd.onanewchiptechnologycalledRazor.

Ourstudentsarecontributingtoresearch,participatinginna-tionalandinternationalcompetitions,andreachingouttooth-ers through leadership and service activities, as exemplified in theactivitiesofthreeaward-winningstudents(seepp.15-17).

You’llbeinterestedtoreadaboutthisyear’salumniawardwin-ners,aswellasthevariedactivitiesandaccomplishmentshigh-lightedintheAlumniNotes.WewelcomeGeorgeHaddad,for-merdepartmentchairandinternationallyrenownedresearcher,into the hallowed halls of EECS alumni award winners, andlookforwardtothefutureaccomplishmentsofRecentGraduateAwardwinnerRobMalanandhiscompany,ArborNetworks.

As I reflect on the expanding facilities that house our people andequipment, andwitness the incredible creativity, energy,andbrillianceofour facultyandstudents—Icansee thatbigthingsareathandforEECS!

BrianE.GilchristInterimChair,EECSDepartment

AMessagefromtheChair

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“When a transistor fails in one of today’schips,yougetthebluescreenofdeath,”saysValeria Bertacco, assistant professor in theAdvanced ComputerArchitecture Laboratory

(ACAL).“Butwhenatransistorfailsinachipusingourtechnology,werepairitbeforeyouevenknowanythinghashappened,andyousimplycontinueworking,”saysToddAustin,associateprofessorinACAL.“Repair—it’soneoftherichestareasofthisresearch.”

The ideaofaself-healingchip,whilenotnew, isbeing taken to uncharted territory in the work ofAustinandBertacco.Theirresearchisparticularlyapplicable to the next generation of chip design,particularly45nmandbeyond,whentheminiaturenanoscale devices are expected to become sub-ject to a wider variety of flaws and weaknesses at allstagesofthechip’slife—fromdesign,tomanu-facture,anditsultimateusebytheconsumer.

Thenoveltyoftheirsolution,whichachievesahighsuccessratewithultra-lowcosts,hasattractedsig-nificant attention in the chip community, and has ledtorecentfundingbytheNationalScienceFoun-dationincollaborationwiththeSemiconductorRe-searchCorporation(SRC),andtheGigascaleSys-temsResearchCenter.WilliamJoyner,theSRC’sdirectorofComputer-AidedDesignandTestfortheGlobalResearchCollaboration,stated,“Theaimis

for chips that won’t fail. That will be a first for the industry.Tocontinuetheperformancepacethatbil-lionsofpeoplehavecometoexpect,weneedmorethantechnologyadvances.Sustainedperformanceimprovements requireacritical couplingbetweentechnologyanddesign.”

PlanningforErrors

The public has come to expect their consumerelectronics,includinglaptops,desktopcomputers,digitalcameras,PDAs,etc.,toworkuntilsomeex-ternalcompulsion,suchasadesire forhardwareand software upgrades, faster speed, or morememory,motivatesthemtopurchaseanewersys-tem. Most consumers don’t have to worry aboutdevicebreakdown.

Manufacturersensurechipreliabilitythroughanag-gressivepost-manufacturing“burn-in”stagewhichvirtually guarantees that those chips that survivewillbestableovertheexpectedlifetimeofthede-vices.Chipdesignsalsoundergoextensivetestingtoensuretheywillworkasexpected.

Thismethodofdesigningandmanufacturingchipshas continued to be cost-effective and adequateevenintoday’s90nmdevices,whichhavecompo-nentsthatareonlyabout20atomsthick.However,asthatnumberfallsto10atomsinthenextrealmof45nmdevices,whicharealreadybeingdevelopedby the major chip manufacturers (including Intel,AMD and Texas Instruments), detecting problemswill become increasingly difficult, leading to cumber-some testing strategies and a higher potential fordefectstoescapeundetected.

Even more important, as engineers seek cheaperand more efficient transistors at nanoscale sizes, they are finding that these atomic-size transistors seem to have new weaknesses that may lead to

ToddAustinandValeriaBertaccoTheSelf-HealingChip:Designingresilient,bulletproof,computingsystemsforthefuture

ToddAustin,associateprofessor,ACAL

ValeriaBertacco,assistantprofessor,ACAL

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post-production failures when the electronic gad-gets are in the hands of the consumer, perhapsonlyweeksorevendayslater.

ToddandValeriaarepreparing for theseupcoming nanoscale devicesthrough a novel approach to er-ror-resilient design, called Bul-letProof, that protects againstthese future microchip break-downs,and,insomecases,alsoprotectsagainsterrorsor“bugs”in-herenttothedesignitself.

Self-healingchips

BulletProofisthenameforanewapproachtochipdesignthatwilldetectandcorrectcertainer-rorsbeforetheyaffecttheoutcomeofthecomputa-tion.Themicroprocessorwill, ineffect,healitself.Theentireprocessworksinfourstages:

STEP1:DetectionWhencomponentsofthepro-cessor find themselves idle during program execu-tion,theyarethoroughlytestedbyValeria’stestinginfrastructuretomakesuretheyareoperatingcor-rectly. If testing finds that something is broken, the systemmovestoDiagnosis.

STEP2:DiagnosisThetestinginfrastructurede-terminesexactlywhatisbroken,andtheprogrammovestoRecovery.

STEP 3: Recovery A checkpoint and recoverymechanism designed by Todd takes over whilethe entire computation is held “speculatively” inthecomputer’scachememory,thatis,beforeanycomputed result reaches the main memory andbecomespermanent.Theprocessorwill then rollbacktheapplication’sexecutiontoanearlierpointwhere all was working properly.At this point thesystemmovestoRepair.

STEP4:RepairThechipwillhealwhatisbroken,typicallybyre-routingthecomputationtoacompat-iblecomponentthatisstillfunctioningproperly.

Computers today are already built with some re-dundancy(mostoftentoallowparalleloperations)so that the system can run efficiently and quickly. Acomputermayhavefouradders,forexample.Ifonebreaks, theentirecomputerwillbe incapaci-tated. But if BulletProof detects the break, it canre-route thecomputation tooneof the remainingthree adders; with just a minor loss in efficiency, thecomputercontinuestooperate.

As this silicon technology continues to scale inyearstocome,computerswillneedtobedesignedtobetteraccommodatetherepairofthemorefre-quent transistor breaks.Todd describes this nexthurdle: “If the industrygets to thepositionwhere

movingtothenextsmallertransistorrequiresade-signthat’sthreetimesthesize,that’sgoingtobe

theendof siliconscaling. It’s tooexpensive.What you really need is something that’s

only 5-10% larger, and no one’shatchedthatideayet.That’swhatwe’redoing.”

Onemethodistodesignhigh-ly symmetric computers with

multifunctionalpartssothatifatransistorbreaks,manyothertran-

sistorscantakeover.Austin’sdoctoralstudentKyprosConstantinidesisworking

ondesigningjustsuchacomputer.

Thistechnologyisstillbrandnew.“Atthepresenttime,wecantakecareofonetransistorbreaking,andanynumberofsingleeventupsets,”explainsValeria.That means one transistor amid the 100millionontoday’schips.Inthefuture,theyexpecttobeabletotoleratemanytransistordefects.This

willseemtobeessentialforthenextgenerationofnanoscaledevices.IndustryleaderssuchasIntel’sDirectorofCircuitResearchShekharBorkarhavepredictedthatadecadedowntheroad,transistorfailuresaretobeexpected,yetthechiphastoworkasifnothinghashappened.

Singleeventupsets,orsofterrors,canoccur, forexample,whenaradiationparticleevokesachargeasitrandomlyhitsoneoftheverytinyoxidegatesinatransistor—whichmayleadtoacalculationmis-fire. Researchers have been addressing this issue for at least five years, and the problem is expected tobeexacerbatedwithsmallertechnologies.

BulletProofwillalsobeabletohandleproblemsthatarise fromdesigncomplexity. “There isabiggapbetweenhowcomplexof a chip youcandesign,andhowmuchofthatchipyoucanverify,”warns

1.DetectionDiscover that something broke

2.DiagnosisFind out exactly what broke

3.RecoveryFix any broken computation

4.RepairHeal the broken device

“No one’s hatched that idea yet. That’s what we’re doing.”

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Valeria,“andthegapiswidening.”Withthenumberoftransistorsonasinglechipexpectedtoexceedeightbillion by 2014, both design complexity and thenumberofbrokenand fragile transistorswillcon-tinuetomagnify.

PreliminaryresultsusingBulletProofareveryen-couraging. In one test case, the technology suc-cessfully covered 89% of the chip’s silicon areawithanincreaseinareaofjust5.8%.Afterarepair,thesystemremainedfunctionalwithaperformancelossrangingfrom4%to18%.

RAMPinguptoaprototype

Having proven the basic premise of BulletProof,Profs.AustinandBertaccoarelookingforwardtothenextsteps—whichincludeexpandingthescopeoftherepairstovirtuallytheentirechip,andapply-ingtheirtechniquetoawiderclassofchips.

Onthewaytowardbuildingacompleteprototypewithinthenexttwotothreeyears,theyarepartici-patinginapilotprogramatBerkeleyknownastheRAMP(ResearchAcceleratorforMultipleProces-sors)project.Using the “best-of-the-best technol-ogy,”andcutting-edgechipsfromXylinx,theywillusehardwaredesignsdevelopedatBerkeley,addtheirownresiliencyfeaturestothem,andthentesttheirsystembybreakingtransistorsanddevicesinawaythatmimicsreallifesituations.“It’llbeafunproject,”saysAustin.

StudentExperience

KyprosConstantinideshelpeddevelop thephysi-cal prototype of a processor that was enhancedwith the technology,which formed thebasisof arecent paper delivered atASPLOS XII (Architec-turalSupportforProgrammingLanguagesandOp-erating Systems) this past October. He is gratified tomeetthosewhorecognizetheimportanceoftheresearch,despitethefactthatitisstillatechnologyforthefuture.“Itisveryexcitingtoworkinacutting-edgeareaofresearch,”saidConstantinides.

SmithaShyam,adoctoralcandidatealsoworkingontheproject,hasfoundthatotherresearchersarebe-ginningtolookattheirworkmoreclosely,especial-lyasissuesofreliabilityarebecomingincreasinglysignificant. She said, “people approach us all the timewithquestionsastohowtoextendourworktotheirdomainandhowtoscalethistosuit theirrequirements.”

BeyondBulletProof

ProfessorScottMahlkewas involved in theearlystagesofBulletProof.Grownfromthisearlywork,heandhisgrouparecurrentlyinvestigatingthede-signandconstructionofwearout-tolerantchipmul-tiprocessors.Theproject,code-namedStageNet,consistsofafabricofinterconnectedcoarse-grainpipeline stages that can be configured to form

groups of processors. An array of sensors dis-persedthroughoutthechiptracksthebehaviorofindividual transistors. Just before critical break-down,StageNetisolatespotentialfaultsandreor-ganizesitselftocontinueuninterruptedoperation.

Similarly, other research projects of Austin andBertacco are reaching into new directions. Vale-ria’s work centers on the verification of chips at all stages of development: design, manufacture,andpost-manufacture.Shehaspublishedabookon the topic, Scalable Hardware Verification with Symbolic Simulation. Valeria came to U-M fromSynopsys,whereshewasaResearchEngineerinthe Verification Group and the Advanced Technol-ogy Group.At Michigan, she has developed twomain techniques to improve verification, called GuidoandInferno,andwithToddsheiscurrentlydevelopingatechniquecalledFRCL(FieldRepair-able Control Logic) to detect and correct designflaws after the chip is in use in the hands of the consumer.Withnearly70%ofcurrenteffort inin-dustry being devoted to chip verification rather than design, there is significant motivation to make this process efficient and effective.

Todd’s primary research is in the areas of com-puterarchitecture,VLSIdesign,anderror-resilientdesign.Hecame toU-M from Intelwherehe ledmicroarchitectureresearcheffortsforfuture-gener-ationmicroprocessors.Heisfounderandpresidentof SimpleScalar LLC, and co-founder and ChiefTechnology Officer of BitRaker Inc. Since coming toMichigan in1999,hehascollaboratedoncut-ting-edge adaptive technologies such as Razorand DIVA (Dynamic Instruction Verification Archi-tecture).

He is particularly excited about a project in low-power design with Prof. David Blaauw and theirstudents called Subliminal Systems. Using solarcells to scavenge energy from the environment,theydesignedasensorplatformthatconsumesfarlessenergythananypreviouslypublishedsensornetworkprocessor.Buildingfromthiswork,recentPhD graduate Leyla Nashandali, now at VirginiaTech,iscollaboratingwithAustinandBlaauwinaprojectwiththeU-MKelloggEyeInstitutetobuildan intra-ocular eye pressure sensor that has thepotential to help glaucoma patients extend theirvision by providing continuous monitoring of theeyepressure.

The future of computing is in the hands of facul-tysuchasProfs.AustinandBertacco.With theircolleagues and students in the Advanced Com-puter Architecture Lab, they are creating newtechnologiesandmethodsofemployingcomputerhardwareandsoftware thatwillensureprogress,andimprovelife.

“People approach us all the time with questions.”

“It’ll be a fun project,” says Austin.

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Whether acquiring data from the furthestboundaries of the solar system, assessingglobalwarming,seeing throughwalls,oras-sisting communication among city dwellers

or soldiers in the field, Prof. Kamal Sarabandi is stronglygrounded in thebasics. “The reasonwecandosuchvastareasofresearchisthatwearedoingtheresearchatthefundamentallevelconsid-eringvariousinteractionsofwaveandtheobjectsofinterest.”

Prof. Sarabandi received his training among thebest, here at Michigan. He now leads where heoncetrained,asdirectoroftheRadiationLabora-tory,apositionhehasheldsince2000.TheRAD-LABiscomposedofeightfaculty,4researchscien-tists,andnearly50graduatestudentswhoconductresearch inareasasdiverseasantennas,meta-materials, computational electromagetics, radiofrequency (RF) propagation, microwave circuits,remotesensing,andplasmaelectrodynamics.

Prof. Sarabandi and his research group explorenewavenuesofresearch,suchastheuseofmeta-materials, while they continue to expand knowl-edge inmicrowaveandmillimeter-wave radar re-motesensing—anareahehasworkedinformorethan twenty years. In recognition of his accom-plishments, he received the 2005 DistinguishedAchievement Award from the IEEE GeoscienceandRemoteSensingSociety.

ReachingintoSpacetoLearnMoreaboutEarth

Prof. Sarabandi has been interpreting data fromspaceformorethanadecade—relatingittoissuesofglobalwarming,andprovidingthedataforsci-entists doing environmental research. “We needtoprotectourplanetandunderstandwhatisreallyhappening,”statedKamal.

NASA plans to establish a base station on themoonby2020toaidcontinuedspaceexploration.Kamalisalreadyplanningtheinstrumentationthatwouldbeusedonthislunarbasestationtoobserveprocessesoccurringontheearththatwouldbeim-possibletodoanyotherway.Hepredictsitcouldbe possible to measure small relative motions oflandmasses, includingearthquakeactivity,whichcouldleadtoanabilitytopredictearthquakes.

Meanwhile, NASA probes are being sent to thefar reaches of the solar system—collecting data,and taking pictures, video, and radar images asthey go. Getting the informa-tion back is a challenge, andthe main stumbling block isthe antenna—Kamal’s spe-cialty.Thecostofanantennalarge enough to transmit in-formation efficiently is about $1B.Kamalhasbeenworkingon a new technology that willemplyalargearrayofsmallerantennas, thousandsof them,working together to create, ineffect, a very large aperture.Until there is a lunar base station, which wouldsimplify the phase calibration of these antennas,themoonwillbeusedasacalibrationtargetusingInSAR(InterferomatetricSatelliteApertureRadar)imagingtechniques.

Keeping earth science as an important activitywithinNASAisahighpriorityforKamal,whohasbeenrecentlyappointedtoanadvisorycommitteechargedwithplanningthefutureactivitiesofNASA.“Thereisreallynootheragencywiththeexpertisetodealwithallthecomponentsthatareneededforobservingearthasasystem, includingdesigninginstruments, launching satellites, and interpretinganddistributingdata,”hesaid.“Spaceexplorationneedstoincorporatecontinuedremotesensingoftheearth.”

KamalSarabandi,ProfessorandDirectoroftheRadiationLaboratory

KamalSarabandi:BridgingtheDivideofFundamentalScienceandTechnology

“We need to protect our planet and understand what is really happening.”

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RemoteSensingforSafetyandSecurity

Hereonearth,Prof.Sarabandihasdevelopedim-portanttoolsandmethodsintheareaofradarre-motesensing tostudycomplexsystemssuchascarbon cycle, which affects global warming, andsoilmoistureandsnow,whichcanrevealproblemsrelated tohydrology,ecology,andclimate.Radarremotesensingalsohasawidevarietyofapplica-tionsrelatedtosecurityandsafety.

Onenewly-fundedproject investigates theuseofradartopenetratethroughwallsandcreateamapof the interior tosee if therearepeopleorweap-onry inside. He is collaborating with Ohio StateUniversityandthecompanyScienceApplicationsInternational Corporation (SAIC) in this project.BasedinCalifornia,SAICrecentlyopenedanAnnArbor office for their Reconnaissance and Surveil-lanceOperation.

Kamalisalsoworkingonarelatedsystemthatcanscanacrowdanddeterminewhetherornotpeopleare concealing weapons. This will enable quick,broadcoverageofanarea.Suspiciousindividualsmaythenbepulledasideandaskedtostandinadevicethatwill“see”throughclothing,suchaswasrecentlyimplementedatthePhoenixairport.

Turning his attention to safety issues, Kamal isdeveloping a millimeter-wave radar system thatwillbemountedonhelicopterstomaptheterrainunderneath.Pilotsaresubjecttohighlydangerouslandingconditionswhenlandingineithersnowordusty/sandyregions.Itisalsoimpossibleforthemtoknowwhatliesbeneaththeimmediatesurface,suchasaditchorarock.Thenewtechnologywillenablepilotstoseethroughwhite-outorbrown-outconditions, and to know on what kind of surfacetheyarelanding.

Prof. Sarabandi explains that his research canreach into such a wide variety of areas becauseappliedelectromagneticsisahighlysuccessfuldis-ciplines with significant impact on a wide range of technologies.Withthewallpenetrationproject,forexample,oncehedeterminesthescienceofwhathappenstoawaveorsignalasitpenetratesawall,hewillundowhatthewalldidtothesignalandre-constructtheimage.

CommunicationthroughWavesandSensors

With satellites in space and cell phones on theearth,theU.S.populationiscomingtoexpectnearinstant communication. Losing a connection withsomeoneeven foramomentbecomesvery frus-trating.Thesituationbecomesdownrightdanger-ous for troops communicating in the field.

Prof. Sarabandi has analyzed wave propagationinanurbanenvironment for thepurposeofwire-lesscommunication.Hisresearch,whichhasbeencommercialized, enables planners to establishbasestationsthroughoutacitytoensurecoverageforanentirearea.Heisnowturninghisattentiontoprovidingouractive troopswith thesamecov-erage,evenwhentheyaresent tounfamiliar ter-ritories.

To gather information about these areas, Kamalis developing miniature low-power unattendedground sensors to measure a variety of environ-mentalvariables,suchasvibrationsfromvehiclesandsound,aswellastotransmitphotosoftheareaand other information derived from radar. Theseelectronictransceiversactasanetworkwitheachother, communicating informationbetweennodesuntiltheinformationissenttoasatellite,andulti-mately toabasestation.Thesesensorsareonlypossiblethroughtheintegrationofminiatureanten-nasdevelopedbyProf.Sarabandi.

Antennasthebottleneckandkey

“Wecanmakemicroelectronicsvery,verysmall,”explainsProf.Sarabandi,“butthebottleneckeven-tually becomes the antenna.” It is extremely difficult to make antennas smaller without greatly sacrific-ing theirperformance,yet thegrowingnumberofwireless applications for low-cost, power-efficient, andminiatureelectronicsmakesthisanimportantareaforcontinuedresearch.PerfectingantennasforavarietyofuseshasbeenamainstayofSarabandi’sresearch; he has five patents in the area of antennas, andanothersixinthepatentprocess.

WhenhewasapproachedbyProf.MichaelFlynn,a member of the Center for Wireless IntegratedMicrosystems,tocollaborateonaprojectcreatingminiatureenvironmentalsensors,Kamalcameupwithanovelsolutiontotheproblemofintegratinganon-chipantennawithawirelesstransceiveron

(a) Colossus reflec-torantennaswithhighradiatedpowerfordeep-spacecommuni-cationwillbereplacedwithalargephasedarray of small reflectors andmoderateradiatedpower.(b)TherelativemotionoftheEarthandMoonwilbeusedtoformSyntheticApertureRadar(SAR)imagesoftheMoon’ssurface.Theseimageswillbeemployedascalibrationtargetsforthephasedarray.

A0.3mm2Min-iaturizedX-BandOn-ChipSlotAntennain0.13mmCMOS

(a)

(b)

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aCMOSICwithRFcircuitry.Thebasisforhisso-lutionwasanadaptationoftheslotantenna.Thistiny silicon-compatible antenna is capable of be-ingmass-produced,andhaspotentialapplicationsin remote wireless environmental sensors, cellphones,andlaptops.Sarabandihasalreadybeentalkingwith Intel about using theantennadesignin wireless laptop computers. This breakthroughtechnologyhasbeenfeaturedinEE Times.

MetamaterialsforAntennas

The ability to shrink the size of an antenna whilemaintaining high efficiency is a tremendous chal-lenge,withhighdividends inpotential applications.About five years ago, Prof. Sarabandi began to con-sider the use of artificial materials, called metamateri-als,toachievethisresult.

Working in Prof. John Halloran’s in the MaterialsScienceDepartment,Prof.Sarabandiandhisgrouptookarathersimpleceramicmaterial,similartoacoffeemug,andusedceramicstereolithographytoconstructa3-Dmonolithicmillimeter-waveantennawith a sophisticated computer-generated pattern.Animportantcharacteristicofthismetamaterialisits property of having both artificial permeability (µ) andpermittivity(e), which presents significant po-tentialforadvancingRF/wirelessfront-ends.Kamalisabletocontroltheindexofrefractionindifferentareasof thismetamaterialandactuallyguide thewaveandmakeitdowhathewants.

Pictured to the right is the first Luneberg lens an-tennaconstructedmonolithicallyfromthisceramicmaterial. Potential consumer and military appli-cations includeuseonanaircraftoronamilitaryhumvee,so thatyour laptop,oryoursoldier,canbe in constant communication via satellite. Thishasalreadyresultedinseveralpatentdisclosures.Prof.Sarabandiisworkingtoreachthehighertera-herz range of wavelengths with this technology,whichwouldopenanentirelynewareaofresearcheffort.

Antennasizetendstobedictatedbythefrequencyofthewave;thelowerthefrequency,thelargertheantenna.However,itisnotalwaysfeasibletohaveanantennasize thatcorresponds to the requiredfrequency. For example,Army vehicles have ex-tensive communications requirements with lowfrequency devices, yet it is not safe to outfit these vehicles with large, highly visual antennas. Prof.Sarabandisolvedthisproblembyusingametama-terialknownasReactiveImpedanceSurface(RIS)permittivity substrate, which enables a significantly smaller antenna size on today’s and tomorrow’sArmyvehicles.ThisworkwasrecongnizedwithaBestPaperawardatthe25thArmyScienceConfer-encethispastNovember.

EducatingStudentstoLeadtheWay

Prof.Sarabandisupportsalargenumberofgradu-atestudentstohelphimconductresearchinawidevarietyofareas,someofwhichhavebeenoutlinedabove. “Our students are critical to the work wedohere,”statedKamal,“WeareveryfortunateatMichigantohavesuchhighqualityindividuals.”

Theexcellenceof theirwork,combinedwith theirfocus on areas of high national interest, has re-sulted inahighnumberofstudentpaperawardsatrecentconferences.KarlBrakoraisaPhDcan-didate who has helped advance Kamal’swork inmetamaterials.Alreadyaprizewinnerforapaperin theareaofceramicstereolithography,which isemployed in theLuneberg lensdescribedabove,Brakora recently had his work published in theIEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.Hespentmuchofhistimeinthelabcreatingthesecompletely novel structures. “It’s really quite anaccomplishment,” said Brakora, who appreciatedProf. Sarabandi’s patience through the extensiveexperimentationstagethatgoesintofabricatingacompletelynewstructure.

Prof.Sarabandi’scommitmenttohisstudentswasrecognizedearlyinhiscareerwhenhereceivedaU-MHenryRusselAwardforexcellenceinteach-ingandscholarship.AmyBuerkle,aPhDstudentworking with Kamal on acoustic and electromag-neticwave interaction,appreciateshisdedicationandzeal.She recalled that, “atoneofourmeet-ings,hepresentedasketchofanewideaonthebackofanairlinenapkin.”Aswell as valuinghisdepthofknowledgeandcreativeapproachtosolv-ing problems, she stated, “he has demonstratedthe importance of being well-rounded and usingour ability as engineers to benefit society.”

Prof.SarabandiwantshisstudentstobegintobuildtheircareershereatMichigan,withastrongfoun-dationinthefundamentals.“AlloftheworkthatIdoisfedbylookingatthefundamental issueofhowwave interacts with other material,” stresses Ka-mal.“IwantmystudentstohaveasolidfoundationinordertomoveontonewareasoncetheyleaveMichigan.Withawideanddeepknowledgeofonefield, you can do anything you want.”

Embeddedcircuitmeta-materialanditseffectivepermittivityandperme-abilityasafunctionoffrequency.

Amillimeter-waveLuneberglensfabricatedmonolithicallyusingce-ramicstereolithography.

10

WilliamGouldDowDistinguishedLecture

Sir John Pendry Brings us the Perfect Lens

Sir John Pendry, Chair inTheoretical Solid StatePhysics at Imperial College, London, deliveredthe9thWilliamGouldDowDistinguishedLecture,“ThePerfectLens:ResolutionBeyondtheLimitsofWavelength.”Pendry’stheoreticalworkintheareaof metamaterials, man-made materials that arespeciallycreatedtoevokeuniquephysicalproper-ties,andinparticularmetamaterialswithanegativerefractiveindex(NRI),hasledtoaprescriptionforanopticallensthatwillbeabletofocusonfeaturessignificantly smaller than the wavelength of light.

An interdisciplinary team of faculty have recentlyreceived a $5M five-year grant from the Depart-ment of Defense to develop NRI metamaterials.Theyincludetheteam’sleader,ProfessorRobertoMerlin,ProfessorStephenForrest,andfacultyfromtheDepartmentofMaterialsScience&Engineer-ing,aswellasfourother institutions.OneoftheirgoalsistocreateasuperiormetamaterialthatwillactasPendry’ssuperlens,replacingthetraditionalcurved lens to image extremely small, even na-noscaleobjects.Inaddition,Prof.TonyGrbicoftheRadiationLab is investigatingnewapproaches todevelopingNRImaterialstobroadentheirapplica-tionintoareassuchasimprovedmedicalimagingdevices, new sensor technologies, wireless com-ponents,antennas,andmicrowavedevices.

“Thesemetamaterialspromisetoturnopticsupsidedownbybreakingthroughthe limitsonresolutionimposedbyconventionaltechnology,”saidPendry.NRImetamaterialsarealsopredictedtohaveenor-mous potential in the field of optical data storage andlithography.

PartnershipwithSeoulNationalUniversity

The U-M EECS Department and Seoul NationalUniversity (SNU)SchoolofElectricalEngineeringandComputerSciencehavesignedanagreementto collaborate on graduate education. SNU willsendgraduatestudentstoworkwithEECSfacultyforoneyear,andinviteEECSstudentstoworkwith

SNU faculty. In addition, semi-annual workshopswillbeheldalternativelyatMichiganandatSNU.The first workshop was held at Michigan, February 21, 2007. Profs. Gilchrist, Hayes, Najafi, and Shin willvisitSNUthisMay.

WIMSPlansfortheFuture

TheEngineeringResearchCenterforWirelessIn-tegrated MicroSystems (WIMS ERC), funded bythe National Science Foundation and now in itsseventhyear,ismergingverylow-powerembeddedcomputingandwirelesstechnologywithintegratedsensorstorealizedevicescapableofmeasuringavariety of physical parameters, interpreting them,and communicating wirelessly into larger distrib-utedsystems.Duringthenexttwodecades,suchmicrosystemsareexpectedtobecomepervasive,sparkingrevolutionaryprogressinhealthcare,en-vironmental monitoring, homeland security, andother areas. The Center’s Scientific Advisory Board metonMarch20atU-Mtohelpplanforthefuture.CallingtheWIMSERCatremendoussuccessandaworldleader,theBoardishelpingdevelopaboldvisionthatbuildsonexistingstrengthstotaketheCenter to a whole new level, drawing on univer-sity-wide expertise and national and internationalalliancestotacklethecriticalproblemsofthe21stcentury. The ERC is led by U-M, partners withMichigan State and Michigan Tech, and is aidedby the efforts of six outreach universities and 18companies.WithalliancesinAsiaandEurope,itin-cludes118doctoralresearchprojectsinvolving190undergraduateand174graduatestudents.

BrianGilchristandJaeHongLee(Director,SchoolofElectricalEngineering)signapartnershipagreementbetweenEECSandSNU.Standing:AmyConger(CoEInt.Programs),EECSfacultyJohnHayesandKangShin,StellaPang(Assoc.Dean,GraduateEdu-cation),SNUfacultyHeonsikShin,SongWookLee,andByungKookPark,andSNUgraduatestudent,SeongjaeCho.

L:BrianGilchrist,SirJohnPendry,DuncanSteel,RobertoMerlin

Dep

artm

ent

New

s

The WIMS ERC Scientific Advisory Board at their meeting on March 20, 2007. From left: Ken Wise,LarryBurns(GM),GilHerrera(SandiaNationalLabs.),Chih-MingHo(UCLA),RobertNer-em(GaTech),SandipTiwari(Cornell),andKhalilNajfai.KurtPetersen(SiTime,LLC)attendedbyphone;JimPatrick(CochlearCorp.)couldnotattendduetopreviouscommitmentsinAustralia.

11

FACULTYHONORSANDAWARDS

EECSandCoEAwards

EECSOutstandingAchievementAward

CollegeofEngineeringEducationExcellenceAward

DavidKieras,CSEprofessor,foroverallexcellenceintheed-ucationofEECSstudents.Heiswell-known forhisdemand-ing yet very popular under-graduate course, EECS 381:Object-OrientedandAdvancedProgramming. During inter-views,recruitershavebeenknowntoaskourstu-dentswhethertheyhavetakenthiscourse.

UniversityAwards

PeterChennamedArthurF.ThurnauProfessor

Prof.PeterChenreceivedaU-MArthurF.ThurnauProfes-sorshipforhisoutstandingcontributionstoundergradu-ateeducation.Inadditiontoreceivingconsistentlyout-standingstudentevaluations,hisnewly-createdfreshmen

course,Microprocessors and Music,wasanim-mediatehitwithstudents.Inthiscourse,studentteamsbuildamusicsynthesizerinjustoneterm.AmemberofboththeSoftwareSystemsLabandtheAdvancedComputerArchitectureLab,Prof.

Chen’scurrentresearchusesvirtualmachinestoprovidesecurityservices.

MohammedIslamreceives2007DistinguishedUniversityInnovatorAward

Prof. Mohammed Islam is thefirst recipient of the Distin-guished University InnovatorAward for his development ofabreakthroughtechnology,hisexperience with tech-transfer,and his commitment to edu-cating students about entre-preneurship and intellectual property protection.Hepresented the lecture, “AnEngineer’sViewofStart-Ups,” to theUniversitycommunity inMarch.Thisnewaward recognizes facultywhohaveex-celledinbringingresearchinnovationstothemar-ketplace.Islam’scurrentresearchinterestsincludemid-infraredlasersourcesandtheirapplicationsinfiber-to-the-home, advanced semiconductor pro-cesscontrol,combustionmonitoring,infraredcoun-ter-measures, chemical sensing and bio-medicalselectivelaserablation.

MarthaPollackearns2007SarahGoddardPowerAward

Prof. Martha Pollack, associ-ate chair of the CSE division,received the Sarah GoddardPower Award for her significant contributions to thebettermentofwomenthroughdistinguishedleadership, scholarship, andother related activities. Prof.Pollackconducts research inautomatedplanningandnaturallanguageprocessing.

KenWiseGivesHenryRusselLecture

Prof. Ken Wise, the WilliamGould Dow Distinguished Uni-versityProfessorofEECS,ReidandPollyAndersonProfessorofManufacturingTechnology,anddirectoroftheCenterforWire-less Integrated Microsystems(WIMS), presented the talk,“WIMS: Sparking Breakthroughs in Health Careand theGlobalEnvironment,”March13,2007, totheUniversitycommunity.Wisediscussed there-searchadvancesmadepossiblethroughtheWIMSCenter,whichcombinessensors,electronics,andwirelesstechnologytoimprovehealthcare(throughcochlear implantsandcorticalmicrosystems), theenvironment(bymeasuringairquality),andhome-landsecurity(byusingsensorstodetectthreats).TheHenryRusselLectureshipisoneofthehighesthonorsbestowedonafacultymemberbytheU-M.

JamiePhillips,ECEprofessor,inrecognitionofoverallexcellenceinresearch,teaching,andservice.

JimFreudenberg,SystemsLabDirector,inrecognitionofhishighlysuccessfulandlong-standingcourseEECS461:EmbeddedControlSystems.

BrianNoble,CSEprofessor,inrecognitionofhisextensiverevisionandsuccessfulteach-ingofthecourse,EECS280:ProgrammingandIntro.DataStructures.

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DemosTeneketzisreceives2007RackhamDistinguishedGraduateStudentMentoringAward

Demos Teneketzis receivedthisaward forhissustainedef-forts and accomplishments asa mentor of doctoral students.

Prof.Teneketzisconductsresearch intheareasofstochastic control, decentralized systems, queuingand communication networks, stochastic schedul-ingandresourceallocationproblems,mathematicaleconomics,anddiscrete-eventsystems.

NationalandProfessionalHonorsandAwards

ACALReceivesMicroprocessorReportAnalysts’ChoiceAward

TheAdvanced ComputerArchitecture Laboratory(ACAL) received a 2006 MPR Analysts’ Choice

Award in the newly cre-ated category, Innova-tion. ACAL was namedwith industrial partnerARM,Ltd.forintroducingand implementing thetechnology called Ra-zor,whichMPRcited“is

relevanttopowerconsumptionandtheconceptoffuturecomputingingeneral.”

PallabBhattacharyareceivesPioneerAwardinNanotechnology

Prof. Pallab Bhattacharya,CharlesM.VestDistinguishedUniversity Professor andJames R. Mellor ProfessorofEngineering, is theco-win-ner (with Prof. Mark Reed ofYale University) of the first IEEE Nanotechnology Coun-cil (NTC)PioneerAward inNanotechnology.Thisaward was created to recognize individuals whohave had a significant impact on the field of nan-otechnology. He will receive the award at IEEE-NANO2007.

JohnLairdnamed2006ACMFellow

John Laird, professor in theArtificial Intelligence Lab, was namedaFellowoftheAssocia-tion for Computing Machinery(ACM),“Forcontributionstothedevelopmentandapplicationofcognitivearchitectures.”

FawwazUlabyelectedtoAAAS

Professor Fawwaz Ulaby, Ar-thurF.ThurnauProfessorandR.JamisonandBettyWilliamsProfessor of Engineering, wasrecently elected to the Ameri-can Association for the Ad-vancementofScience (AAAS)for his outstanding contribu-

tions to microwave remote sensing, electromag-neticscatteringandforhisleadershipinengineer-ingeducation.

SteveForrestreceivesIEEEDanielE.NobleAward

Stephen R. Forrest, U-M VicePresidentforResearchandtheWilliam Gould Dow CollegiateProfessor of Electrical Engi-neering, was named a co-re-cipientofthe2007IEEEDanielE.NobleAward,forpioneeringcontributions to the develop-

ment of organic light emitting diodes.The awardrecognizesoutstandingcontributions toemergingtechnologies.

Jessy Grizzle included in Scientific Ameri-can50

Prof. Jessy Grizzle has beenselected for inclusion in the2006 Scientific American 50 for hisworkinrobotics.Thispres-tigious list honors the top 50outstanding leaders inscienceandtechnologyduringthepastyear.HisworkwiththerobotRABBITenablesittowalkandbalancelikeahuman,whichisrelevanttofuturemedicalapplicationssuchasprostheticsthatadapttothewearerandphysicalrehabilitationaids.

YoungFacultyAwards

DARPAYoungFacultyAward

JamiePhillips,amemberoftheSolid-State Electronics Labora-tory,wasawardedaprestigiousYoung FacultyAward from theDefense Advanced Research

ProjectsAgency (DARPA),MicrosystemsTechnol-ogy Office (MTO) for his proposed research titled, “OxideElectronicsforIntegratedMicrosystemsandDisplays.”TheYoungFacultyAwardisgiventofac-ultywhoproposerevolutionaryresearchideasthatarecriticaltofuturetechnologydevelopments.

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NSFCareerAwards

Three EECS faculty members have recentlybeenawardedNSFFacultyEarlyCareerDevel-opment(CAREER)awards.TheCAREERawardisNSF’smostprestigiousawardinsupportoffacultyintheearlyyearsoftheircareer,andisintendedtoespeciallypromotethoseteacher-scholars who most effectively integrate re-searchandeducation.

DomitillaDelVecchio,amem-beroftheSystemsLaboratory,received funding for her proj-ect, “APartialOrderApproachtoDynamicFeedbackinMulti-agent Decision and ControlSystems.”Herresearchwillex-tendourcurrentabilitytobuild

safeandreliablelargescalemulti-agentsystems,with potential impact on railway and air traffic con-trolsystems,intelligenttransportationsystems,andlargerobotteamsinadversarialenvironments.

Z. Morley Mao, a member oftheSoftwareSystemsLabora-tory, received funding for herproject, “Intent-based NetworkManagement.” Her researchwill advance the state of theart in managing IP networksby addressing key challengesin achieving automated, evolv-able,androbustnetworkman-agement.

Petar Momcilovic, a memberof the Systems Laboratory, re-ceived funding for his project,“Scalability Limits of WirelessNetworks.”Large-scalewirelessnetworksareprojectedtodomi-natetheinformationtechnologysectorinthefuture,givingriseto

anewsetofresearchproblemsonscalability.Themaingoalofthisprojectistodevelopanessentialunderstandingoftheimpactoflargescalesontheperformanceofwirelessnetworks.

Stu

den

tN

ews ElectricalEngineeringstudents

participateinSpaceElevatorGames

TheUniversityofMichiganMClimber teammadehistoryattheInternationalSpaceElevatorGames,when they were thefirst team to climb the tetherall theway to thetop, and make it backdown. They did this ona blustery day that keptall other competitors atbay until the wind dieddownthenextday.Sev-eralEECSstudentspar-ticipated on the team,including Kwan ChongTan (Power and Electri-cal subsystem leader),Mustafa Rangwala, andEEgraduatestudentChrisDeline,whoworkedonthesolarpanelswhichpoweredthecrawler.

MRacingFormulaSAETeamRacestotheFinish

Jeff Lovell, BSE CE ‘06 and current graduatestudent, joined the MRacing Formula SAE(SocietyofAutomotiveEngineers)teamasafresh-manin2002.Lookingforsomethingtotinkerwithasacounterpointtohiscomputerstudies,hesaidhequicklyfoundhimselfinthemachineshop“shapingmetalintoshinyparts.Iwashooked.”Hebecame

ChassisLeaderin2004andProgramManagerin2005.Thisseemed likeagoodtimetoretire,butwhenthe2006teamfounditselfwithoutanElec-tronicsLeader,heassumedtheresponsibility.

The team had a great showing in 2006, earningthirdplaceoverallat theFSAEEastCompetition,third at FSAE Japan, and third at the first annual FISITA(InternationalFederationofAutomotiveEn-gineering Societies) FSAE World Cup. They arealreadygearingupforthe2007competition.

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RaithMicrographAward

Swapnajit Chakravarty received the 2006 RaithMicrograph Award. His winning micrograph wasofametallicnano-air-bridgecontacttoanarrayofH2photoniccrystal (PC)microcavities.Swapnajitrecently defended his PhD thesis, “Two dimen-sionalPhotonicCrystalSlabLightEmitters,LightEmitting Arrays and Chemical Sensors,” underProf.PallabBhattacharya,andiscurrentlyanAp-plicationsDevelopmentEngineeratKLA-TencorinSanJose,CA.

HKNReceivestheOutstandingChapterAwardfor2005-06

TheBetaEpsilonchapterofEtaKappaNu,whichis U-M’s student chapter of the national Electri-cal and Computer Engineering Honor Society, isa recipientof theOutstandingChapterAward for2005–06,thesecondyear inarowitearnedthisprestigioushonor.

3rdAnnualCSEHonorsCompetition

Celebrating some ofthebestresearchandpresentations amongCSE graduate stu-dents—faculty andstudentswerepresentfor the final presenta-tions and announce-mentofthewinnersatthe 3rd annual CSEHonors Competition,October 19, 2006.

RepresentativesfromGoogle,whichsponsorsthecompetition, were present to help judge the four fi-nalists from each major area in CSE. First placewenttoSandeepTata(software),2ndplacetoZa-

herAndraus(hardware),andhonorablementionstoXuanZheng(theory)andYevgeniyVorobeychik(artificial intelligence).

StudentsDisplayClassProjectsatDesignExposition

DavidLiuandAdamSchremsshowofftheirworkat the Fall 2006 College of Engineering DesignExposition.LiuandSchrems,bothundergraduatestudents inComputerEngineering,aredisplayingtheir senior-levelproject,SensorNet,asystem towirelesslymonitorandcontrolahome.NotshownareteammembersEricMooreandNeilPankey.

Liu appreciated the opportunity to present theteam’s work at the Design Exposition, and hehopesotherswill takeadvantage thecourse,Ad-vancedEmbeddedSystems.Alsopresentingproj-ectsattheDesignExpositionwereteammembersAndrewCramer,DavidMasselink,JacobMcCrary,and Jeffrey Rogers, who displayed their Solar Car Micro-Controller System,andPritpaulMahal,DouglasLi,andDavidMiller,whodisplayed theiriBrick MP3 Player.

UndergraduateStudentAwards

EECSOutstandingAchievementAward

PaulCooper,CEBrettHiggins,CSKwanChongTan,EE

EECSOutstandingResearchAward

JosephSteinmeyer,EEAdamBarnett,EE,HonorableMention

EECSOutstandingServiceAward

EricMoore,CE/EE

EECSEntrepreneurshipAward

DanielFeldman,CSZaneSalim,CE

CurrentLeadership(fromleft):ErinThomas(Events),CristinaMota(Operations),MattFojtik(CorrespondingSec.),PaulCooper(VP),CindyTseng(Projects),NanLi(President)

L:XuanZheng,SandeepTata,ZaherAndraus,YevgeniyVorobeychik

KwanChongTan—TakingAdvantageofOpportunities

CoEMildred&SteeleBaileyPrize

EECSOutstandingAchievementAward

Asenior electrical engineering student, Kwan

ChongTan has broadened his academic ex-

periencethroughlong-termteamprojects,competi-

tions, study-abroad,Alternative Spring Break, and

researchprojectswith faculty.Withall thisactivity,

he has somehow maintained a perfect academic

record.

Kwan came to U-M wanting to experience re-

search—so he explored the U-M Undergraduate

Research Opportunity Program. Here he was introduced to the Student

SpaceSystemsFabricationLab,orS3FL.Hewassoldonthespaceeleva-

torMClimberproject,forwhichhebecametheleadofthePowerandElectri-

calsubsystemteam.Hedescribesdaysandcountlessnightsspentinthe

lab with his teammates to ensure the robot met the required specifications,

andwasrewardedwithatriptothecompetitioninLasCruces,NM.“Itwas

anamazingandextremelyenrichingexperiencewhichIwillcherishforever,”

saidKwan.“Itwasareallearningexperienceinteamwork,leadership,de-

termination,andperseverance.”

Wantingtoexperiencecutting-edgeresearch,heappliedforanundergradu-

ateresearchopportunitywithWIMS,andhasbeenworkingonaprojectwith

Prof. Yogesh Gianchandani in the field of MEMS. Last summer, he returned

hometoSingapore,andresearchedsensorfusiontechnologiesandalgo-

rithmsforanindoorsemi-autonomousfour-wheeledrobot.

KwanhastraveledtoMissouriandLouisianatohelpunderprivilegedchil-

dren,andtorebuildhomesstillshowingtheravagesofHurricaneRita.He

spentasummerinChinawiththeCollegeofEngineering’sStudyAbroad

programtakingcoursesatShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity,andthenworking

forDelphiAutomotiveSystems.

Askedhowhemanageshismanyactivitieswithcoursework,hesaidheis

suretoattendallofhisclassesanddiscussiongroups,andhedoesallhis

homework!KwanwillcontinuewithgraduatestudyateitherMITorStanford,

withafocusontechnologymanagement.

WilliamL.EverittStudentAwardofExcellence

ShaunCox,CSChristopherHsiong,CEEdwinKek,EE

RichardK.BrownScholarship

PaulPiong,EEJeffVautin,EE

CoEMildred&SteeleBaileyPrize

KwanChongTan,EE

CoEMarianSarahParkerPrize

AlexRutkowski,CS

CoEHenryFordIIDistinguishedClassPrize

JosephSteinmeyer,EE

CoEDistinguishedLeadershipAward

AyushAgarwal,CSEricMoore,CE/EE

CoEWilliamHarveySeeleyPrize

BrentClimans,EEAlfredEng,EEJohnTreumuth,EE

CoEDistinguishedAchievementAward

AdamGoodman,CEEricWucherer,CSRajivPrabhakar,EE

GraduateStudentAwards

CoEDistinguishedAchievementAward

JonathanBrown,CSEDaHanLiao,EERaghuRangarajan,EE:Systems

RackhamPredoctoralFellowships

FrancescoAndriulli,EEAdityaMahajan,EE:SystemsYuanyuanTian:CSE

BarbourScholarship

DanRuan,EE:Systems

2006RackhamDistinguishedDissertationAward

Guoqing(Noah)Chang,ElectricalEngineer-ing,Optics, for hisdissertation, “NonlinearPropagationsandHighPowerTHzGenera-tionsUsingUltrashortPulses.”

Snapshotsofouraward-winningstudents

EECS students reach the pinnacle of their undergradu-

ate experience in diverse ways—including involvement

instudentprojects,studentsocieties,andresearch.Here

aretheuniqueexperiencesandaccomplishmentsofthree

ofouraward-winningundergraduatestudents.

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JosephSteinmeyer—UnderstandingTechnology,andLife

EECSOutstandingResearchAward

HenryFordIIDistinguishedClassPrize

JosephSteinmeyerisanaturalengineer.Sonof

anengineerandanurse,hemovedfromwork-

ing on simple robotics and trains, to building the

100circuitsinthebackofthebook,Getting Started

in Electronics.

Asa teenager,heearnedpocketmoney repairing

electronicaudioequipment,anddiscoveredhisidol,

JackKilby,at theageof14—thesameyearKilby

won theNoblePrize inPhysics forhispart in the

inventionoftheintegratedcircuit.WhatSteinmeyer

foundinspiringaboutKilbywashishumility.“Hewas

selfless,” Joe said of Kilby. “He felt that the world

wouldhaveprogressedwithouthim,thathewasjust

avesselthroughwhichengineeringhappened.”

WhenhegottoMichigan,allthepiecesofhisac-

quiredknowledgebegantofall inplace.“Classes

likeEECS215,320/421,and330havebeen like

semester-longepiphanies,”saidJoseph. “When I

finally learned what happened to a band diagram

whenann-typeandap-typematerialarebrought

together,itwasalmostlikediscoveringthemean-

ingoflife.”

Now,heusesreal-lifeprocessestoinformhisre-

search.JoeworkswithProf.MichelMaharbizand

graduatestudentRubaBornoonaresearchproject

thatmodelsthebehavioroffernsspreadingspores

tocreateadevicethatwillgenerateelectricitysim-

ply through the process of evaporation. Joe has

beenworkingintheMaharbizgroupforayear,and

says,“Ifoundittobeasvaluableanexperience,if

notmoreso,thananysingleclassIhavetakenat

thisuniversity.”Joeisstillajunior,yetalreadyisco-

authorofajournalandaconferencepaper.

ItseemsthatJoehasfoundhisniche.Heisdrawn

to the methodology of this research, specifically

using nature to solve engineering problems, and

already anticipates pursuing an interdisciplinary

approachtoresearchinelectricalengineeringthat

will reach into the fields of biology and medicine.

AlexRutkowski—LeadingtheWay

MarianSarahParkerUndergraduatePrize

AlexMarieRutkowskiisusedtoleadingtheway.

SalutatorianofherhighschoolinTrenton,MI,

andco-captainof thevarsityvolleyball team,she

cametoMichiganlookingforachallenge.

ThesemestershewasinductedintotheEECSHon-

or Society, Eta Kappa Nu (HKN),Alex was voted

most active electee, and quickly became an officer.

Alexknowsthattheheartofanorganizationisits

people.WhenshebecamepresidentofEtaKappa

Nu, she brought the officers together often so they

couldworkmoredynamicallyandcomfortablyas

ateam.Shearrangedtotravelwithherfellowof-

ficers to the annual HKN Regional Conference, a

first for Michigan’s chapter of HKN.

Hereffortstogetpeopletoworktogethertrulypaid

off when HKN and fellow student society IEEE

planned to merge their long-standing donut and

bagelstandsinpreparationfortherenovationsof

theEECSatrium.Alexcoordinatedgettingthetwo

societiestodrawupacontractdetailinghowthey

would operate their new joint venture, bringing a

peacefulclosetoadecades-longfriendlyrivalry.

Alexstated,“myleadershipexperienceinEtaKap-

paNuwasoneofmymostvaluablelearningexpe-

riencesattheUniversity.”

Alex participated in a wide variety of activities to

serve others through her sorority, Delta Gamma,

andparticipatedinAlternativeSpringBreak(ASB)

herfreshmanyear.ASBisayearlongexperience

that offers students the opportunity to develop

leadershipskillswhileservingindividualsandcom-

munitiesinneed.

Sherosetoadifferenttypeofchallengeduringa

summer internship at Intel Corp., where she re-

ceived a bonus for exceeding expectations. At

anotherinternshipatBloombergL.P.inNewYork

City, she developed a taste for working in the finan-

cialsector.

Alex’sgoal—tocontinuetobechallenged,andto

lead, in the world of high finance and technology.

She will embark on this new journey at a financial

consulting firm in Chicago.

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With this newsletter we enter the fifth year

of the EECS Alumni Society. There are

now many more EECS alumni than

when we first started and we continue our work to

make a Michigan degree in EECS an increasingly

valuable commodity. How? Though the power of

networking—that is, social networking!

If you are reading this issue and thinking back about

the great times you had at Michigan then this column

is for you. If you are a current student and have just

picked up a copy of this newsletter, then this column

is for you too. Here’s how you can (or will be able to)

plug in to the powerful EECS Alumni network.

Attending Michigan is about more than just getting

a great education, it’s a unique life experience that

builds connections to last a lifetime. And it’s these

connections, these ties, that are even more meaning-

ful if you take advantage of them. How can you do

that? Two words: Find and be Findable.

It likely won’t surprise you that the University has a

database of everyone who ever attended Michigan.

It may surprise you, however, to know that you have

access to it! It’s called InCircle and you can search it

and use it to reach out to anyone you choose.

Intrigued? Give it a try. Start out by using InCircle to

look up an old friend. You can access it on the web

by visiting http://alumni.umich.edu/ and clicking on

the maize and blue ‘InCircle’ box at the bottom left

of the page.

Feel free to look me up and add me as a friend (I’m

Steve Schwartz BSECO ‘89, not ‘the other’ Steve

Schwartz). Better yet, join the club! Find the group

‘EECS Alumni’ and join us.

This brings us to “findability.” O’Reilly press has

published a great book called Ambient Findability

—What We Find Changes Who We Become by Peter

Morville. The bottom line is that search is about both

finding and being found. If you create a rich profile,

and a rich network, you’ll be more findable and will

continue to increase the value and potential of your

EECS affiliation.

Stay true and go blue!

Steve Schwartz, President

EECS Dept. Alumni Society

stevschw@umich.edu

AllontheEECSAlumnimembershippagesat

https://www.eecs.umich.edu/eecs/alumni/membership.html

StudentsManyEECSalumnihavevolunteeredtobeon-linementors.Contact

them to find out about different careers, or to ask questions about

theircompany,wheretheylive—anythingyouneedtoknow.

AlumniContactfriendsyouhaven’tspokentoinawhile.Signupasapo-

tentialmentorforourstudents,orrecentalumni.Manyofyouhave

alreadysignedup—Thankyou!

AlumniSocietyPresident’sMessage

Stay Connected • Reach Out to Others • Find a Mentor

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Alu

mn

iNew

s 2006CollegeofEngineeringAlumniSocietyMeritAwards

ElectricalandComputerEngineering

George I. Haddad (BSE EE ‘56, MSE ‘58, PhD‘63), Robert J. Hiller Professor Emeritus of Elec-trical Engineering and Computer Science, retiredfromtheDepartmentin2005.

His long and distinguished career at the Univer-sity of Michigan spans almost five decades of re-markableachievementandleadershipinresearch,teaching,serviceandadministration.

When Prof. Haddad was still a graduate stu-dent,therenownedprofessorWilliamGouldDow(1895-1999)recognizedhisuniqueabilitytocom-municatecomplexconceptsinacomprehensibleway—soheregularlybroughtvisitorsbyGeorge’sdesk tohearabouthis latest researchactivities.Later, he also made certain Prof. Haddad washiredasafacultymember.

Prof.Haddadquicklyassumedapositionoflead-ershipasDirectoroftheElectronPhysicsLabora-tory (1969 to 1975), and later as Director of theSolid-State Electronics Laboratory (1986-1991),andDirectoroftheCenterforHighFrequencyMi-croelectronics (1986-2000). He served for nearly20yearsasDepartmentChairbetweentheyears1975-1997.

Duringhistenureasdepartmentchair,thedepart-ment grew significantly in both reputation and size and established itself among the top five depart-mentsinthecountry.Hewasinstrumentalinform-ingthecurrentdepartmentfromthreeexistingde-partmentsandprograms.“Itisverygratifyingtobehonoredbymycolleagues,”hestated,“particularlyafterservingthemforsomanyyears.”

Prof.Haddad is internationally recognized forhisresearchandexpertiseinmicrowaveandmillime-ter-wave devices and integrated circuits, micro-wave-optical interactions and optoelectronic de-vices,and integratedcircuits.He isalsoahighlyrespected educator, having graduated nearly 60Ph.D.students,manyofwhomhavebecomedis-tinguishededucatorsandindustryleaders.Inrec-ognition of this accomplishment, he received theDistinguishedEducatorAwardof theIEEEMicro-waveTheoryandTechniquesSociety(1996).Pro-fessorHaddadisaFellowoftheIEEEandaMem-beroftheNationalAcademyofEngineering.

ComputerScienceandEngineering

DanielP.Siewiorek(BSEEE‘68)isdirectoroftheHuman-Computer Interaction Institute, and BuhlUniversity Professor of Electrical and ComputerEngineering and Computer Science at CarnegieMellonUniversity.

Prof.Siewiorektrulyenjoyedbeingbackoncam-pus. “Seeing faculty who where here in my un-dergraduatedaysandwhoarestillactivewasanamazing testimonial to the loyaltyanddedicationof Michigan faculty. Keki Irani taught me my first course incomputingandsetmeonmypathtoacareerincomputerengineeringeducationandre-search.Also,itwasgreatmeetingthemorerecentfacultywhomIhavewatchedmatureandwhoarecarryingontheMichigantradition.”

Thoughhewentontoearnhismaster’sandPhDdegreesfromStanford,hestillkeenlyremembershisintenseundergraduateyearsatMichigan.“ThebroadbasededucationIreceivedrangingfromcir-cuits to computers, thermodynamics to machinedesign, and Engineering English to philosophynotonlytaughtmehowtolearnbutalsogaveme

DavidC.Munson,Jr.(Dean,Engineering),GeorgeI.Haddad,BrianE.Gilchrist(EECSInterimChair)

DavidC.Munson,Jr.(Dean,Engineering),DanielP.Siewiorek,MarthaPollack(AssociateChair,CSEDivision)

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gan.TheUniversityofMichigananditspartnershipwith Merit Networks provided a unique networkresearch and operations environment. This envi-ronmentledtothedevelopmentoftechnologythatwas applicable to real-world problems on a real-world scale. This type of technology is the foun-dation for any successful commercial enterprise,Arborincluded.”

AlumniSocietyDistinguishedServiceAward

RobertD.Scott (BSECE ‘75) is vicepresident,Innovation &Architecture,Global Busi-ness Services,Procter&Gam-ble Company.Mr. Scott hasdistinguishedh i m s e l fthroughout his30-year careerwith Procter &Gamble,begin-ning as a sys-tems analyst,and ultimatelyworkinginvirtuallyeverybusinessareawithinthecompany implementing information systems andintegratingnewbusinessunits.Hehasalsoover-seen the global consolidation of the company’scomputingandcommunicationsinfrastructure.

HerecentlyspentfouryearsinBelgiummanagingP&G’sITservicesforEurope,theMiddleEastandAfrica.Hestated,“Itwasarealcomingout,learn-inghowtobeacitizenoftheworld,whichisverydifferentthanbeingaU.S.citizenleadingaglobalorganization.”

ScottsaidofhisU-Meducation,“Michigantaughtme how to learn. It’s not about the specifics—frank-lyIrarelyusethose—buthowtocontinuallylearn.”After his surprising zero on a chemistry quiz, helearnedhowtostudyandmadeDean’s listeveryquarter.

Mr.ScottisanactivememberoftheCoE’sMinor-ity Engineering Program Office (MEPO) Advisory Council.HehasbeenchairoftheMEPOboardofdirectorssincetheorganization’sinceptionin1998.Mr. Scott is also involved in several youth initia-tivesintheCincinnatiarea.HehasbeennamedaCincinnati Black Achiever, and received a Cin-cinnati Imagemaker award in 1998 for businessachievement.

Credits: Article by Kimberlee Roth in F/W2002 Michigan Engineer, and CoE

perspectivetoleadinterdisciplinaryteamsencom-passingallofthosedisciplinesandmore.”

Dr. Siewiorek currently leads an interdisciplinaryteam thathasdesignedandconstructedover20generationsofmobilecomputingsystems.Inaddi-tion,hehelpedtoinitiateandguidetheCm*proj-ectthatculminatedinanoperational50-processormultiprocessorsystem.Hehasdesignedorbeeninvolved with the design of nine multiprocessorsystemsandhasbeenakeycontributortothede-pendabilitydesignofover twodozencommercialcomputingsystems.Herecentlyreceivedthe2006Outstanding Contribution Award from ACM SIG-MOBILEforpioneeringandfundamentalcontribu-tionstowearableandcontext-awarecomputing.

Dr.Siewiorekhaswritteneighttextbooksinthear-easofparallelprocessing,computerarchitecture,reliablecomputing,anddesignautomation.He isa Fellow of IEEE,ACM, and is a member of theNationalAcademyofEngineering.

RecentEngineeringGraduateAward

G.RobertMalan(MSECSE‘96,PhD‘00)ischieftechnology of-ficer and vice presidentofAr-bor Networks.Dr. Malan hass u c c e s s f u l l ytransferred cut-ting-edge re-searchfromhisdaysasagrad-uate studentintoafast-grow-ing networksecurity com-pany that pro-vides productsand solutions

forprotectingnetworkserviceprovidersand largeenterprises against cyber-threats.Arbor Networkswas recently recognizedby Inc.magazineas the9th fastest-growing private company in America.Dr.MalanfoundedthecompanyArborNetworksin2000 with his thesis advisor, Prof. Farnam Jaha-nian.

WhenRobwasoncampus,hevisitedhisfriendsandcolleaguesinCSEandsaid,“Ithoughtthenewbuildingwasfantastic!Ireallylikedtheamountofnaturallightthatpervadesboththepublicandper-sonalareas.”

OfhistimeatMichigan,Dr.Malansaid,“Thereisnodoubt thatoneof themainreasonsArborhasbeensosuccessfulstemsdirectlyfromtheexperi-encethatIgainedasagraduatestudentatMichi-

G.RobertMalan,DavidC.Mun-son,Jr.(Dean,Engineering)

RobertD.Scott,DavidC.Mun-son,Jr.(Dean,Engineering)

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WilliamH.GordonJr.,MD(BSE’47)hasretiredafter44yearsofpracticeofNuclearMedicine.Hehopestoattendthe60thClassReunioninAnnAr-borthisyear.

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BarrettHazeltine(PhDEE’63)iscurrentlyteach-ingatAfricaUniversityinMutare,ZimbabwewhileonleavefromBrownUniversity.Hetellsus,“Thesun is warm; colleagues and students equallywarm-hearted; the inflation rate is an astonishing 1500%;weareenjoyingit.”

Though Dr. Hazeltine only mentioned his currentworkinAfrica,theeditordiscoveredthatheisPro-fessor Emeritus at Brown University, and he stillteaches.From1972to1992,hewasalsoassociatedeanoftheCollege.Hisresearchinterestsincludeengineeringmanagement,technologyplanninges-pecially indevelopingcountries, teachingof tech-nologyforliberalartsstudents,anddigitalcomput-ers.HehasspentseveralyearsteachinginAfricaduringthe70’sand80’s,andhastaughtinseveralother foreign countries, including Indonesia, ThePhilippines, and Thailand. Hazeltine has writtentextbooks on electronic circuit design and small-scale technologies. He received thirteen teaching

awards fromseniorclassesatBrown. In fact, theaward now bears his name: the Hazeltine SeniorCitationawardforexcellenceinteaching,guidance,andsupport.HeisaTrusteeofStevensInstituteofTechnologyandsitsonseveraladvisoryboards.

Dr. Galal Elsayed Ahmed Khadr (MS EE ‘68)fondly remembers those “nicedays inMichigan.”He is Chairman of the Computer Department atArabOpenUniversity-Jeddah-SaudiArabia.

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SuzanneM. (DeSmet)Kelly (BSCCS ’75;alsoMASCS1980BostonUniversity)hasbeenwork-ing at Sandia National Laboratories since 1980.She is a distinguished member of technical staffandspecializes in systemsoftware formassivelyparallelhighperformancecomputingsystems.Shecurrently leads the software team for the secondfastest computer in the world, Red Storm (seehttp://www.top500.org/lists/2006/11 and http://www.sandia.gov/ASC/redstorm.html). This com-puter integrates 13,728 commodityAMD proces-sors,over41terabytesofmemory,andacustom,high performance 3-D mesh network intercon-nect.Usingmessagingpassingalgorithms (MPI),a single application, running on the 12,920 com-puteprocessors,cancooperatetosolveorsimu-late a scientific problem. The ability to distribute and scale a problem across thousands of nodesrequiressomespecializedsystemsoftware.Ahall-markof thesystemsoftwareonRedStorm is itslightweight kernel operating system,Catamount.Catamount functionality is limitedtotheminimumset to support scientific applications. Suzanne let usknowthatshe isgrateful forhowherU-MCSdegreehelpedherwithhercareer.

AndrewLinnell (BSE’72,MSECICE’73)worksforEMCinHopkinton,MAasaTechnicalConsul-tant.PriortothishewasCTOofanAustin,TXstart-up, OmegaBand. His empty nest, created whenhisthirdchildgraduatedfromcollegein2006,hasbeen refilled. Andrew remarried in 2006 and now has two exchange students and a mother-in-lawlivinginhishappyhomeinHudson,MA.

Prof.Hazeltine(right)andhisfriend,whoisbuildinghisownhouseusingappropriatetechnology.

SueKellywiththeRedStormComputer

ViewofthecampusofAfricanUniversity.Thebuild-ingwiththeconeisthechapel.

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BruceW.Sanderson(BSE EE ’74, MSE’76) is retiring fromFordMotorCompanyafter30+yearsworkin the Dearborn En-gineeringandCorpo-ratedatacenters.

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LarryAaronson(BSEEE’87)attendedlawschoolatU.ofIllinoisinChampaign.Hesays,“Ihavebeenpracticingpatentlaw(withafocusonwirelesstele-comtechnology)sincethenandhavebeenaseniorpartner at the firm of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert &BerghoffLLPsince1999. Ihavealsobeenanactivecastmemberof,andwriterfor,theChicagoBarAssociation’sannual“ChristmasSpiritsShow.”Twoyearsago,IoperatedaKermittheFrogpup-petandsangaduettothetuneof“RainbowCon-nection”—inaKermitvoice(seephoto).Thispastyear,IplayedthetitleroleofKing Tort.Ihavetwoadorablekids,Lindsey (9)andAdam (5),andanamazingwife,Holly.”

DavidBoundy(MSECCS’83)is married toDr. Jane Ep-stein in NewYork, NY. HeandJanehaveadaughter,Lil-lian. David isa patent attor-ney at CantorFitzgerald.Hispracticerelatesto electronic

trading systems, financial instruments and struc-tures, and other financial services innovations. Da-vid obtains patents, and advises on infringementandvalidityissues.

Michele(Craven)Nicholas(BSE,EE’86)ispleasedtoannounce that her daugh-ter Renee’s youth robot-ics team, the Gothic LawnGnomes(www.gothiclawng-nomes.org), has won first place in the WashingtonState 2006 FIRST LEGOLeague (FLL) competition,and will be competing inthe international FLL WorldFestivalinthespring.Theseten middle school age kidsworkedtogethertodesignarobot, built from the LEGONXT kit, that could autono-mouslycompleteaseriesofpredetermined, nanotech-nology-related missions.They also spent time re-viewing current research in nanotechnology, andpresented to theFLL judges their idea foranewgumthatusesnanobotstocleanplaqueandtartarfromyourteeth.Renee,theonlygirlonherteam,iscurrentlyworkingonanimprovementtooneofthe robot’s attachments in preparation for the in-ternationalcompetition.Sheenjoys thechallengeoftacklingthe“impossible”mission,thedynamicsofworkingwithagroup,andtheopportunitytoputhertheaterskillstoworkonthepresentation.Sheplans toparticipateagainnextyear in this inspir-ing program developed by FIRST, a not-for-profit publiccharitythat“designsaccessible, innovativeprograms that motivate young people to pursueeducation and career opportunities in science,technology, engineering, and math, while build-ing self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.” Renee’sFLL teammates includeMercuryHerlan,grandsonofGlennO.Dentel(BSEM’63),andAlar-icSawade,sonofRennieSawade(UM-FBSCS’86) and Vickie Sawade (UM-F BS MTH ’92), aswellassevenotherboysfromtheSeattlearea.

Michelehasspentmostofhercareerservingupcustomdatabasesoftware,withasideoftechnicalwriting,websitedevelopmentandgraphicsdesign,for a variety of clients including Apple, CharlesSchwabandMicrosoft.Sheiscurrentlyschoolingher two(mostly)delightfulchildrenoutofherSe-attleareahome,wheresheliveswithherhusbandAndrew,onecatandaHungarianherdingdog.

LankaVanDort (MSCCS ’85) is theDirectorofEngineering for Orion Systems, Inc., a softwarecompanyinAnnArbor.

GothicLawnGnomesFLLteammembersReneeNicholas,Mer-curyHerlanandAlaricSawade

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Kurt A. Carlson (BSE EE ’91; also MBA fromGrand Valley State University) has recently beennamedthenewCallCenterDirectorforaCharterCommunications facility in Grand Rapids, Michi-gan.Charter(charter.com)isabroadbandcommu-nicationscompanybasedinSt.Louis,MOandKurtis looking forward to strengthening every aspectofcustomerserviceathisnewcompany.Carlsonwas formerlyDirectorofBusinessCustomerSer-vice at Consumer’s Energy, and Director of Cus-tomer Operations for Greatland Corporation. HeisalsoVicePresidentoftheBoardofTrusteesforWildlife Rehab Center, a nonprofit wildlife rescue centeroperatinginwesternMichigan.

Ronald(“Ron”)Y.Kim(BSCS’90;alsoMBAfromU-MRossSchoolofBusiness‘05)isaPartnerwithAccenturespecializing inhighlycomplex technol-ogychangeprogramsforFortune100clients.Ronauthored Accenture’s point of view and official position on MethodologyApproaches for ServiceOrientedArchitectures.HeiscurrentlyleadingtheimplementationofaServiceOrientedArchitecturereservation and booking capability for one of theworld’sleadingglobalcruiselinecompanies.Thissoftwarewillgivethemunprecedentedagilityandflexibility in delivering new customer offerings. Nearly20yearsaftergraduatingfromtheComput-erScienceprogram,Ronsayshestilldrawsonkeycoreskillshelearnedduringtheprogram,includingworking successfully with diverse individuals andopinions and using methodical problem solvingtechniques.

JohnPaxton(MSCSE’87,PhD’90) isafacultymember of The Computer Science Departmentat Montana State University in Bozeman, Mon-tana.Currently,hehasaFulbrightAwardtospendtheacademicyearatTheUniversityofLeipzig inLeipzig,Germany. While there,he isdevelopingandteachingtwocourses,includingasophomore-levelcourseondatastructuresandalgorithms.Hehopes to put the excitement and challenge backintothesesubjectsbyincorporatingproblemsfromprogrammingcompetitions.Prof.PaxtonalsolooksforwardtocombininghisteachingwithhiscollegeminorinGerman.

Steven J. Pazol (BSE CE ’86) is founder, presi-dent,andCEOofnPhaseLLC,whichwasrecentlyacquiredbyQUALCOMM,Inc.nPhase,foundedin2003,isaleadingproviderofmachine-to-machinesolutions to manage fixed machine assets. It has beennamedoneof the “TopTenM2MPioneers”byM2MMagazine,and received theChicago In-novationAwardin2004.QUALCOMMexpectsthatnPhase’s fixed-asset machine-to-machine technol-

ogy, experience and established customer basewillcomplementitsownsuccessinthemobilema-chine-to-machinemarket.nPhasewillcontinue toofferproductsunderitsownbrand.

MarkStephan(BSECE’96) iscurrentlyworkingtowardsaMastersinLiberalArtsinEnvironmentalManagementfromHarvard,focusingonrenewableenergyandwindpower.MarkandYvonne(’96CS)are expecting their first child at the end of March!

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Wan-ThaiHsu(PhD EE ’01),Chief Technol-ogy Officer of the U-M spin-off start-upcompany Dis-cera Inc., re-ceived the EETimes 3rd An-nual Creativityin Electronics(ACE) awardforInnovatorofthe Year. Theaward isgivento an individu-al who brings

leadership,creativityandout-of-the-boxthinkingtoa technology,aproductorabusiness.ForyearstheconceptofusingMEMSasareplacementforquartzhadbeentheorizedbyacademicsbuttherewerefewwhothoughtitwouldbepossibletoover-come the challenges required for realworlduse.Beginning in2001,Hsuandhis teammoved thetechnologyfarbeyondacademicresearch,focus-ing on solving real world problems. Under Hsu’stechnical vision and guidance, Discera success-fully developed, qualified and began producing sili-conMEMSdevicesfortimingapplicationsinhighvolume,targetingtodisplaceadecades-old,$3.5Bperyearquartzcrystalmarket.

MarkV.LaRosa (BSE CS ’05) is finishing his Mas-ter’s in Human-Computer Interaction at the U-MSchoolofInformation.Herecentlyacceptedajoboffer from Google’s Mountain View office as a User Experience Researcher and Systems Engineer,andwillstarthisnewjobinlateMay.Heisintern-ing out of the Ann Arbor office until he finishes his degree.

RahulA.Sumant(BSCS’07)iscurrentlyconsult-ing with Capgemini (global French IT consultingfirm) out of their Chicago office. “Lots of travel, lots of work, lots of frequent flyer miles! I’m having a blastthough.”

Wan-ThaiHsu(left)receivingtheEETimesACEawardforInnovatoroftheYearfromRossAyotte(EETimes)

If you haven’t been back to campus in a while, prepare to be amazed!

The new CSE Building is absolutely beautiful—filled with light and open spaces,andcheerfulpeople!

TheEECSBuildingisintheprocessofbeingrenovated,andshouldbenearlycompletedbyAlumniWeekend.Theupgradesinclude:acommonsareawithtablesandchairs;acaférunbystudents;ashowcaselab;upgradedclassrooms;anewconferenceroom;andmanyaddi-tionalfeaturesthroughoutthebuilding.

The$40MMichiganNanofabricationFacility(MNF)expansionandupgradewillbeaboutdone!FormerlycalledtheSolid-StateElectronicsLaboratory,thisworld-classcleanroomfacilitywillfeature37,500sq.ft.inadditionalspace,state-of-the-artairhandlingandsafetyfeatures,aswellasaspec-tacularcoveredtouraisle.

Pleasecomeandseethechanges!Whileyou’rehere,weinviteyoutoattendthefollowingeventsonFriday,October12,2007:

9:30-11:30am–EECSAlumniSocietyBoardMeeting12:00-1:00pm–Lunchwithalumniandfaculty

Please simply contact Catharine June (cmsj@umich.edu) to confirm your attendance.

For tickets to the football game on Saturday with Purdue, and to confirm yourattendanceatavarietyofspecialevents,signupwiththeCollegeathttp://www.engin.umich.edu/alumni/events/weekend.

Contribute to the EECS Alumni Society FundSupportyouralumnisocietyeffortsinmentoring,networking,recruiting,scholarships,andalumnievents.

Michigan Engineering Alumni WeekendOctober 11 – 1�, �00� • Come See What’s New!

EID# 317930 AGG BYA07 EN04

Name(s)_____________________________________ I have enclosed my employer’s matching gift form Please don’t publish my name My check is payable to the University of Michigan Charge to MC VISA AMEX Discover

Address _____________________________________ Account Number ______________________________ _____________________________________ Signature _____________________________________ _____________________________________ Expiration Date _______________________________

Phone _____________________________________ E-mail ________________________________________

Mail To: ATTN: Catharine June EECS Alumni Society $500 $250 $100 $50 Other _____ 1301 Beal Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122

ThankYou!

Enclosed is my gift of:

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

1301 Beal AvenueAnn Arbor, Michigan48109-2122

NONPROFITORG.U.S.POSTAGE

PAIDANNARBOR,MIPERMITNO.144

Professor Michel Maharbiz is

principal investigatorofanin-

terdisciplinary and multi-institution-

al teamthat recentlywonapresti-

giousW.M.KeckFoundationgrant

tobuildmicrosystemsthatwillhelp

scientists decode the mechanisms

thatguideembryoandstemcellde-

velopment.Maharbizwillworkwith

Prof. Cunming Duan from the De-

partmentofMolecular,Cellular,and

DevelopmentalBiology,Prof.MarieCseteofEmoryUniversity,and

Prof.ErikBoczkoofVanderbiltUniversity.

Theteamwillinvestigatehowcellsorganizeandspecializetoform

tissuesandorgans.Cellsinembryosorganizethemselvesandde-

velopperfectlyalmosteverytime,butthedevicesrequiredtostudy

thecomplexsignalsexchangedbythecellsarejustnowbecoming

possible.The$1.7million,three-yeargrantwillfundthedevelop-

mentoftwodevicesthatscientistshopewillmimicchemicalenvi-

ronmentsinthebody.

The systems will consist of microscale fluidic and electrochemical

devices, intracellular sensors, and feedback controls capable of

chemicallycommunicatingwithdevelopingembryoandstemcell

cultures.There isagapbetween labexperimentsandoutcomes

inthebodythatpresentsapressingneedinbiomedicalresearch,

Maharbizsaid.Thisresearchwillallowscientiststoreproducethe

body’soxygenandchemicalsignalsinthelab.

Ifsuccessful,thesetechnologieswillradicallychangethewaycell

andembryocultureisperformed,andwillleadtomedicalresearch

technologies that better capture the complexity of the cellular

environment.

Courtesy U-M Press Release (3/27/07) by Laura Bailey

KeckFoundationgrantwillhelpdecodechemicalreactionsinthebody

TheW.M.KeckFoundationsupportspioneeringdiscov-eriesinscience,engineeringandmedicalresearchthatlay the groundwork for breakthrough discoveries andnew technologies that provide far-reaching benefits for humanitybyinvestinginpeopleandprogramsthatmakeadifferenceinthequalityoflife,nowandinthefuture.