New Browsing Books

Here are some of the latest additions to the S&E Browsing Collection. Follow the link to see if the book’s available, or use the Request feature in Roger and we’ll hold the book for you when it’s returned.

• Love + sex with robots : the evolution of human-robot relations / David Levy
• Dark cosmos : in search of our universe’s missing mass and energy / Dan Hooper
• From quanta to quarks : more anecdotal history of physics / Anton Z. Capri
• How to build a robot army : tips on defending the planet Earth against alien invaders, ninjas, and zombies / Daniel H. Wilson
• Where’s my jetpack? : a guide to the amazing science fiction future that never arrived / Daniel H. Wilson

Recent UCSD Articles - Structural Engineering

Recent publications from the UCSD Department of Structural Engineering faculty:

Doerr, K.U., Kuester, F., Nastase, D. and Hutchinson, T.C. (2008), “Development and evaluation of a seismic monitoring system for building interiors - Part II: Image data analysis and results“, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 57(2), 345-354.

Gu, P. and Asaro, R.J. (2008), “Distortion of polymer matrix composite panels under transverse thermal gradients“, Composite Structures, 82(3), 413-421.

Guan, H. and Karbhari, V.M. (2008), “Improved damage detection method based on Element Modal Strain Damage Index using sparse measurement“, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 309(3-5), 465-494.

Han, A., Punyamurtula, V.K. and Qiao, Y. (2008), “Effects of post-processing treatment on sorption isotherm of an effectively hydrophilic zeolite beta“, Philosophical Magazine Letters, 88(1), 37-42.

Han, A., Punyamurtula, V.K. and Qiao, Y. (2008), “Infiltration of liquid metals in a nanoporous carbon“, Philosophical Magazine Letters, 88(1), 67-73.

Ozcelik, O., Luco, J.E., Conte, J.P., Trombetti, T.L. and Restrepo, J.I. (2008), “Experimental characterization, modeling and identification of the NEES-UCSD shake table mechanical system“, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 37(2), 243-264.

Sabra, K.G., Srivastava, A., Di Scalea, F.L., Bartoli, I., Rizzo, P. and Conti, S. (2008), “Structural health monitoring by extraction of coherent guided waves from diffuse fields“, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 123(1), EL8-EL13.

iHop Wins the Research Expo

Christopher M. Schmidt-Wetekam (MAE) won Best Poster at this year’s Jacobs School of Engineering Research Expo for A SELF-TRANSFORMING REACTION WHEEL-STABILIZED CLIMBING ROVER. Also reported on KPBS.

The iHop robot was developed under the direction of Thomas Bewley, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering who directs the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab. Over the past year, Schmidt-Wetekam and Bewley have been teaching the wallaby-sized iHop to perform increasingly amazing tricks.

It maneuvers on wheels like other robots, but can also balance in an upright position, quickly turn and roll, jump and even twist in mid-air and land without falling over. The robot’s gyroscopes and accelerometers feed sophisticated on-board attitude estimation and stabilization algorithms in its tiny silicon brain. Bewley said that not only does iHop and a family of similar robots have potential as toys, but they can also be used to search for people stranded in burning buildings or operate in a variety of other hazardous environments.

Congratulations to Christopher and his advisor, Thomas Bewley.

photo of Chris, l, and David Zhang, r, from Andrew Phelps/ KPBS

2008 Research Expo Winners - Best Literature Review

Congratulations to Albert Yu Min Lin (MAE) and Griffin R Brungraber (SE), winners of this year’s “Best Literature Review” award at the 2008 Jacobs School of Engineering Research Expo, held yesterday. Each will receive a $125 bookstore giftcard, and their posters (among others) will be on display at the S&E Library.

Albert Lin, with Mary Linn Bergstrom, Head of the S&E Library

Griffin Brungraber, with lab-mate and 2007 winner Stephanie Svetlik

Continue reading 2008 Research Expo Winners - Best Literature Review…

Total Lunar Eclipse on Wed, 2/20

You will definitely want to be outdoors on Wednesday February 20 (5:43-9:09pm, PST) to watch the dramatic prime-time total lunar eclipse – the best since 2004 and the last until December 2010.

Read more information about the eclipse from NASA and Astronomy Magazine and Sky & Telescope. The February issue of Sky & Telescope - print in S&E Curr Journals QB1. S630 - has more extensive information on this eclipse, including a project on using eclipses to measuring longitude.

Recent UCSD Articles (Chem/Biochem)

Recent publications from the UCSD Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry faculty:

1. Cho, S. S.; Weinkam, P.; Wolynes, P. G., Origins of barriers and barrierless folding in BBL. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008, 105, (1), 118-123.

2. Han, Z. F.; Vaid, T. P.; Rheingold, A. L., Hexakis(4-(N-butylpyridylium))benzene: A six-electron organic redox system. Journal of Organic Chemistry 2008, 73, (2), 445-450.

3. Kennedy, E. J.; Ghosh, G.; Pillus, L., Identification of functionally distinct regions that mediate biological activity of the protein kinase a homolog Tpk2. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2008, 283, (2), 1084-1093.

4. Nicolaou, K. C.; Chen, J. S.; Zhang, H. J.; Montero, A., Asymmetric synthesis and biological properties of uncialamycin and 26-epi-uncialamycin. Angewandte Chemie-International Edition 2008, 47, (1), 185-189.

5. Pokhodnya, K. I.; Bonner, M.; DiPasquale, A. G.; Rheingold, A. L.; Miller, J. S., Acetonitrile-facilitated reductive dimerization of TCNE to octacyanobutanediide, [C-4(CN)(8)](2-), by Iron(II) chloride. Chemistry-a European Journal 2008, 14, (2), 714-720.

6. Reigada, R.; Buceta, J.; Gomez, J.; Sagues, F.; Lindenberg, K., Phase separation in three-component lipid membranes: From Monte Carlo simulations to Ginzburg-Landau equations. Journal of Chemical Physics 2008, 128, (2).

7. Sergeant, C. D.; Ott, I.; Sniady, A.; Meneni, S.; Gust, R.; Rheingold, A. L.; Dembinski, R., Metallo-nucleosides: synthesis and biological evaluation of hexacarbonyl dicobalt 5-alkynyl-2 ‘-deoxyuridines. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry 2008, 6, (1), 73-80.

8. Staple, D. W.; Venditti, V.; Niccolai, N.; Elson-Schwab, L.; Tor, Y.; Butcher, S. E., Guanidinoneomycin B recognition of an HIV-1 RNA helix. Chembiochem 2008, 9, (1), 93-102.

Enspire-ing Middle School Science Students

The Triton Engineering Student Council is hoping to “Enspire” local middle school students to pursue careers in Engineering. Enspire is a student-run outreach event designed to introduce students to university-level engineering. On Wednesday, February 20th, approximately 400 8th-grade students will be shown around labs and introduced to engineering through hands-on projects. The students will compete in a bridge building competition on the Forum level of Geisel Library, where they’ll use straws and light wood to construct bridges to meet certain design criteria. The competition takes place between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm.

For more information, see the TESC website.

Use Library Resources Off Campus

UCSD faculty, students and staff can use our licensed electronic resources off campus. If you use an internet service provider like Road Runner or AT&T, there are two ways to set up your computer so you are recognized as an authorized user. Find out more about setting up your proxy or installing VPN.

Siegel (ECE/CMRR) Elected to NAE

Paul H. Siegel, ECE Professor and Director of the Center for Magnetic Recording Research, was one of 65 engineers (8 from the UC’s) elected to the National Academy of Engineering this week, for “the invention and development of advanced coding techniques for digital recording systems.”

Jacobs School Hard Disk Pioneer Elected to National Academy of Engineering - JSOE Press Release

Web of Science Access Restored

The problems we had this week with inaccessible Web of Science records appears to be fixed. Please let us know if get blocked from viewing any records in WoS.