TEAM SCIENCE: UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering 2020-21 Dean's Report

University of California, Irvine

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

TEAM SCIENCE

The campus’s new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB) is an ideal setting for enabling research across disciplines.

The six-floor structure houses faculty and students from four schools who share interests in solving problems of global importance, organized around the broad themes of environment, energy and engineered health. The Samueli School occupies half the building as our engineering researchers conduct team science – a collaborative effort to address a scientific challenge. An early focus on the environment and sustainability has long been a hallmark of UCI innovation, and with the opening of this new building, faculty have come together to form interdisciplinary clusters to tackle relevant and important topics, like climate change. The ISEB also houses numerous

researchers who engineer biology in order to solve grand challenges in human health. Recent efforts include a streamlined innovative approach to generating antibodies that could target coronaviruses.

While we are justifiably proud of our research accomplishments this year, our Anteater engineers’ academic success and career readiness are core to everything we do. Our students are being recognized for their creativity and hard work and leaving our programs ready to enter the world as the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, educators and policymakers. From earning best paper awards, winning national fellowships and placing in student competitions, they are highly praised for their Anteater ingenuity.

I’m also pleased to have so many alumni and friends as partners in our pursuit of strategic enterprises and abundant opportunities. This past year, our partners have invested in the success of our students and research activities, and we continue to proudly shine a spotlight on our extraordinary alumni.

Collectively, our collaborations are a mechanism by which we shape and sustain excellence. We encourage our partners – on and off campus – to join us in this team pursuit. With all of these aspects in mind, I am optimistic about the direction of the UCI Samueli School of Engineering. I look forward to working together.

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CONTENTS

The defining questions of our time require diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

Engineering as a discipline has its fingerprints all over those questions and as the new Stacey Nicholas Dean of Engineering at UC Irvine, I am delighted to have found a campus community with a collaborative vibe and where multidisciplinary research is woven into the fabric.

In fact, this is one of the (many) reasons I am so excited about my recent move to UCI, after having spent the past 20 years at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I was looking for a place that was ambitious, hungry and had outstanding faculty, students and staff. UCI is firing on all those cylinders, and it is clear that the Samueli School of Engineering is a place where one can make big things happen. At the same time, the school’s overall mission aligns very well with my own values, with a focus on diversity, social mobility and impactful research.

STUDENTS

FACULTY

TEAM SCIENCE

RESEARCH

ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT The award-winning Dean’s Report is published annually by the Samueli School’s Communications Department.

Director of Communications: Shelly Nazarenus

Magnus Egerstedt, Ph.D. Stacey Nicholas Dean of Engineering

Communications Manager: Lori Brandt Principal Writer & Editor: Tonya Becerra Photography: Steve Zylius, Debbie Morales Design: m2design group Publisher: Mike Delaney, Courier Graphics

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STUDENTS 2

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

DOWN THE DRAIN

Civil and environmental engineering doctoral student MOHAMMED OMBADI, affiliated with UCI’s Center for Hydrometeorology & Remote Sensing, won the Outstanding Student Presentation Award at the 2020 American Geophysical Union fall meeting.

His presentation, “Toward an Improved Understanding of Hydrologic Complexity,” reports the results of an analysis conducted on 400 hydrologic catchments (drainage basins) across the contiguous United States using data-driven exploration.

“The results form the basis of a hydrologic catchment classification framework,” said Ombadi. “And they bear significance for improved forecasting and modeling in ungauged hydrologic catchments.”

ORIGAMI INSPIRATION

Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, is not only beautiful and meditative.

It inspired a novel approach to manufacturing for DEROSH GEORGE. The mechanical and aerospace engineering graduate student created a manufacturing method that utilizes a hands-free, self-folding strategy to fabricate tiny structures.

George won the Best Student Paper award at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ 2020 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems for his research on this manufacturing method for millimeter and submillimeter-sized 3D polyhedral shapes.

Manufacturing 3D structures at such small scales has potential applications in drug delivery, packaging and microelectronics.

CLOUD WHISPERER

Head in the clouds? That’s a compliment for civil and environmental engineering graduate student VESTA AFZALI GOROOH. NASA thinks so too. She’s been awarded the Future Investigator in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant of $135,000 to develop efficient near-real-time models to characterize cloud types and their behaviors.

Affiliated with UCI’s Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing, Afzali Gorooh explains that accurate satellite precipitation data is needed as an alternative to ground-based measurements around the world. “I look forward to continuing my investigations on using data-driven techniques to automate classification of cloud types and their precipitation potentials.”

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SWEET STEM OUTREACH

What do Kit Kats, Starburst chews, candy canes and chocolate have to do with science and engineering? It turns out these sweets are all excellent materials to use in experiments that teach children about the scientific method and stimulate interest in STEM. Members of the MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING GRADUATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION incorporated these candies into virtual workshops they held all year as part of their science outreach to children.

“By using the same format each time, it shows kids how they can apply the scientific method themselves to different things they see in their everyday life,” said Sierra Gross, MSE GSA outreach chair. “I loved hearing all the kids’ questions and inquiries during the workshops. It’s really what we want, even if their understanding of the science behind the experiment isn’t as deep.”

THAT’S SUPER Supercomputing applications play a critical role in solving complex problems. They can range from foundational research, such as modeling the human brain, to pressing dayto-day problems like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Helping supercomputers communicate efficiently was the aim of ROHIT ZAMBRE’S doctoral dissertation “Exascalable Communication for Modern Supercomputing,” which won the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing 2021 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award.

Zambre, who earned his doctorate in computer engineering in 2020 and currently works at AMD Research in Washington, said, “The efforts of our work mean faster and more efficient runs on modern supercomputers.”

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

POLICY MAKER

What role do scientists and engineers play in national policy? KOMAL SYED, doctoral candidate in materials science and engineering, had fresh insight as a National Academies 2021 Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow. The fellowship is a training and educational program that invites early career individuals to spend 12 weeks at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C. Syed said, “I believe it is important for scientists and engineers to be politically aware, engage with their local policymakers whenever possible and help shape what the future of our nation looks like.”

RECONSTRUCTIONIST Helping millions of people around the world with facial damage from cancer, burns, congenital defects or other physical trauma is WENDY BROWN’S mission. The biomedical engineering postdoctoral scholar was named a 2020 For Women in Science Fellow by L’Oréal USA recognizing her work on growing cartilage for facial reconstruction.

“This fellowship allows me to establish myself as an independent scientist and to pursue career-defining research in my area of interest,” said Brown. “It also gives me the resources to serve as a mentor and to develop science outreach programs for other young women in STEM, something that I’m very passionate about.”

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BRIGHT IDEAS

A team led by graduate students YANCHEN WU and WEIXI WANG earned second place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2021 Solar District Cup. Their design incorporated rooftop, carport and ground-mount photovoltaic systems for the University of Central Florida with a goal of maximizing photovoltaic self-generation and strategically deploying battery storage to enable higher penetrations of solar power.

“The reason I entered the competition was to familiarize myself with the kinds of solar design problems that I may encounter in the future,” said Wang, a doctoral student in electrical engineering with a focus in energy distribution systems.

Concern for the environment was a motivator for Wu, a doctoral student in mechanical and aerospace engineering and the team lead. “I wanted to participate in the Solar District Cup because I am aware that climate change is gradually affecting the world in a negative way, threatening the daily life of human beings and the balance of nature.”

UPLIFTING TIMES

Making space for others in aerospace inspires JANAY BOMBINO, materials science and engineering undergraduate. She won a 2021 Brooke Owens Fellowship, which recognizes exceptional undergraduate women and other gender minorities worldwide. The fellowship includes a paid internship at an aerospace company and personal mentorship from an aerospace executive. During the summer, Bombino interned at Ball Aerospace in Washington, D.C.

WATER WORKS

Water is wisdom for ERIC J. SHEARER, civil and environmental engineering doctoral graduate.

He was awarded a Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship from the Department of Defense for his studies in hydrology and hydrometeorology. After graduation, Shearer will work at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Coastal & Hydraulics Laboratory in Mississippi.

“I am looking forward to my future with the Coastal & Hydraulics Laboratory,” said Shearer. “CHL’s work is vital for ensuring California’s water security, among other emerging challenges brought on by our changing climate. It is immensely gratifying to know my work will make a difference.”

“I am incredibly honored and thrilled to have been selected for the Brooke Owens Fellowship,” said Bombino. “Not only because it’s an amazing opportunity but also because I believe deeply in its mission of uplifting women and gender minorities in aerospace.”

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

DRIVE TIME

Can advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) respond like human drivers? ARMAND AHADISARKANI, who recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, won the 2021 Gold Award at the Association for Computing Machinery SIGBED Student Research Competition for seeking to answer that question. The contest was part of the Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things Week sponsored by ACM and Microsoft.

Ahadi-Sarkani looked to improve existing ADAS by incorporating the human factor into the loop of computation to provide a personalized experience.

He focused on lane departure warning systems: “We modeled the behavior of human driving (such as how quickly people respond to or ignore warnings, etc.) using a reinforcement learning-based model.”

MIGHTY MITOCHONDRIA

Mitochondria, the organelles inside cells responsible for making energy, hold keys to understanding diseases. AUSTIN LEFEBVRE, graduate student researcher in biomedical engineering, pursued an interest in studying metastasis – the spread of cancer – and created an algorithm called Mitometer to track mitochondria in livecell two-dimensional and three-dimensional time-lapse images. His research was published in Nature Methods.

What differentiates Mitometer from other programs is its speed, automation and lack of bias. Mitometer only requires the pixel size and time between frames in timelapse images to identify mitochondrial motility and morphology.

Lefebvre created a software package of multiple algorithms to make it easier for people to use. He said, “By using the software, it can help identify the mitochondrial differences, so that we can have better ideas about how to target the more aggressive types of cancer and other diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s.”

TENACITY WINS

In a true test of resilience, Samueli School students navigated through adverse conditions to design and build two entries for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Chem-E-Car competition.

Chemical engineering majors BRIAN LI and CLARK WEY managed the undergraduate team. Last year, the team was disappointed when it was sent home before being able to build their car, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Li and Wey were determined to make it to the finish line this time.

Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, the students were unable to work in campus labs until two weeks before the competition. Wey said, “The idea that Brian and I came up with was to use household chemicals that anyone can find at Target or Walmart.”

UCI was the only school in their region to participate in the contest. They cohosted the western regional competition held May 1, 2021, and their first-place winner, Steve the Car, competed in the national contest in Boston.

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QUAKE SAFETY

AMY ANHTHU LE, dual major in civil engineering and mathematics, won the national American Society of Civil Engineers 2021 Lawrence W. and Francis W. Cox Scholarship.

The $13,000 scholarship is presented annually to further the education of a worthy student in any civil engineering discipline.

After graduating, Le plans to attend graduate school and become a structural engineer focused on earthquake engineering. “Successful structural engineering will ensure the safety of countless people. Working in earthquake engineering would be my way of trying to help the world and make it a better and safer place.”

STEM STARS

From ceramics with superplasticity to soft robotics, four Samueli School students received NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards. The five-year fellowship provides financial support to graduate students for three years.

2021 NSF GRFP awardees are: SALMA EL-AZAB, second-year doctoral student in materials science and engineering, who works with entropy stabilized oxides, a special type of ceramic – exploring superplasticity; ANDREW SUM, second-year doctoral student in biomedical engineering, working on a microfluidic droplet platform for high-throughput screening of peptides; LUIS RAMIREZ, senior undergraduate in mechanical engineering who started doctoral studies in soft robotics in the fall; and HEATHER ROMERO MERCIECA, senior undergraduate in biomedical engineering who began doctoral studies in the fall, focusing on electrochemical sensors.

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

STUDENT ENROLLMENT

3,659 2020-21

933 GRADUATE

UNDERGRADUATE

INCOMING STUDENTS

FALL 2020

28% FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

23% UNDERREPRESENTED

15%

STUDENT ENROLLMENT

BY DEPARTMENT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FALL 2020

GRADUATE STUDENTS FALL 2020

556

138

BIOMEDICAL

258

65

488

136

CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR

FEMALE

4.18 AVERAGE GPA

CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL

985

319

104

94

1,226

175

ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

DEGREES GRANTED 2020-21

969 222 96 B.S.

M.S.

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MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE

PH.D.

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SIRi 2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

PROGRAM SETS UNDERGRADUATES UP FOR RESEARCH SUCCESS THE ANSWERS MAY BE BLOWING IN THE WIND, AS BOB DYLAN FAMOUSLY SINGS. But at the new Samueli Interdisciplinary Research in Pods (SIRiPods) program, the answers are swirling in waterways and wildfires, embedded in virtual reality experiences, and reimagined in sustainable energy systems. Most importantly, new answers are forming in the minds of eager undergraduates, who learned over the summer to address some of our most pressing problems.

SIRiPods is the dream of Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering. Even after teaching at UCI for 24 years, Sanders still dares to think big and bold. When Sanders was interim associate dean of student affairs this past year, it became clear that there wasn’t a natural starting point for undergraduate research. He wanted to change that and received strong support from colleagues like Robin Perry Jeffers, director of undergraduate student affairs, and Leyla Riley, director of academic innovation and partnerships, who helped administer the program.

Pods TONYA BECERRA

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Sanders kicked off the first SIRiPods session by playing Dylan’s music, explaining that the folk-rock singer-songwriter was not only a musician, artist and Nobel Prize winner. “I think he’s someone who is a researcher,” argues Sanders. “He reads, studies different types of music, is always changing, always pushing things, never happy with the status quo.” Dylan’s impact on social justice awareness especially moved Sanders, as he reconnected to Dylan’s music during the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests. With SIRiPods, Sanders hopes to inspire students to think beyond the known and be curious like Dylan as they explore how to help humanity in their unique way.

The ambitious four-week summer pilot program has three main goals: introduce rising third-year undergraduates to the practice of research as a pathway to academic and professional careers, diversify the student population and encourage graduate study at UCI. SIRiPods is a mix of seminars, panel discussions, training sessions, individual meetings and study/work time, culminating in a research project proposal and presentation.

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(Below) Thirty-two undergraduates, 21 faculty, nine graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and two staff members participated in the four-week summer pilot program called SIRiPods.

Olivares Martinez, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, adds, “I think an interdisciplinary approach gives students a ‘big picture’ perspective on a project, and it lets them harness all of their skill sets and lived experiences to solve a problem.”

SIRiPods also empowered students to take control of their own research interests. “Normally, students are immersed in a project that someone else designed,” explains Sanders. “This program allows students to take control over the research that they’re doing. They’re setting the agenda.”

SIRiPods’ inaugural class drew 72 applicants; 45 enrolled and 32 completed the course. The program was offered free of charge with the option to earn two credits/units for the course as a bonus.

Three core faculty members, Christine King, Christopher Olivares Martinez and Erdem Sasmaz, led students through three different pods focused on Medical Innovation and Virtual Reality, Controlling Exposure to Wildfire Contaminants, and Sustainable Energy and Fuels, respectively.

“Unlike just about any other summer program, we have really aligned our activities with our school’s priorities, and with natural interdisciplinary partners on campus,” explains Sanders.

“The interdisciplinary approach is most important for bringing in different perspectives around the same problem.”

(Previous Page) “Because biomedical engineering is so diverse, I have to make it almost individualistic to make sure it’s open for the students to be able to explore their own interests,” says Christine King, assistant professor of teaching (center), with a few participants who focused on medical innovation and virtual reality (from left): Renzo Calilung, Santino Miguel Feranil, graduate student Joanne Ly and Dustin Luong.

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To help foster collaboration across disciplines, 21 faculty members, nine graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and two main staff members worked together to create the unique experience.

“I really like that SIRiPods focused on multidisciplinary research, which meant we could bring in a lot of different perspectives that students may not have thought about,” explains King, assistant professor of teaching in biomedical engineering. “I think engineers need to be with human-centered people, including colleagues in humanities, medicine, public health and business as direct influences.” King attended her colleagues’ seminars, sharing the students’ enthusiasm for learning: “I really geek out.”

Students created research projects ranging from understanding Alzheimer’s disease and measuring firefighting substances in water to developing sustainable energy sources.

Santino Miguel Feranil, biomedical engineering student in Pod 1 with King, is passionate about sports medicine: “I’m focusing on building a modality that is neuromuscular electro-stimulation and virtual reality for sports medicine or rehabilitation – specifically on limb injuries.”

However, the COVID-19 pandemic posed some difficulties.

“Being remote and trying to build a community is one of the biggest challenges,” says King. “We try and use a lot of newer technologies like Discord (a voice, video and text messaging app).” Program leaders also incorporated social activities like a step contest, game nights, a virtual poster session and even an in-person luncheon held safely outside.

“My favorite part is the whole vibe, that everyone is very friendly and chill. We just love to talk with each other,” says Jiazhe “Loki” Chen, chemical engineering undergrad in Pod 3 with Sasmaz. He says he wasn’t thinking about graduate school when he started the program, but now he’s seriously considering it. “SIRiPods has been very rewarding, and I believe it will definitely help me in the future.”

Yet, working remotely allowed professors to expand their teaching approach. Olivares Martinez says that besides the typical lecture style, “Our pod faculty focused on diversity of speakers, and the remote format allowed us to include non-UCI guests like filmmaker and ecologist John Liu and Professor Johann Osma, who taught students about bionanotechnology from Colombia. We also had simulations: a role-playing exercise on a city budget plan meeting and technical workshops, like a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) session by Veronica Vieira, public health professor, and How to Give Effective Presentations by Diego Rosso, civil and environmental engineering professor.”

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

Sanders says, “It was designed to have benefits for everyone – faculty, grad students, postdocs and undergraduates. We’re trying to create this ecosystem of research and professional networking. Graduate students can mentor students and give them advice. At the same time, those same grad students are being mentored by faculty.”

Joanne Ly, biomedical engineering doctoral candidate in Pod 1, experienced exactly that. “I have always enjoyed watching and seeing students have that glimmer in their eyes when they realize this is why I’m doing what I’m doing,” she says. “Just working with students and getting to know them, having those one-on-ones and understanding where they’re coming from has always been the highlight for me.”

Ly also says she benefited from the program’s faculty mentors.

“Definitely as a grad student, you have the opportunity to see the other professors whom you connect with because of the way we’ve organized and structured our specific pod. You have access to these professors and physicians in the same way that the undergrads do.”

“I come from a non-traditional STEM background,” says James Hort, chemical engineering student in Pod 2 with Olivares Martinez. “My dad is a construction worker and my mom is an accountant. It’s hard for me to find a mentor and a way into research.”

Hort’s favorite part of the program has been the career talks and meeting with different professors. “I feel like the seminars in the morning really helped broaden my research view,” he says. “They introduced me to a lot of topics that haven’t been on my radar. It’s already helped me. I’ve developed presenting skills, how to do literature searches and reviews, and insights on Overleaf/LaTeX (a writing and editing program for scientific publishing). Overall, having the connections, like having the professors offer me a lab position and career advice, is really helpful. It’s been really positive.”

For UCI engineering undergraduate students, as Dylan would say, “The times, they are a-changin’.”

Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering, created SIRiPods to help build an ecosystem of research to benefit everyone, but especially first-generation college students like he was.

His dog, Shadow, often appeared during class sessions and became the program’s mascot.

Those efforts to create community and break down barriers have proved fruitful. “My favorite part of the program has been getting close to the faculty and graduate students – and everything else,” says Allen Dineros, chemical engineering undergraduate in Pod 3.

The participants wholeheartedly endorse SIRiPods for future students. “I would strongly recommend the program because not only does it help with your skills in communication, but it also gets you out of your comfort zone – whether you like it or not,” says Dustin Luong, biomedical engineering in Pod 1. “It has definitely helped me.” Dineros adds, “I already have recommended it to my lower-year friends.”

SIRiPods is personal for Sanders, a first-generation college grad. “I never, ever thought about being a professor,” he says.

“If you grow up in a first-generation household, no one in your family is going to tell you to go get a Ph.D. You need someone to introduce it to you in a way that makes sense to you.”

That’s what Sanders tried to accomplish with SIRiPods. “I hope students will see research in their future,” he says. The initial feedback shows that it worked.

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

EARLY CAREER ROCK STARS

Our newer faculty are pushing boundaries, sparking innovation and moving beyond the status quo. Their efforts are garnering attention and accolades with numerous early career awards, fellowships, research funding and more to support their discoveries for years to come.

National Science Foundation

Early Career Development (CAREER) Awards Tayloria Adams, Assistant Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Adams’ research focuses on engineering the subpopulations of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs are good candidates for cell therapy because they change into a variety of cell types, provide cell protection and support the immune system. According to Adams, biomanufacturing of MSCs has emerged as a vital area of research; however, obtaining cells that exhibit specific healing properties is difficult because MSCs typically exist as a mixture of cell types. Adams plans to develop microfluidic technology that can purify cells based on their unique electrical signatures.

William Bowman, Assistant Professor Materials Science and Engineering The award advances Bowman’s research into ceramic materials, which are key components in energy conversion and storage technologies, including fuel cells, batteries and devices that produce hydrogen gas and process carbon dioxide. Specifically, he hopes to better understand the behavior of ceramic materials at the atomic level and enhance their ionic conductivity through state-of-the art nanomaterial fabrication and electron microscopy characterization. His goal is to develop design rules for defects in high-performance engineering materials that will enable the production of improved ceramics for energy conversion and storage, as well as chemical conversion applications.

Zhou Li, Assistant Professor Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Li’s research focuses on internet system security, specifically datadriven security analytics, internet measurement, side-channel analysis and Internet of Things (IoT) security. The funding helps advance his efforts to debug a fragmented domain name system (DNS) infrastructure. Li plans to develop novel platforms, techniques and tools that enable holistic debugging of the entire DNS infrastructure, both at the network layer (communication links between parties involved in DNS request and response) and software layer, as well as DNS bugs embedded in IoT devices.

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Department of Energy

Early Career Research Program Awards Penghui Cao, Assistant Professor Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Cao’s research looks into the effects of radiation damage in materials. His project aims to reveal the role of shortrange order on thermodynamics and kinetics of radiation defects in high-entropy alloys and to evaluate the mechanistic strategy for controlling defects. Cao said testing his hypothesis will advance our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms underlying extraordinary properties and facilitate design strategies to achieve tunable radiation performance. He added this work will further the development and deployment of advanced power plants to harness nuclear energy.

Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi, Assistant Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering Abdolhosseini Qomi conducts fundamental research in interfacial science to discover new reaction pathways for improved carbon dioxide mineralization processes. His goal is to find economical methods for sequestering and using carbon, thereby mitigating untethered emissions of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. The scope of his research extends from the nanometer of interfacial reactions to the mesoscale of crystal growth, with an ultimate goal of engineering advanced materials for sustainable infrastructures.

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Air Force

Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) Grant Stacy Copp, Assistant Professor Materials Science and Engineering Copp’s research aims to exploit the unique interactions of DNA with silver.

Silver atoms interact specifically with the nucleobases that make up the genetic code of DNA, and recent studies have found that silver can mediate formation of entire DNA duplexes. The Copp Lab will use a combined experimental approach, harnessing highresolution mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy and electron microscopy to connect the atomic sizes of silver-mediated nanostructures with their structural and physical properties, uncovering how the DNA sequence programs mechanical rigidity and charge transport in silver-mediated DNA duplexes.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Early Career Sloan Research Fellowship Han Li, Associate Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Li’s research involves the biological conversion of biomass and carbon dioxide into fuels, drugs and commodities as a promising route to sustainability. To make biological cells better catalysts in this conversion, she plans to expand the range of chemical reactions feasible in the cells. This involves introducing stronger-than-nature redox reagents into the cell and precisely controlling them to avoid interference with the cell’s native life processes.

National Science Foundation

Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) Grant Salma Elmalaki, Assistant Professor of Teaching Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Elmalaki’s research focuses on enabling fairness-aware, privacy-preserving, society-in-the-loop, personalized Internet of Things (IoT) systems by providing frameworks, tools and methodologies that understand their fundamental properties and guide their systematic design. She hopes it will evolve the IoT systems from a one-size-fits-all approach to a personalized process in which learning and adaptation agents are tailored toward humans’ individual needs.

IEEE Technical Committee on Cyber-Physical Systems Early Career Award

Yasser Shoukry, Assistant Professor Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Shoukry seeks to make cyberphysical systems like self-driving cars, drones and smart cities safer. His research aims to provide novel mathematical techniques and algorithms to check that these neural networks will always make correct (or safe) decisions. According to Shoukry, what makes the problem challenging is that neural networks are highly complex and typically treated as black-box components with behaviors that are hard to interpret and understand.

The Society of Hellman Fellows Hellman Fellowship

Adeyemi Adeleye, Assistant Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering Adeleye’s work focuses on designing engineered nanoparticles to immobilize toxic metals in agricultural soils. His research group will study the complex interactions that occur among toxic metals, engineered nanoparticles, soil and plants. They will use artificial learning and sophisticated imaging techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

The Electrochemical Society

Supramaniam Srinivasan Young Investigator Award Iryna Zenyuk, Associate Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering The Srinivasan Award supports Zenyuk’s commitment to improving energy technology. Her research was noted as contributing to the understanding and elucidating phenomena of fuel cells, electrolyzers and their constitutive components using mathematical modeling and advanced imaging and characterization.

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

SEASONED CAREER VIRTUOSOS

With their wealth of research experience and abundant accomplishments, our senior faculty continue to make an impact. From national awards to media recognition to international honors and research collaborations, our faculty represent the best and brightest in the field of engineering.

Pramod Khargonekar, Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering and computer science and UCI vice chancellor for research, won the 2021 IEEE Control Systems Society’s Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize. The prize annually recognizes distinguished contributions to control systems science and engineering. “I have a vivid memory of listening to Gunter Stein as he received the very first Bode Prize and gave a memorable lecture in 1989,” said Khargonekar. “Many distinguished researchers in the control systems field have received this honor since then. It is truly humbling to join their ranks.”

Khargonekar played an essential role in creating a state-space-based theory for H-infinity optimal control, which is considered one of the major achievements in the field of control theory in the last 40 years.

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou has been honored with the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System, an international scientific organization. She was recognized for “outstanding intellectual leadership in the quantitative analysis of Earth-surface processes and the forms that they produce.” Foufoula-Georgiou, Distinguished Professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been a pioneer in developing mathematical theory and applying innovative data analysis methods to understand Earth-surface dynamics. “Understanding how landscapes around us form and evolve, and how they will respond to climate change and human stressors is essential for finding sustainable solutions,” said Foufoula-Georgiou. “I am proud to be part of this dynamic community of scholars, and I am greatly honored and humbled by this recognition.”

The International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) honored Enrico Gratton, professor of biomedical engineering, with the 2021 Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award. The award cited Gratton’s significant contributions to biophotonics – the science of producing and utilizing photons or light to image, identify and engineer biological materials. SPIE specifically noted his development of innovative ultrafast optical imaging and spectroscopy methods and their integration into microfluidic platforms. This award was “a great honor” for Gratton who considers Chance, for whom the award was named, a “great friend.” A pioneer in the field of biomedical optics, Gratton’s achievements include development of numerous technologies.

During his more than 40-year career, Gratton has disseminated his work to researchers worldwide, trained younger scientists and interfaced successfully with industry.

Michael Berns, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of biomedical engineering, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in the United Kingdom.

Berns was invited to join the society based on his extensive biomedical optics contributions in the fields of biology and medicine. “I am truly honored to be invited to join the Royal Society, especially because it’s the same society that has honored so many elite luminaries of the past,” said Berns. The society’s 200-year-old history has seen prominent figures in medicine and science as part of its membership and governance. Famous Fellows include Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner and Sigmund Freud. Elected Fellows of the British Royal Society of Medicine are comparable to members of the National Academy of Medicine in the U.S.

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The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) selected Dr. Arash Kheradvar for its 2021 Class of the College of Fellows. Kheradvar, a biomedical engineering professor, was recognized for his “contributions to the biomechanics of the cardiovascular system, cardiac imaging, clinical translation of novel heart valve technologies and for his advocacy for racial diversity.” Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is a prestigious professional distinction; fellows represent the top two percent of medical and biological engineers from around the world. “I am honored to be elected by this elite group of biomedical engineers and scientists as a fellow and to help advance AIMBE’s mission of providing leadership and advocacy in medical and biological engineering for the benefit of society,” Kheradvar said.

Hamid Jafarkhani received the 2020 IEEE Wireless Communications Technical Committee Recognition Award. Jafarkhani, Chancellor’s Professor of electrical engineering and computer science, was recognized for fundamental contributions to MIMO wireless communications. MIMO – or multipleinput and multiple-output – is used in billions of wireless devices to increase capacity and improve communications reliability. It uses multiple antennas to advance transmission and receiving capabilities.

Jafarkhani’s work in this area has greatly influenced the fundamental advancement of the theories of space-time processing and MIMO for wireless communications. Specifically, his research on different aspects of MIMO communications includes the invention of space-time block coding, differential modulation for MIMO, quantized/limited feedback beamforming, distributed space-time coding, network beamforming and cooperative communications.

Julie Schoenung, professor and

chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was inducted into the 2021 Class of Fellows of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) for her pioneering contributions to the science and engineering of trimodal composites and for novel applications of green engineering. Schoenung studies the impacts of materials transactions on human health and environmental quality and leads efforts to advance sustainable development of materials, especially as used in manufacturing processes.

“I am very proud to receive this recognition, and I hope that my inclusion in the 2021 Class of TMS Fellows will serve as an example for young women professionals in the materials science and engineering community and to all scholars who follow a nontraditional path through their career and profession,” said Schoenung.

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS 18

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NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING MEMEBERS

1

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE MEMBER

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NATIONAL ACADEMY OF INVENTORS

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PRESIDENTIAL YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARDEES

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Athina Markopoulou, electrical engineering and

computer science professor, was named a 2021 IEEE Fellow in recognition for her contributions to network coding systems and network measurement; her research also focuses on computer network privacy and transparency, mobile and social networks, and Internet of Things. She leads the UCI Networking Group and serves as the principal investigator of the National Science Foundation-funded ProperData Center, which launched in 2020 to address the need for protection of personal data flow on the internet by combining computer science and engineering methodologies with economic policy. “I am honored to receive this IEEE recognition,” she said. “My thought when I got the news was that we all have to ‘pay it forward’ and to continue to support our early career faculty and help position them on the path to such awards.”

Michelle Digman, associate professor of biomedical engineering, won an Allen Distinguished Investigator Award for her project to develop an advanced imaging technique to simultaneously track and manipulate multiple kinds of cells and molecules. The award goes to projects focused on unanswered questions about how the immune system and metabolism work together in the emerging field of immunometabolism. Digman is developing a new technique to shine “biological flashlights” on many different immune- and metabolism-related molecules. The bioluminescent phasor technique will ultimately yield a large toolkit of optical tags that can simultaneously light up multiple processes or proteins in immune systems. Once complete, the toolkit would be available for use by any research lab, opening new avenues for discoveries about the immune system and its relationship to diet.

35 NSF CAREER AWARDEES

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NIH NEW INNOVATORS

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ENDOWED CHAIRS AND PROFESSORSHIPS

Peter Burke, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, was named a 2021 IEEE Fellow in recognition of his contributions to active and passive microwave devices. His current research focuses on designing and using nanoelectronic-based instrumentation to probe, measure and analyze electrical activity in live mitochondria. This can lead to a better understanding of the pathways used by disease, including cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s and heart disease. “The contribution of my lab to active and passive microwave devices, which are used in wireless communications, takes on an especially poignant and hopeful significance in this time, continuing to enable people around the world to connect,” said Burke.

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DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORS

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CHANCELLOR’S PROFESSORS

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CHANCELLOR’S FELLOW

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The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics has named Tryphon Georgiou, Distinguished Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, a SIAM Fellow in the class of 2021. Georgiou’s research interests are in the areas of dynamical systems, time series analysis, control theory and mathematical physics. The citation on his election acknowledges his foundational contributions to the theory of robust control and to spectral analysis of time series. “Control engineering represents an enabling technology in virtually every piece of apparatus in our technological world, from engines to smart phones and from robotics to space probes,” said Georgiou. “Further, the core concepts of the discipline, feedback and regulation by purposive systems, proved of increasing importance in all sciences, including biology, social, environmental and so on.”

The American Foundry Society has recognized Diran Apelian with the 2021 Scientific Merit award for his “gold-standard contributions to the foundry industry in molten metal processing and solidification, alloy development and fatigue behavior of cast materials.” Apelian, Distinguished Professor in materials science and engineering, conducts research that has helped establish mechanisms and fundamentals in metal processing and lay the foundation for significant industrial developments. “The Scientific Merit award is truly a testament to the team that has made the Advanced Casting Research Center the successful and impactful research hub that it is,” said Apelian.

FACULTY GROWTH 20

142 FALL 2019

151 FALL 2020

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Chin C. Lee received the 2021 IEEE Electronics Packaging Award for meritorious contributions to the advancement of components, electronic packaging or manufacturing technologies. Lee, professor emeritus in electrical engineering and computer science, was recognized specifically for his contributions to “new silver alloys, new bonding methods, flipchip interconnect and education for electronics packaging.” Lee’s research focused on the use of silver-based alloys in electronic applications and packaging, and he and his team developed new bonding methods and interconnection processes and technologies. His work uncovered surprising physical and chemical properties of these silver alloys, including anti-tarnishing qualities, anti-electrochemical migration and high thermal stability, which opened the door for the electronics packaging industry to adopt them for nextgeneration electronics.

FALL 2021

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

SMART TEXTILE An innovative, new high-tech fabric created by engineers at UCI enables wearers to communicate with others, wirelessly charge devices and pass through security gates with the wave of an arm.

Photo: Steve Zylius

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TONYA BECERRA, LORI BRANDT AND SHELLY NAZARENUS

STEVE ZYLIUS

A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO ADDRESS A SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

NEWLY OPENED, THE STRIKING STEEL, GLASS AND CONCRETE INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BUILDING SITS PROMINENTLY IN THE HEART OF THE UCI SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING QUAD.

“All of our disciplines are becoming so specialized,” says Dean Magnus Egerstedt. “For someone to tackle a complex problem such as climate change, they have to combine their expertise with others who complement their knowledge and compensate for possible blind spots.”

ISEB is home to researchers from the schools of engineering, physical sciences, medicine, and information and computer sciences.

Social science research indicates that successful collaborations share a high degree of personal give-and-take, an appropriate physical environment, organizational support and a readiness to embrace new technologies. Members of the most effective teams have a certain behavioral rapport supported by key beliefs, among them, a strong trust in the value of inclusiveness and the integration of diverse perspectives.

The six-story, 205,000 square-feet structure provides a variety of spaces to support a full range of team-based science and engineering activities. The laboratory bar integrates much-needed classrooms, student collaboration space, wet and dry research laboratories and flexible open space. The office wing houses faculty offices clustered around conference rooms. The twostory community hub includes interaction and breakout spaces that provide numerous opportunities for meeting, mixing and circulating. The first-floor multipurpose lobby adjoins a high-tech auditorium and colloquia room.

More than three dozen faculty and two major research centers from engineering are housed in ISEB. Faculty are grouped in interdisciplinary research thrusts, including environment, energy and engineered health.

The LEED Platinum building is a welcome addition to the campus. However, its real promise is the research collaborations happening inside. Engineers, scientists, computer experts and more are opening their arms and laboratory doors to new partnerships in the quest for solutions to evermore complex challenges.

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The ISEB residents are eagerly settling into their new home, making connections over casual conversation and formal gatherings. One of the building’s new occupants commented that “just bumping into colleagues by happenstance can catalyze new ideas that merge our complementary expertise and even launch years-long collaborations.”

“It’s a very exciting development in the evolution of UCI as a major research university,” says engineering Distinguished Professor Pramod Khargonekar, vice chancellor for research.

“To me, research is more than space, more than dollars. It’s really about what we choose to work on and how colleagues from different disciplines can work together to solve critical problems, with the ultimate goal of advancing society. We will focus on major problems in the fields of climate, environment, water, energy and health.”

Following are just a few examples of team science in action.

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CLIMATE CHANGE CLUES 24

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RISING SEAS, INCREASINGLY POWERFUL STORMS AND HURRICANES, INTENSIFICATION OF WILDFIRES AND DROUGHT, WIDESPREAD LOSS OF ANIMAL AND PLANT SPECIES, AND REDUCTIONS IN FOOD SECURITY. THESE ARE THE LOOMING PERILS ON THE MINDS OF UCI RESEARCHERS WHO ARE INVESTIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE.

The effort to understand and find solutions to a warming planet reaches across decades and disciplines at UCI. A long legacy of environmental advocacy stretches back to 1969 when the interdisciplinary environmental engineering program began, to 1994 when the Department of Earth System Science was established as the first academic department in the world dedicated to studying climate change. And it continues today in the new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building where nine researchers – five from civil and environmental engineering (CEE) and four from Earth system science (ESS) – are joining together as the CLEWS (Climate, Energy, Water Solutions) group to share their expertise and explore strategies that address the urgent threat.

“Climate change is jeopardizing livelihoods and infrastructure, and fueling economic and social unrest around the world,” says Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Distinguished Professor of CEE and one of the group’s founding members.

“The question is no longer whether climate change is a threat, but what can we do about it. How can society transform and manage our energy, water, agricultural and natural systems to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change? With this formalized interdisciplinary group, we aspire to tackle these important challenges and propose solutions.”

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QUESTION IS NO LONGER WHETHER CLIMATE “THE CHANGE IS A THREAT, BUT WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT. HOW CAN SOCIETY TRANSFORM AND MANAGE OUR ENERGY, WATER, AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL SYSTEMS TO

REDUCE EMISSIONS AND ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE?”

CLEWS researchers are investigating ways to better manage greenhouse gas emissions and transition to renewable energy; improve forecasts of the hydrologic, wildfire and ecological impacts of a shifting climate; and design equitable and sustainable strategies to confront climate change. They are drawing on recent advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence to obtain information flows from satellites, sensor networks, models and other sources.

In one such cross-disciplinary project, Kristen Davis, CEE associate professor, and Steven Davis, Earth system science professor, are working to assess the global potential of sequestering carbon through large-scale cultivation of seaweed.

Seaweed, or macroalgae, is increasingly being recognized as a means to slow climate change due to its ability to offset carbon, be a sustainable food source and present regenerative properties for ocean ecosystems. Offshore seaweed farming has potential to become a thriving marine biomass industry for the production of fuels, chemicals and food. The researchers have developed a global dynamic model to estimate seaweed growth and carbon harvest. They are testing biological parameters to determine the most realistic and sustainable approach.

“In order to assess the possibility of offshore cultivation, aquaculture needs an improved set of tools for locating the best macroalgal growing sites, evaluating farm designs, assessing new macroalgal cultivation techniques to maximize productivity, and predicting the effects of cultivation on coastal ecosystems,” explains Kristen Davis.

She says the partnership with Earth system scientists is important.

“Collaborative work between ESS and CEE allows us to combine a deep understanding of the Earth systems with engineering solutions to fight climate change.”

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Brett Sanders, CEE professor, also conducts research with Steven Davis. Together they are studying flood risk across the Los Angeles Metropolitan region, which is exposed to dangerous high velocity flooding with mud and debris based on steep topography and tall mountains that surround developed areas. With funding from the National Science Foundation, the project employs advanced simulation systems to gain a deeper understanding of how risks are distributed geographically, whether disadvantaged populations are disproportionately impacted and what infrastructure investments and policy reforms offer the best options for managing risks.

“Different disciplinary backgrounds bring different skill sets and different perspectives on how problems are defined, what’s valuable to study, and the role of technology innovation, which is where engineers are especially strong,” says Sanders, who holds a joint appointment in urban planning and public policy and often works with social scientists. “Engineering innovations are often most powerful when applied in an interdisciplinary context. My expertise in flood simulation, for example, could fall flat without an understanding of who is impacted by flooding, what decisions they face, and what factors they are weighing as they try to push ahead.”

Another example of a successful interdisciplinary project is research published last year by Foufoula-Georgiou and James Randerson, the Ralph J. and Carol M. Cicerone Professor in Earth system science. Working together with a CEE doctoral student, they found that the tropical rain belt – a narrow band of heavy precipitation near the equator – is projected to shift unevenly, a change that could threaten water availability and food security for millions of people around the world.

Randerson explained that climate change causes the atmosphere to heat up by different amounts over Asia and the North Atlantic Ocean. “We know that the rain belt shifts toward this heating, and that its northward movement in the Eastern Hemisphere is 2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

consistent with these expected impacts of climate change.” He added that the weakening of the Gulf Stream current and deep-water formation in the North Atlantic is likely to have the opposite effect, causing a southward shift in the tropical rain belt across the Western Hemisphere.

“The complexity of the Earth system is daunting, with dependencies and feedback loops across many processes and scales,” says Foufoula-Georgiou. “Our work combines the engineering approach of systems thinking with data analytics and climate science to reveal subtle and previously unrecognized manifestations of global warming on regional precipitation dynamics and extremes.”

Foufoula-Georgiou and Randerson are currently working together on NSF-funded research looking at the application of mathematics to climate prediction as well as on a NASA-funded project to improve wildfire prediction.

“I was interested in joining the CLEWS group because on the engineering side, our colleagues studying global environmental issues have really strong analytical skills that can help us find solutions to some of the most difficult climate problems,” says Randerson.

“Collectively, we have really high impact. Much of our work is highly cited, in part because we are taking interdisciplinary approaches to really important issues.”

For some of the complexities surrounding wildfires, Randerson is teaming up with Tirtha Banerjee, CEE assistant professor. They have two projects: One is building a global constellation of satellites to improve fire detection and another is a collaboration to measure the composition and origin of smoke particles. “Tirtha is allowing an ESS student working with me to measure fuels and smoke at the experimental burning he is planning in the Sierra Nevada mountains early this year,” he explains.

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Banerjee looks at the physics of how wildfires behave, and he proposes solutions through smart landscape engineering and prescribed burns. He says the close proximity of colleagues, students and postdocs as well as informal discussions are all helpful for fostering creative alliances, and he is taking advantage of the new CLEWS hub in the ISEB, with multiple joint efforts. In addition to his projects with Randerson, he is working with Foufoula-Georgiou to investigate fire-atmosphere interactions and the global climatology of fires. With Sanders, he has a project to quantify post-fire flood risks facing communities protected by civil infrastructure that is prone to clogging due to mud and debris flow. With Michael Goulden, ESS professor, he is examining the spatial analysis of wildfire fuels in California.

Goulden is director of the Center for Ecosystem Climate Solutions and conducts research on how earthly ecosystems work, with an emphasis on what controls the exchanges of gases and energy between land surfaces and the atmosphere.

“I’ve always sought to combine the tools of engineering and physics to the problems relevant to environmental science,” Banerjee says.

Two others who make up the CLEWS group are associate professors Kate Mackey, ESS, and Jasper Vrugt, CEE. Mackey uses field and laboratory methods to uncover the underlying biogeochemical factors that allow different species to dominate different regions, particularly in dynamic environments impacted by global change.

Vrugt uses theory, computer models and data to understand, describe and predict behavior of complex systems. “Climate change has so many different aspects related to it that a single discipline alone cannot tackle the overall challenge,” says Vrugt.

“The environment and how we deal with planet Earth and our own behavior needs to change; this requires coordination and integration.”

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ENERGY BREAKTHROUGHS 28

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CO2 PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER IN MID-DECEMBER 2021 OUTLINING HOW THE U.S. WILL LEVERAGE ITS SCALE AND PROCUREMENT POWER AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE IN TACKLING THE CLIMATE CRISES. HE IS COMMITTED TO INVESTING IN CLEAN ENERGY INNOVATION, WITH A FOCUS ON STRATEGIC RESEARCH AREAS LIKE CLEAN TRANSPORTATION, CLEAN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES AND CLEAN MATERIALS.

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Across the country, and here at UCI, the pursuit of sustainable energy approaches is fueling a flurry of novel research in the area of decarbonization technologies. A large portion of the Samueli School’s chemical and biomolecular engineering energy-focused faculty now reside in the ISEB. Chancellor’s Professor Plamen Atanassov explains the approach: “We have to decarbonize the electrical grid, the transportation sector and the manufacturing industry. If you’re a chemical engineer, you’ll focus on decarbonizing the manufacturing industry, electrical engineers will work on decarbonizing the grid, and mechanical engineers will work on decarbonizing transportation. ISEB gives us the opportunity to bring all these people together.”

“Traditional disciplines were developed like silos, but have broadened in recent years,” says Ardo, associate professor of chemistry. “This means that the curriculum in each discipline now overlaps more than ever, yet the root teaching in each discipline comes from different historical upbringings. This leads to people who speak different academic languages, even though all principles in these fields arise from the same core set of underlying physical laws of the universe.”

CO The team is driven to decarbonize the U.S. energy system by 2050, which aligns with the national effort set forth by the Biden administration.

“Although our expertise is different, we are united by the same goal,” says Iryna Zenyuk, CBE associate professor and associate director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center. “Our projects span length and time scales from atomic to devices, and our expertise is complementary in many ways, allowing us to freely collaborate.”

CBE Professor Vojislav Stamenkovic studies reaction processes on ideal surfaces, providing fundamental insight into electrocatalysis. Atanassov designs novel materials for various electrochemical processes for carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen cycles. Ali Mohraz, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, uses bijel technology to improve transport in metal-air batteries. Zenyuk integrates various components into energy devices and provides understanding of limiting factors by using modeling and extensive testing and advanced characterization.

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With CBE energy-focused labs next to each other, Zenyuk, Atanassov and Stamenkovic work together to design fuel cell systems that are cost-effective and durable. Some of these systems will end up with carbon capture, conversion and storage solutions. And these labs share the wing with electrochemist Shane Ardo’s lab.

The CBE professors emphasize they like to work with people who are offering up nontraditional solutions like Stacy Copp, assistant professor of materials science and engineering; Allon Hochbaum, associate professor of materials science and engineering; and Jenny Yang, Chancellor’s Professor of chemistry.

“The energy challenges don’t care about our notions of what is physics, what is chemistry or what is engineering,” says Copp.

“I’m excited to be a member of the research community at UCI because removing these artificial disciplinary walls allows us to approach problems in creative new ways, and that, ultimately, is how innovation happens.”

Researchers are focusing on historically difficult to decarbonize sectors, such as heavy-duty transportation, cement making and chemical manufacturing. Zenyuk and her colleagues are using electrochemistry and electrochemical engineering as tools to solve these energy problems. She explains, “Electrochemical technologies have a great potential

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to substitute thermochemical processes (such as fossil fuel burning), as they have higher efficiencies (little waste heat), lower to no greenhouse gas emissions, and they operate using clean electricity (solar and wind).”

Zenyuk points to examples like hydrogen fuel cells, batteries, water electrolyzers and carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction electrolyzers. She acknowledges that challenges of cost and durability have to be overcome. “But for many of these, we are almost at a cost-parity with fossil fuel technologies,” she says. “For example, for heavy-duty transportation, such as trucks, hydrogen fuel cells can have a significant impact, as hydrogen is light and does not add to the payload. The fuel cell vehicle recharges in minutes, and it emits zero greenhouse gas emissions.”

Atanassov and Zenyuk’s research groups are also collaborating on novel ways to convert carbon dioxide electrochemically into useful products, such as a mix of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen, called “syngas,” formate, acetate and other chemicals.

She adds that colleagues from different fields are approaching the problem from various perspectives: Yang is designing novel molecular catalysts for this same problem, and Ardo focuses more on carbon capture solutions through porous media design.

Zenyuk is also working with Mo Li, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, on NSF-funded research on clean cement manufacturing from renewable energy. And they collaborate on a DOE-funded project with the largest U.S. electolyzer manufacturer Nel Hydrogen to enable large-scale deployment of megawatt-scale electrolyzers.

“These are real-world problems and we believe that deep decarbonization will require diverse technologies and approaches,” says Zenyuk. “It is exciting to be a colleague to such great scientists and to see the diversity of ideas they offer.”

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Additionally, finding solutions to decarbonize difficult sectors requires a much-needed engineering and clean-energy workforce to help transition the economy. “We want our students to graduate and be ready to design new batteries, solar cells and electrolyzers,” Zenyuk adds. “Students are super excited to come to the [ISEB] lab, where everything is new and shiny.

I think this will be a creativity booster.”

Research efforts are aligned with educational initiatives.

Atanassov is leading an educational program that he will convert into a doctoral degree in electrochemical engineering.

“ISEB is an amazing opportunity. I look at this building as something that will propel the collaboration among researchers toward new horizons,” says Atanassov. “Outside of human health, which is always going to be a very important focus, the health of the planet becomes extremely important. It’s all one picture. We’re talking about human health, global impact and human activity in the environment.”

ENERGY “THE CHALLENGES DON’T CARE ABOUT OUR NOTIONS OF

WHAT IS PHYSICS, WHAT IS CHEMISTRY OR WHAT IS ENGINEERING.” 31

BUILDING BLOCKS SEEKING ANSWERS TO LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS IS IN CHANG LIU’S DNA. WHERE DO WE COME FROM? HOW DO WE EVOLVE? HOW CAN WE PREVENT SUFFERING AND EVEN DEATH? TO FIND ANSWERS, HE TURNS TO THE TINY CELL – AND DNA.

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Liu, associate professor of biomedical engineering, is making significant strides in the development of genetic systems capable of driving the rapid mutation and evolution of userselected genes of interest in vivo. His lab has pioneered an orthogonal DNA replication system for rapid evolution called OrthoRep. With this system, researchers can make antibodies that target and neutralize SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 2-3 weeks. “The ability to do this broadly for all sorts of targets will have applications in therapeutics development for any number of diseases,” says Liu. Eventually, he hopes to create a yeast-based “immune system in a test tube” for cheap, fast and decentralized therapeutic antibody generation.

Liu and his lab have also developed genetic systems that give cells the ability to record their transient experiences into interpretable mutations in their genomes without unintended damage.

These recordings work like unique barcodes or biographies, tracking cells’ experiences. Patterns that emerge can be used to infer cellular histories, holding clues to fighting diseases more effectively and efficiently.

Cancer is one of the diseases of interest to Liu and colleagues. Postdoctoral scholar Theresa Loveless, who oversees the DNA recorder projects, says, “Once metastatic cells are identified, we can go back and say: ‘What made you this way?’ If we answer that, we should be able to target cells that are going to form a metastasis before they grow out of control and suddenly, you have a hundred million cells you want to try to kill instead of two.”

Having recently moved his lab into the new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building, Chang’s research group is increasing interactions with colleagues from other disciplines.

“There’s a lot going for this building,” says Liu. “The design is great. We’re on the fourth floor, and we have this nice terrace that everybody has parties on. It’s a great location to see people. Everyone is really excited to be here and start bumping into each other.”

He adds, “For example, on this floor, we’ve already had a lot of discussions with Andy Borovik’s lab even though the lab hasn’t even moved in. Andy works on metalloenzymes. He designs proteins that can latch onto a metal center that is responsible for catalysis. One of the major ways you can change and improve and modulate the properties of proteins is through directed evolution, an area in which we’re experts. So we’ve already started discussing how we might use various levels of directed evolution to improve his metalloenzymes. That’s an area where there’s already an intersection.”

Borovik, Distinguished Professor of chemistry, concurs, “My group’s move to ISEB was spurred by the opportunity to interact with a new community of scientists, and Chang Liu and his group were one that we were particularly excited about. My group comes from bioinorganic chemistry, and we examine the influences of metal ions (Fe, Mn, Cu) on the function of proteins. One major project in my group is to engineer artificial metalloproteins that contain sites that emulate those in natural proteins. Up until now, we have rationally designed new artificial proteins using first principles from chemistry.

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“WE’VE BEEN DISCUSSING IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO

MERGE STRENGTHS IN ACHIEVING

LOFTY VISIONS, SUCH AS FIGURING OUT CERTAIN MATHEMATICAL THEORIES BEHIND IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES LIKE EVOLUTION.

”

“Since moving into ISEB, Chang and I have had several stimulating conversations about how our labs could collaborate to develop an entirely new way to discover new metalloproteins. Our offices are two doors down from each other, and we just started to chat. Now we’re brainstorming ideas. Chang has that wonderful ability to quickly hone in on problems and offer useful suggestions. Coupling that skill with the powerful technologies that his lab has pioneered offers us exciting possibilities that we are eager to explore together.”

Liu points out that being able to communicate ideas well inspires collaboration. He explains, “One of the things in science is that not only do you have to do good work technically in the laboratory, and not only do you have to creatively explore new areas, but the only way people are going to appreciate it, use it and be influenced by it, is if you can communicate it.”

The lab of Fangyuan Ding, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is next door to Liu’s.

Ding uses new technologies, including synthetic biology and imaging, to understand the biology of RNA. Both she and Liu are researchers in the Center for Synthetic Biology, and their students interact and exchange ideas frequently. “Not only are we using the center to consolidate hiring, but we are also using it to bring synthetic biologists from different departments into a tighter knit community,” Liu explains.

Other neighboring researchers in ISEB with complementary expertise are Han Li and Nancy Da Silva (systems and synthetic biology), Elliot Botvinick (single-molecule methods) and Stacy Copp, Wendy Liu and Tim Downing (protein-nucleic acid interactions), says Ding. “The new tenants of ISEB are building a cohesive and collaborative community,” she adds. “Such close physical proximity and alignment of research interests will inevitably have a strong synergistic effect.”

Liu has also been joining forces with Qing Nie, Chancellor’s Professor of mathematics, whose group is on the sixth floor. “A lot of our projects are beginning to have a strong computational element,” says Liu. “And a lot of them can be extended into mathematical analysis and theory.

So we’ve been discussing ideas about how to merge strengths in achieving lofty visions, such as figuring out certain mathematical theories behind important biological processes like evolution.”

Nie heads the NSF-Simons Center for Multiscale Cell Fate Research (CMCF) and being colocated in ISEB has led to a collaborative proposal with potential for new interdisciplinary research projects. “With more CMCF and engineering faculty members settling down in ISEB, nice interactive spaces will significantly enhance our center’s activities,” says Nie. These are just a few of the examples of collaborations in the new building.

“One of the most important aspects is when all the trainees in our groups – all the grad students, postdocs, technicians and undergrads – are running into each other regularly. They are highly intelligent, motivated, creative people,” says Liu. “I’m very excited about new ideas developing organically through those interactions.”

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RESEARCH 36

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CONNECTING THE COUNTRY

UCI researchers are part of federally funded effort to boost broadband connectivity in rural U.S. Improving internet access to everyone in the country is critical. UCI electrical engineering and computer science researchers are part of a rural wireless connectivity research project that received $8 million from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The funds will help the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research program establish a new facility in central Iowa dedicated to driving innovation and improving broadband connectivity in sparsely inhabited regions of the U.S. Systems working group principal investigator Ozdal Boyraz, UCI professor of electrical engineering and computer science, is leading a team

focusing on free-space optical backbone technologies associated with the initiative. FSO uses infrared laser beams to transmit digital data – including internet messages, video, computer files and radio signals – across vast distances without using fiber-optic cables.

“It would be cost-prohibitive to hardwire every location in the nation’s vast rural regions with broadband fiber, so one solution is to use line-of-sight light beam transmitters and receivers to cover the territory,” Boyraz said. “The challenge for our team is to develop technologies that are robust and highly reliable.”

Academic researchers in the Iowa hub, called ARA: Wireless Living

Lab for Smart and Connected Rural Communities, will work with representatives from an industry consortium of 35 wireless companies to build a programmable infrastructure across Iowa State University, the city of Ames, and nearby farms and communities. The systems will provide a technological backbone for precision agriculture and livestock operations and, potentially, autonomous vehicles and drones.

Said Boyraz: “This project aims to improve the quality of life in rural America through better internet access, benefiting sectors as diverse as agriculture, business, healthcare, education and culture.”

Unfortunately, 22.3 percent of Americans in rural areas and 27.7 percent of Americans in Tribal lands lack coverage from fixed terrestrial 25/3 Mbps broadband, as compared to only 1.5 percent of Americans in urban areas, according to the 2020 Broadband Deployment Report by the Federal Communications Commission.

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DAMAGING DROUGHTS WORSEN

Human influence is responsible for increasing lengthy dry spells

“

Knowing where, how and why droughts have been worsening around the world is important, because these events directly and indirectly impact everything from wildlife habitats to agricultural production to our economy.

”

Greenhouse gases and aerosol pollution emitted by human activities are responsible for increases in the frequency, intensity and duration of droughts around the world, according to UCI civil and environmental engineering researchers.

The team’s research demonstrated significant shifts in drought characteristics – frequency, duration and intensity – due to human influence, or what they call “anthropogenic forcing.”

In a study published in Nature Communications, they showed that over the past century, the likelihood of stronger and more long-lasting dry spells grew in the Americas, the Mediterranean, western and southern Africa and eastern Asia.

The researchers used a new world climate modeling platform, called Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6, to run climate simulations showing how the length and strength of droughts change under various scenarios including “natural-only” and with the addition of greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions.

“There has always been natural variability in drought events around the world, but our research shows the clear human influence on drying, specifically from anthropogenic aerosols, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases,” said lead author Felicia Chiang, who conducted the project as a UCI graduate student. She earned her doctorate in 2020 and is now a postdoctoral scholar at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

The modeling experiments under natural-only conditions did not show regional changes in drought characteristics from the late 19th to late 20th centuries, according to the study. But when the team accounted for anthropogenic greenhouse gas and aerosol contributions, statistically significant increases occurred in drought hotspots in southern Europe, Central and South America, western and southern Africa and eastern Asia.

The team found that in examining the anthropogenic forcings separately, greenhouse gases had a bigger impact in the Mediterranean, Central America, the Amazon and southern Africa, while anthropogenic aerosols played a larger role in Northern Hemisphere monsoonal and sub-arctic regions. Chiang said human-emitted aerosols are essentially particulate matter that are small enough to be suspended in the air. They can come from power plants, car exhaust and biomass burning (fires to clear land or to burn farm waste).

“Knowing where, how and why droughts have been worsening around the world is important, because these events directly and indirectly impact everything from wildlife habitats to agricultural production to our economy,” said co-author Amir AghaKouchak, professor of civil & environmental engineering and Earth system science.

“Lengthy dry spells can even hamper the energy sector through disruptions to solar thermal, geothermal and hydropower generation.”

Co-author Omid Mazdiyasni, who earned a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering at UCI in 2020 and is now a project scientist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, said that while the research paints a gloomy picture of the unwanted impact of humans on the global environment, it points to a potential solution. “If droughts over the past century have been worsened by human-sourced pollution, then there is a strong possibility that the problem can be mitigated by limiting those emissions.”

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

TAKE IT FROM NATURE

Biomedical engineer is developing a groundbreaking advanced monitor for Type 1 diabetes More than 34 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monitoring and controlling blood glucose for people with the autoimmune ailment can be a life or death issue.

UCI’s Elliot Botvinick, professor of biomedical engineering, is developing a first-of-its-kind device that will simultaneously measure insulin, glucose, lactate, oxygen and the ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate with a single probe inserted just beneath the skin. He was awarded a three-year, $3.5 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to build the innovative continuous-use monitor for those with Type 1 diabetes.

Called iGLOBE (Insulin + Glucose + Lactate + Oxygen + Beta-HydroxybutyratE) LifeStrip, the monitor utilizes light and chemistry to provide sensing capabilities for multiple analytes, critical for controlling blood glucose and detecting possible dangerous events. The device will include continuous insulin monitoring and improve dosing efficacy by providing real-time feedback on the dynamics of insulin-pump therapy as well as real-time estimates of patients’ sensitivity to insulin.

It is also important to monitor blood glucose in those with Type 1 diabetes, known as insulin dependent diabetes. When blood glucose is elevated above normal values, a condition called hyperglycemia, the body produces a chemical called beta-hydroxybutyrate through a metabolic reaction. Elevated beta-hydroxybutyrate is associated with diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition, which can result in hospitalization or death. iGLOBE monitors this chemical both as a “smoke alarm” to indicate dangerous levels and as an additional test to ensure automated insulin delivery is functioning properly.

Monitoring lactate, produced during exercise, is important as well, as it can indicate changing metabolic states, which can lead to changes in blood glucose after exercise. Knowledge of such metabolic shifts will improve glucose prediction and improve insulin dosing.

“Clinical evidence suggests that both betahydroxybutyrate and insulin sensing would SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

improve outcomes and decrease the rates of hospitalization, severe morbidity and death associated with hypo- and hyperglycemia,” said Botvinick, also associate director of UCI’s Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology and professor of surgery at UCI Beckman Laser Institute.

The device includes an insertion system that allows the thin fiber sensor to be inserted by a spring-loaded custom needle, which users will place just beneath the skin, either in the abdomen or the upper arm. Researchers will generate designs for mass-manufacturing capability and assembly, ensuring that processes adhere to FDA guidelines.

Botvinick believes his group’s multi-analyte system is the first of its kind. “When taken together, glucose, lactate, betahydroxybutyrate and insulin monitoring can transform the care of people with Type 1 diabetes,” Botvinick said. “iGLOBE can improve glucose control, compensate for glucose variations associated with exercise, inform of possible or current diabetic ketoacidosis and inform of failing or failed insulin delivery.”

Botvinick is collaborating with Gregory Weiss, UCI professor of chemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry; and David O’Neal M.D., professor of endocrinology at Australia’s University of Melbourne.

The first-of-its-kind device, iGLOBE will simultaneously measure insulin, glucose, lactate, oxygen and the ketone body betahydroxybutyrate with a single probe inserted just beneath the skin.

39

CYBERCRIME SLEUTHS

Researchers are devising AI spear-phishing detection method According to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s annual report, phishing was the most common type of cybercrime in 2020—and phishing incidents nearly doubled in frequency, from 114,702 incidents in 2019, to 241,324 incidents in 2020.

Two Samueli School electrical engineering and computer science researchers – Zhou Li and Yanning Shen – are working with Microsoft to tackle the issue of spear-phishing.

An electronic scamming technique, spear-phishing is a type of online attack that sends personalized emails to targeted individuals and organizations attempting to convince the recipients to perform some action, such as transferring money, logging into a website or sharing data, which the attacker can then use illicitly.

Li and Shen, both assistant professors, are developing a new automatic detection system to identify spearphishing emails, so the damage to an individual or organization can be contained. They are supported by a $150,000 Microsoft Security Research Artificial Intelligence Award and will partner with the company to test their system.

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The researchers are taking a novel approach to what has become a billiondollar problem. “We will model the email communications between senders and recipients as a social graph and apply graph-learning models to classify the emails,” said Li. “To keep our models adapted to the new benign and malicious email patterns that emerge in an organization, we’ll also apply online learning, a very efficient method to update the model.”

In spear-phishing, the attacker usually writes an email tailored to the background and roles of the victims and sends it to a small number of recipients, a more stealth approach than other email-based attacks like spam, which are sent to a large number of recipients without customization. The criminal often impersonates someone the victim knows, using a similar email address and a compromised email account. Because it looks familiar, the email is more

likely to be read and processed by the victim. These emails are often evasive and difficult to capture with existing approaches that are based on malware detection, sender/domain blacklisting, among others.

“To address this problem, we will explore how to adapt state-of-the-art graph learning algorithms,” said Shen.

“Machine learning over graphs is an area I am very excited about as it provides algorithmic and theoretical tools for understanding and learning from data collected in networked systems. We expect this project to have a profound impact on email security and research in graph learning.”

“We are thrilled to be selected as one of the only two winning teams for this award,” said Li. “This is also a great opportunity for our research to make a real-world impact and protect numerous email users.”

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

FIRE FIGHTER

Banerjee probes the physics behind catastrophic blazes California’s wildfire problem, fueled by a concurrence of climate change and a heightened risk of human-caused ignitions in once uninhabited areas, has been getting worse with each passing year of the 21st century.

With multiple research efforts, Tirtha Banerjee, UCI assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, tackles this problem with science and engineering tactics. He studies wildfires in an attempt to understand the physics of how they behave and how they respond to environmental circumstances.

“The uniqueness is that we’re applying engineering technology to an ecological problem,” he said.

In one project, Banerjee uses fluid dynamics to develop physics-based models that can predict the path of fires by simulating airflow along with the movement of the blaze itself. By punching this data into a supercomputer, Banerjee and his fellow researchers can solve the partial differential equations to formulate predictive pathing for fires, based on weather patterns and available fuel sources.

In another study, he focuses on atmospheric conditions, employing real data from actual fires.

To acquire the data, sensors were placed at strategic locations around a designated grassland in the Pine

Barrens where the U.S. Forest Service was doing controlled burns.

Banerjee’s team also has analyzed the increase in exponentially devastating wildfires in California over the last few years. They conducted a thorough analysis of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection wildfire statistics from 2000 to 2019, comparing them with data from 1920 to 1999. They learned that the annual burn season has lengthened in the past two decades and that the yearly peak has shifted from August to July.

The research, published in Nature Scientific Reports, is a focused examination of fire frequency, burned area and myriad drivers of the catastrophically destructive events. The team found that the number of hot spots – places with severe fire risk – has grown significantly in recent years, fueled by higher annual mean temperatures, greater vapor pressure deficit (lack of air moisture), drought, and an elevated chance of blazes being sparked through such human causes as power line disruptions, construction, transportation, campfires, discarded cigarettes and fireworks.

“The concurrence of human-caused climate change, which is drying out our forests and grasslands and creating longer stretches of hot weather, and a steady influx of people into remote areas is creating

conditions for the perfect fire storm,” said Banerjee.

“But there is some good news in all of this; humancaused fire risk can be mitigated by better fire management practices by humans.”

Banerjee is also the principal investigator on an NSF-funded international consortium designed to catalyze and accelerate research on the prediction and management of wildland fires. Called iFireNet, the network will address fundamental knowledge gaps in the science and engineering aspects of wildfires with the goal of minimizing damage to life, nature and property from increasingly frequent and severe blazes.

Countries involved include the U.S., Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, with participation of researchers from Portugal, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and Spain. The researchers will examine wildfire behavior, prescribed fire science, canopy-to-landscape scale forest disturbance and the coupling of fire with weather and the climate. “iFireNet will connect clusters of experts in academia, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and the private sector in the United States and around the world to tackle this most complex of problems facing humanity today,” said Banerjee.

By mid-November according to CAL FIRE, the 2021 California wildfire season recorded a total of 8,367 fires, burning 3,083,507 acres across the state. The length of the fire season is estimated to have increased by 75 days.

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

41

IMMUNE SYSTEM INSIGHT

Research finds white blood cells lacking specific protein could enhance wound healing

“

By identifying a molecule that is required for sensing different stiffness environments, we can start thinking about therapies that target Piezo1 and control inflammation.

”

The key to unlocking the mystery of how the immune system helps heal wounds appears to be in understanding the role of a protein called Piezo1, according to research by UCI’s Wendy Liu.

calcium in the cells and higher levels of inflammation. Macrophages cultured on soft substrates have reduced inflammatory activation when compared to cells adhered to glass or other stiff substrates.

Macrophages, a type of white blood cell in the immune system, perform different functions during immune responses to pathogens and injuries. Liu, associate professor of biomedical engineering, found that macrophages lacking Piezo1, a mechanically activated cation channel protein, showed reduced inflammation and enhanced wound healing. She published her findings in Nature Communications.

“We found that macrophages that lack the Piezo1 channel could not sense different stiffness environments,” Liu said.

“Furthermore, stiffer implants usually cause more scarring compared to soft implants.

However, when Piezo1 was not present, scarring around the stiff implant was much less, and more like the response to a soft implant.

“In our study, we examined how cells of the immune system – specifically macrophages – respond to the stiffness of a material,” Liu explained. “Stiffness is important in many biological contexts. For example, when medical devices are implanted into the body, the materials they are made out of are usually much stiffer than the tissue around it, and these implants can cause inflammation and scarring that is mediated by macrophages. In addition, tumors or diseased cardiovascular tissues are often stiffer than healthy tissue, and macrophage activity is also involved in these diseases.”

The study revealed that Piezo1, which allows ions like calcium to pass through cell membranes, is a mechanosensor (able to sense mechanical stimuli) of stiffness in macrophages, and its activity modulates the behavior of these cells. In stiff environments, the ion channel becomes activated, causing more

42

“By identifying a molecule that is required for sensing different stiffness environments, we can start thinking about therapies that target Piezo1 and control inflammation.”

Liu’s research was a collaboration with Medha Pathak and Michael Cahalan, both from the UCI School of Medicine. “Professor Pathak is an expert in Piezo1 and has previously studied a role for this ion channel in neural stem cells,” said Liu. “Her lab provided much guidance in the tools to study Piezo1.

Professor Cahalan is an expert in calcium signaling and imaging, and his lab developed a calcium reporter that allowed us to visualize calcium signals in macrophages.”

Pathak, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics, added, “This was a truly fun collaboration that identified astonishing new roles for the Piezo1 channel in the immune system. We are excited to continue working together toward a deeper understanding of Piezo1’s role and how those insights could be harnessed for therapeutic purposes.”

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

IMPROVING EPILEPSY TREATMENT

Researchers are developing methods to better identify and test epilepsy seizure biomarker About 470,000 children in the U.S. have epilepsy, a disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, causing seizures. Although most are able to control their seizures with medication, for those whose seizures persist despite taking multiple medications, surgery may be the best option.

UCI biomedical engineer Beth Lopour is collaborating with pediatric epilepsy specialists at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) on research she hopes will improve the quality of life for children with the most severe cases of epilepsy. With a $1.8 million grant from the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the researchers are developing and validating computerized tools to more accurately and objectively identify regions in the brain where epileptic seizures originate.

Currently to determine where the seizures are originating, clinicians implant electrodes directly onto a patient’s brain to continuously record electrical activity. This invasive recording may last days to weeks, until enough data is captured to proceed with surgery. They then use this information, combined with brain imaging and other test results, to guide removal of the seizure-generating brain tissue. However, this approach does not always work. The majority of patients remain on anti-seizure medications after surgery, and roughly half of patients continue to have seizures.

“The long-term goal of this grant is to improve the outcomes of patients undergoing surgery by developing more accurate methods to localize seizure-generating tissue,” said Lopour, an assistant professor.

robust measurement and detection of HFOs will improve our ability to identify surgical candidates. In instances where no seizures or an insufficient number of seizures are captured during intracranial monitoring to make a clinical decision about surgery, we hope that including HFO data will give us sufficient confidence to pursue surgery, when appropriate.”

Lopour is grateful for the support and participation from the patients and their families at CHOC. “Participating in clinical research is a brave and selfless act, and we are continuously humbled by the trust and support these families afford us,” said Lopour. “It is only because we have such great partnerships between researchers, clinicians and families that we can pursue such impactful work, and we sincerely hope our endeavors lead to improvements in the care and outcomes of patients with epilepsy.”

“

We believe that our novel techniques will help to identify patients who would not significantly benefit from surgical removal of brain tissue and therefore allow them to avoid unnecessary and ultimately unsuccessful operations.

”

She is creating recording techniques, computational algorithms and data analysis methods to better identify and measure high-frequency oscillations, the short bursts of high-frequency electrical activity that occur in the brains of patients with epilepsy. Recent research has suggested that HFOs are a good biomarker of where seizures originate, and surgically removing HFO-generating brain tissue increases the likelihood of seizure freedom.

“We believe that our novel techniques will help to identify patients who would not significantly benefit from surgical removal of brain tissue and therefore allow them to avoid unnecessary and ultimately unsuccessful operations,” said Dr. Daniel Shrey, a CHOC pediatric neurologist and epilepsy specialist. “Second, we believe that accurate and

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

43

MIGHTY METAMATERIALS

UCI-led team creates new ultralightweight, crush-resistant tensegrity metamaterials from century-old design principle transplantation

“

This study provides important groundwork for design of superior engineering systems, from reusable impact protection systems to adaptive load-bearing structures.

”

Catastrophic collapse of materials and structures is the inevitable consequence of a chain reaction of locally confined damage – from solid ceramics that snap after the development of a small crack to metal space trusses that give way after the warping of a single strut.

In a study published in Advanced Materials, engineers at UCI and the Georgia Institute of Technology describe the creation of a new class of mechanical metamaterials that delocalize deformations to prevent failure. They did so by turning to tensegrity, a century-old design principle in which isolated rigid bars are integrated into a flexible mesh of tethers to produce very lightweight, self-tensioning truss structures.

Starting with 950 nanometer-diameter members, the team used a sophisticated direct laser writing technique to generate elementary cells sized between 10 and 20 microns. These were built up into eight-unit supercells that could be assembled with others to make a continuous structure. The researchers then conducted computational modeling and laboratory experiments and observed that the constructs exhibited uniquely homogenous deformation behavior free from localized overstress or underuse.

The team showed that the new metamaterials feature a 25fold enhancement in deformability and an orders-of-magnitude increase in energy absorption over state-of-the-art lattice arrangements.

“Tensegrity structures have been studied for decades, particularly in the context of architectural design, and they have recently been found in a number of biological systems,” said senior co-author Lorenzo Valdevit, a UCI professor of materials science and engineering. “Proper periodic tensegrity lattices were theoretically conceptualized only a few years ago by our co-author Julian Rimoli at Georgia Tech, but through this project we have achieved the first physical implementation and performance demonstration of these metamaterials.”

Made possible by novel additive manufacturing techniques, extremely lightweight yet strong and rigid conventional structures based on micrometer-scale trusses and lattices have been of keen interest to engineers for their potential to replace heavier, solid substances in aircraft, wind turbine blades and a host of other applications. Though possessing many desirable qualities, these advanced materials can – like any load-bearing structure – still be susceptible to catastrophic destruction if overloaded.

“In familiar nano-architected materials, failure usually starts with a highly localized deformation,” said first author Jens Bauer, a UCI research scientist in mechanical and aerospace engineering. “Shear bands, surface cracks, and buckling of walls and struts in one area can cause a chain reaction leading to the collapse of an entire structure.”

According to Valdevit, tensegrity metamaterials demonstrate an unprecedented combination of failure resistance, extreme energy absorption, deformability and strength, outperforming all other types of state-of-the-art lightweight architectures.

“This study provides important groundwork for design of superior engineering systems, from reusable impact protection systems to adaptive load-bearing structures,” he said.

Julie Kraus, a graduate student in the Rimoli laboratory at Georgia Tech, participated in this research, as did Cameron Crook, a UCI graduate student in materials science and engineering. Funding was provided by NASA and the National Science Foundation.

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

TRANSFORMING ENERGY

Li to lead efforts that could result in fuels and commodities with greater than 100% carbon efficiency UCI chemical engineer Han Li is creating clean energy processes that more efficiently convert waste into commodities and biofuels and reduce our carbon footprint. If successful, her project will be the first biological platform to convert carboxylic acids into a broad range of fuels and commodities with greater than 100% carbon efficiency.

She leads the multi-institutional team working on the project, funded by $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

“I am very honored to receive this support and excited to carry out the proposed research,” said Li, principal investigator and assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.

“This is a bold idea, and I am pleased to see that it fits well into ARPA-E’s model of funding high-risk, high-impact work.”

Currently, ethanol biofuel and a growing number of other plant-based products are made almost exclusively

by fermentation. Existing methods for producing ethanol can waste more than a third of the carbon in feedstock (raw plant materials such as corn, wheat and soy) as carbon dioxide during the fermentation step alone. This waste adds greenhouse gas emissions, limits product yields and squanders valuable carbon feedstock.

Preventing the loss of carbon as carbon dioxide during bioconversion, or potentially incorporating external sources of carbon dioxide, could lower emissions and increase the yield of bioconversion processes.

To solve the problem of lost carbon, Li’s team is focusing on carboxylic acids, organic compounds often used in industrial applications. Compared with grain-derived sugars, carboxylic acids could be produced in large quantities from food and industrial wastes. This could serve as a more scalable and economical feedstock for biofuel and biochemical production. However, natural biological pathways for carboxylic acid conversion suffer from a low carbon yield.

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

“Our team proposes a cell-free enzymatic process to address this challenge,” said Li. Their system employs a unique, stronger-than-nature equivalent carrier to overcome a thermodynamic hurdle in carboxylic acid utilization that currently results in lost carbon. The team’s process uses a novel single carbon pathway that elongates and upgrades the product.

Li said, “This work aims to both replace fossil fuels and decrease carbon dioxide emission, which are important steps toward achieving the nation’s carbonneutral future.”

According to a 2021 National Academy of Sciences report, the United States gets 81% of its total energy from oil, coal and natural gas, all of which are fossil fuels.

In addition to Li, the team includes Gregory Weiss, UCI chemistry; Justin Siegel, UC Davis; and Ramon Gonzalez, University of South Florida. Li’s group is one of 15 teams to have received the competitive award from ARPA-E’s Energy and Carbon Optimized Synthesis for the Bioeconomy (ECOSynBio) program.

45

WHIRLING WORLD OF TURBULENCE

Johnson offers keen insight on turbulent flows that affect everyday life Turbulence is all around us.

Fluctuating flows of fluid (gas or liquid) affect everyday weather patterns, the energy we use, the air we breathe, how we play and watch sports, and even the blood that courses through our hearts.

“Turbulent flows are characterized by apparently random, chaotic motions.

And they are everywhere,” said Perry Johnson, UCI assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who published his research exploring turbulent flows in Physics Today.

However, understanding and modeling fluid turbulence proves difficult because of its nonlinear features spanning a wide range of sizes. This can result in physically impossible simulations or extremely expensive computational costs of brute-force simulations due to large amounts of data. Therefore, the development of simplifying models is vital for engineers and scientists studying turbulent flows.

“Turbulent flows generate coherent velocity fluctuations – ‘squeezes, stretches and whirls’ as I call them,” said Johnson.

“I use the example of a large-scale wind farm, which can be many kilometers in length but – if you zoom in – the flow is

46

filled with tiny millimeter-size features and all sizes in between. One of the most fundamental questions is: How do all these motions with such different sizes get energized?”

roles of these two mechanisms, including the role of multiscale interactions,” he said. Ultimately, it revealed a nuanced picture in which both processes play a role.

Two processes are at the core of the question. Johnson traced the classic process known as the “energy cascade.”

He highlighted “vortex stretching,” which occurs when a tornado-like motion stretches along its axis. Johnson likened it to figure skaters pulling in their arms while spinning, conserving angular momentum, which causes a stretched vortex to spin faster. This generates more energized motions at smaller scales, happening randomly all over and causing a chaotic turbulent flow. What results is an overall cascade of energy from larger motions to smaller ones.

Under-resolved computer simulations of turbulent flows are common in many fields, explained Johnson. He employed the Navier-Stokes equation, which encapsulates the law of momentum conservation for a fluid flow, and spatial filtering to simplify the simulation process. Similar to lowering the resolution of an image, spatial filtering applies a low-pass spatial filter. This blurs the small-scale motions to more clearly highlight the larger ones. In essence, spatial filtering results in the ability to quantify energy transfer rates amongst various scales of motion.

An alternative energy cascade mechanism is called strain selfamplification, which explains how energy passes from larger to smaller motions.

This occurs when a strong compressive strain rate steepens as faster-moving pieces of fluid overtake slower-moving ones in their paths.

“A more complete understanding of the physics involved in the energy cascade gives more guidance in constructing models,” said Johnson.

“A new perspective on how to approach under-resolved turbulence simulations is emerging from my work. I’m excited to see what this idea can do for simulation methods in the coming years here at UCI.”

“My unique contribution was to specify an exact way to distinguish the

“

Turbulent flows are characterized by apparently random, chaotic motions.

And they are everywhere.

”

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

RESEARCH EXPENDITURES 2020-21 BY SOURCE

$95.5M

TOP RESEARCH AWARDS FOR 2020-21

$4.0M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells Integrated with Direct Reduced Iron Plants for the Production of Green Steel Jack Brouwer, professor, mechanical and aerospace engineering

$63.9M FEDERAL

$22.5M INDUSTRY

$3.0M

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

URoL: Epigenetics 2: Connecting Cell Fate and Epigenome Drift Through Physical Models of Chromatin Structure and Dynamics

$6.0M OTHER

$3.1M STATE

RESEARCH EXPENDITURES 2020-21 BY DEPARTMENT $47.3M BIOMEDICAL

$4.8M

CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR

$11.5M

CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL

$12.3M

ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

$7.0M

MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

$11.0M

MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

Tim Downing, assistant professor, biomedical engineering

$1.7M

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Toward Tissue Engineering of Facet Cartilage

Kyriacos Athanasiou, Distinguished Professor, biomedical engineering

$1.7M

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Making Antibody Generation Rapid, Scalable and Democratic Through Machine Learning and Continuous Evolution

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT ENGINEERING PROGRAM RANKINGS

22

ND

PUBLIC UNIVERSITY GRADUATE

24

TH

PUBLIC UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE

Chang Liu, associate professor, biomedical engineering

$1.1M

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

SWIFT: Large Design and Operating Principles of a Wave-Controlled Holographic MIMO System

Ender Ayanoglu, professor, electrical engineering and computer science

$1.1M

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Microfluidic tumor tissue processing platform for single cell diagnostics

Jered Haun, associate professor, biomedical engineering

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ALUMNI AND FRIENDS 48

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

A GIFT FROM THE FAMILY TRUST OF UCI ALUMNUS JOHN DUFFY ’88, AND HIS WIFE, JOANNA, HAS ESTABLISHED A NEW GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP AT THE SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING. John Duffy, Ph.D. electrical engineering and computer science, and Joanna bequeathed $600,000 to establish the Samueli School John and Joanna Duffy Graduate Student Fellowship.

Duffy, who passed away in 2006 and his wife, who died on Easter 2020, were lifelong learners who always valued education, according to their daughter Linda Duffy.

The couple, who married in 1962 and had three children, were longtime supporters

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

of the Engineering Annual Fund and the Chancellor’s Club for Engineering, and they wanted to ensure that their philanthropic efforts would continue.

Duffy earned his doctorate while working at Rockwell International’s Autonetics Divison, where he spent his entire 30-year-plus career.

He led a team of software engineers in a variety of aerospace projects, including some related to the space shuttle program, his son, John Duffy, recalls. “Each year Autonetics would have a family day where we got to see firsthand some of the projects he was working on. He and his team were at the forefront of computer engineering.”

“My dad was very pleased to get his Ph.D. from UCI. What we believe they wanted, and

ANNA LYNN SPITZER

49

what we want, is to provide opportunities for others, especially older adults who are going back to school later in life,” says Linda Duffy.

“It’s much harder when you already have a family to support, a job and other responsibilities. We hope to make it easier on people like that to afford an education.”

Samueli School Interim Dean Michael Green said the fellowship will have an ongoing impact on engineering graduate students, especially now. “Graduate fellowships are more powerful than ever during the challenges brought on by COVID-19,” Green says in a letter to the Duffy children. “With many students facing a decrease in resources and income, this support can be life-changing, not only for the individual who will receive the funding but also by the large community who may benefit from the research performed by our grad students.

“We are honored to receive this gift and are appreciative of the ways it will promote discovery and learning, and contribute to the success of our students for years to come.”

The first of those students is Kelly Richardson, a doctoral student in chemical and biomolecular engineering, who recently was selected to receive the inaugural Duffy fellowship. A disabled veteran who served four years in the Air Force, Richardson began community college after his discharge. He ultimately transferred to UCI, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. Richardson now works with his adviser, Ali Mohraz, and mentor, Han Li, to research the use of biological cells as catalysts for producing chemicals from renewable resources.

“When I graduated from high school, the opportunity for higher education was not an option; joining the military was a way for me to achieve the means to pursue a life beyond the socioeconomic limitations that I faced as a young adult,” says Richardson, who

ARE HONORED TO RECEIVE THIS GIFT AND ARE “WE APPRECIATIVE OF THE WAYS IT WILL PROMOTE DISCOVERY AND LEARNING, AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUCCESS OF OUR STUDENTS FOR YEARS TO COME.” 50

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

adds that his return to civilian life was challenging, and that his education has helped him cope. “Higher education has provided me with a means to set positive goals for myself and channel my focus on achieving something meaningful and productive.”

He expressed enormous gratitude to the Duffy family for their support. “My pursuit of a graduate degree has been challenged by financial limitations,” he says. “John and Joanna Duffy have made the opportunity for me to continue my research and further my academic career a reality. I am eternally grateful to them, and I aim to make them proud of their investment in me.”

Richardson was nominated for the fellowship, which includes one year of student fees and tuition as well as an $18,000 stipend, by Associate Professor Han Li, to whom he also expresses appreciation. “Her continued support and mentorship have been a guiding light for me, and she is an inspiration for my pursuit of research.”

“Our parents would be thrilled with the choice of Kelly for the inaugural award,” says the Duffy’s daughter Diane. “Not only did both support active service members and veterans, but helping someone return to school later in life is exactly what they envisioned with the Samueli School John and Joanna Duffy Graduate Student Fellowship. We all three wish Kelly all the best with his pursuit of his graduate degree.”

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

(Top)Duffy earned his doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science while working full time at Rockwell International’s Autonetics Divison.

He and his wife were lifelong learners who valued education.

(Left) Kelly Richardson is an Air Force veteran who is working toward his doctorate in chemical and biomolecular engineering. He is the first recipient of the Duffy fellowship.

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TONYA BECERRA

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

ELIZABETH “BETTY” GAYLE ’87 DIDN’T SET OUT TO SHATTER THICK GLASS CEILINGS. INSPIRED BY HER PARENTS’ GRIT, STRENGTH AND LOVE, SHE STROVE FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING AND THE BARRIERS BROKE AWAY. Born in Guam, Gayle came to UCI in 1982 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1987. After graduating, she returned to her homeland, built a thriving career and emerged as an active community member.

In 1992, Gayle became the first licensed female indigenous professional engineer in Guam. She has received numerous awards, including being named a 2020 National Society of Professional Engineers fellow. Gayle has also received awards such as Pioneer of Guam, First Chamorro Woman Professional Engineer for the 50th Anniversary of the Organic Act of Guam, First Chamorro Woman Engineer in 1995 and First Chamorro Woman Civil Engineer in 1999 from the Bureau of Women’s Affairs.

Gayle shares her story to inspire future generations of Anteater Engineers.

Why did you decide to become an engineer?

A high school counselor recommended I research engineering as a major because my math skills were strong. I looked into it, talked to my parents and decided to get my degree in engineering. I knew it would be difficult, but I was determined.

When I returned to Guam in 1987, it was at the start of a construction and development boom on the island. I was able to work in an industry that was thriving and hungry for new graduates. This boosted my trajectory in work goals and accomplishments. I had passed my Engineer In Training exam my senior year at UCI. After working four years as a junior engineer on Guam, I took my National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveying (NCEES) professional engineer exam in civil engineering. I had to recall my long nights of studying at UCI to prepare for the eight-hour exam, and I passed! It was a pleasant surprise since many don’t pass it on their first attempt.

My communications skills also helped me develop into a well-respected engineer. I found that many local engineers did not like to write reports, letters or other correspondence necessary in our field. I credit my parents for making sure I wrote and spoke clearly all the time, but also UCI for making all engineering seniors take a course on communications and public speaking.

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

Why did you choose UCI? Back then, college applicants could only select one UC campus, so I selected Irvine because I really liked Southern California (no harsh winters), and it wasn’t as big as the other UC schools. I also knew the UCI School of Engineering was very well respected, so it seemed to be a good fit.

What do you do for work now?

I’m a vice president/senior civil engineer working for a local architectural firm, Setiadi Architects. My main role is project management for multidiscipline engineering projects. Most of my practice is for military projects on Guam, but I have also done services like planning, including environmental and military, on Guam, Japan, Commonwealth of Northern Marianas and Hawaii.

Recently, I’ve also been facilitating virtual and face-to-face design charrette meetings for military design engineering projects. This new skill set was born out of my experience leading board meetings for the Guam Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors (PEALS) and the University of Guam Board of Regents.

What does it mean to you to be the first licensed female indigenous professional engineer in Guam?

I am proud to be the first licensed female Chamorro professional engineer. It was not necessarily a goal I sought because I was unaware that there weren’t other women before me. More local women have since become licensed professional engineers, but no one else will be the first.

I am proud to have spent my entire engineering career on Guam. I feel like I am contributing to the economic growth and prosperity of the island. I have worked with many military planners, engineers and stakeholders over the past several years, and all are quite surprised yet complimentary when they realize I am a local who has come back to support her island proudly.

What does becoming an NSPE Fellow mean to you?

Becoming an NSPE Fellow means my colleagues in the Guam Society of Professional Engineers, the local chapter of the NSPE (all men), recognize my contributions to the local engineering community. My 25-plus years of managing the Guam State MATHCOUNTS program, more than 15 years of being GSPE treasurer, in addition to serving on the PEALS Board are all appreciated by my colleagues. The glass ceiling on Guam is made of very thick glass – I was so happy to finally break through it. There are now only two NSPE Fellows on Guam (I am the first female), and my selection is the first in more than 10 years.

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(Top) “I have worked with many military planners, engineers and stakeholders over the past several years, and all are quite surprised yet complimentary when they realize I am a local who has come back to support her island proudly,” says Elizabeth “Betty” Gayle.

Gayle (second from left) with mother, Maria (right), her sisters and brother (left-right): Karen, Andrew Jr. and Annie, with a local carabao in Umatac, Guam, in 1969.

(Middle) Gayle’s family in 1986 from left to right: Maria, Karen, Barbara, Andrew Jr., Ana Maria, Betty and Andrew (father) Gayle.

(Bottom) In June 1987, UCI School of Engineering graduation day brought lots of smiles for Gayle and her parents.

I’m always eager to encourage students to pursue engineering or young engineers to join GSPE. It’s been so rewarding to see many of the MATHCOUNTS “mathletes” (competing students) come back to Guam as engineers or other STEM professionals. I am working with several engineers now who were mathletes when I first started managing it. I want to continue to expand Guam’s engineering community and hope to do so as an NSPE fellow.

What/Who inspires you?

Each of my parents inspires me for different reasons.

My late father inspired me to work and study hard, yet he also encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do in life. When I asked what he thought of my becoming an engineer, he knew it might be difficult for a female to successfully complete an engineering degree, but he never tried to steer me away from it. I was always very independent growing up (I’m the second of five very competitive siblings), and my father allowed me to find my own way, even if I struggled along the way. While he tried to treat all his kids equally, he realized we were all unique and different; he gave each of us the right amount of space and encouragement to grow on our own. He was strict but also very generous.

My mother inspires me to be strong and steadfast. She was only 5 years old when Japan bombed and subsequently occupied Guam during World War II. Growing up during the war, she witnessed very harsh times, with her parents trying to keep their rice farm while her older brothers were forced to work for the Japanese. One brother never came back. Living more than three years under Japanese occupation made her a strong-willed young girl, who grew up to be a strong-willed, independent woman.

Although she never attended college, she always pushed each of us to try our best so we could get into college. My mom made sure we were all prepared for school in the mainland. One thing she was adamant about was that we spoke and wrote English well. English was not her first language, and she was punished in school after the war for speaking in her native tongue, Chamorro. For this reason, she did not teach us Chamorro. Her generation is now criticized for not passing down our indigenous language. But she felt she was preparing us for college in the mainland. My siblings and I are trying to learn the language now as adults.

I am still in awe when I hear stories about her growing up on Guam. Whenever I feel sorry for myself or stressed about an issue, I think, “Nothing could be as hard as what Mom went through during the war, so buck it up!” To this day, Mom is as nurturing, calming and sensitive as she ever was to us growing up. She inspires me to be the same way.

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What lesson(s) did you take with you from UCI?

Anything else you would like to add?

My freshman year at UCI, there weren’t other engineering majors in my dorm. I tried to do all my homework and exam studies on my own. The math was usually not a problem for me, but I found the physics and engineering a little difficult. By my sophomore year, I made friends from engineering classes, and we started to do homework and study for exams together in group study sessions.

I could help my friends with math, and they could explain physics and engineering to me. We created a symbiotic group relationship, encouraging and helping each other.

UCI was a great time in my life! I love the friends I made, the experiences I had and living in Southern California. The campus has grown so much in the years since I graduated – it looks like such a world-class university now. I love to read about all the wonderful accomplishments of the university, its faculty and especially its graduates. Although I came back to Guam for professional and personal reasons, I cherish my time at UCI and am a proud Anteater. Zot! Zot! Zot!

I found this to be incredibly useful in my career as an engineer.

Many projects I manage require multiple disciplines to collaborate and work together to solve a design. I credit my current project management abilities to my group-study experiences at UCI. The group engineering projects I had to do my last year at UCI were fantastic experiences in learning to work with people of different cultural backgrounds, ethnicity, skills, work styles and personalities.

Any favorite Anteater memories?

(Top) Betty Gayle ’87, Kim Cresencia ’87 and friends in a UCI campus apartment.

(Bottom) Longtime friend Kim Cresencia ’87 (left) notified the Samueli School about Gayle’s NSPE honor.

I always looked forward to the Wayzgoose celebrations every year. They were fun times walking around the campus experiencing different foods, seeing classic cars, people dressed in various costumes, etc. The school of engineering always celebrated E-Week in spring – I looked forward to the egg drop contest from the top of the Engineering Building. I also had a great time working with a team of fellow classmates designing, building and then racing in a concrete canoe at an E-Week competition my senior year.

The UCI men’s basketball games were always fun, especially in the 1985-86 season. A bunch of us even drove up to Los Angeles to watch UCI win against UCLA. There was not much development around or near the campus when I first started at UCI, so we usually went off campus for social events, like to see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on Balboa Island.

Any advice for future Anteater Engineers?

Learn to work with others – no matter how independent you may think you are, you will still need colleagues, assistants or others who will help you in work and life. You can still be independent, but learn to collaborate. In these current times of mostly working from home, I still need to work well with my project team members. Collaboration and teamwork are crucial skills that I acquired at UCI.

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

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LASTING IMPRINT TONYA BECERRA

STEVE ZYLIUS

OPEN AIR WILL OPEN MINDS. THAT’S THE HOPE OF PRINTING PIONEER ROBERT “BOB” KLEIST.

The new open-air terrace on the fourth floor of the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB) will be formally named the Robert and Barbara Kleist Terrace – commonly called Kleist Terrace – in honor of their gift of $500,000.

The terrace is the latest example of the Kleists’ generosity. They have been longtime donors to UCI and have supported numerous diverse initiatives for the Samueli School of Engineering.

“Philanthropy within the university is important to me because education provided many opportunities in my life,” says Kleist. “My philanthropy enables family, friends and others to have lives of opportunity as well. Colleges and universities have many areas that provide improvement for people.”

In addition to the Kleist Terrace gift, he has established the Kleist Fellowship in the Samueli School of Engineering, and the Robert A. & Barbara L. Kleist Chair in Informatics in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. Kleist has served on the Engineering Dean’s Leadership Council, the Information and Computer Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council, and the UCI Beall Applied Innovation Board of Directors.

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

G T

But as an engineer, Kleist has a special relationship with the Samueli School. “I am drawn to UCI engineering because I was one of the founders who managed a growing company in this area in the early days of UCI’s development,” says Kleist. “As the years went by, I built relationships with UCI chancellors and engineering professors. Some engineering students from UCI and other universities came to my company, Printronix, for summer jobs.”

KLEIST TERRACE Kleist’s gift supported the terrace construction and continues to support its maintenance. It is a self-contained, environmentally friendly space that welcomes natural light into the ISEB building.

One special feature is a sliding glass wall between an indoor meeting area and the outdoor space. Physically, it offers flexibility for a wide range of activities, including informal gatherings and formal events. The open flow between indoor and outdoor spaces is part of the design to encourage engagement and dialogue.

Furnished with lounge sofas, chairs and tables and equipped with power-charging stations, Kleist Terrace serves as a hub for students, faculty, staff and the community to relax, study and gather.

Kleist was drawn to the terrace because he believes it can foster cooperative relationships. “In my experience, students tend to develop a more defined area of interest when working together,” he says. “The outdoor student lounge provides a venue that brings together a range of students and will lead to collaboration over a broad range of learning and lunch.”

IMPRINT FOR SUCCESS Kleist earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Kansas University in 1951 and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1961. He holds 17 patents for peripheral and control systems and is a co-author of the 2005 book, “RFID Labeling: Smart Labeling Concepts & Applications for the Consumer Packaged Goods Supply Chain.”

In 1974, Kleist founded Printronix, Inc., which designs, manufactures and markets industrial impact printers, which are also known as line matrix printers, and related consumables and services. He guided its growth from a garage startup in Playa Del Rey, California, to a successful multimillion dollar global company based in Irvine as president and CEO through 2009.

Today, the business services a diverse group of customers that operate across healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing and logistics.

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

“Printronix was an opportunity to design reliable digital line printers that replaced expensive band printers connected to large computers,” explains Kleist. “Printronix printers pioneered the technology that provided capability to print in various languages with printed data and pictures. The printers are priced at three speeds and various data paths for local and remote printing.

They are sold globally, providing affordable and reliable printing that serves customer needs.”

Kleist’s belief in working together extended to company profits. He believed in sharing the company’s success with employees. “I am proud to have had quarterly discussions with employees and that yearly Printronix profit was shared with all employees over and above their regular salary proportional to their contributions within the company,” he recalls. “I was inspired by both customers and employees.”

LOVING PARTNERSHIP Collaboration crossed over into his romantic relationship.

“My wife, Barbara, and I lived a collaborative life,” says Kleist.

“I was in the Navy when I met Barbara at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City,” he reminisces, adding that he worked nearby. “Young ladies in the nursing program lived next to the hospital where they attended classes and had the opportunity to occasionally work in the hospital to gain hands-on experiences in nursing.”

They were married two years later in 1949 when Barbara graduated from Saint Luke’s Nursing School. Barbara’s first job was managing the nursery for the city hospital in Lawrence, Kansas, while Bob was completing his engineering degree.

From the beginning, each supported the other. They worked hard, built a life and raised a family of three daughters together.

The Kleists were married for 68 years before Barbara passed away in June of 2018.

There is also a direct Anteater family connection.

Granddaughter Tempe Jean Kraus graduated from UCI with a bachelor’s degree in information and computer science in 2006.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE With this gift, Kleist said, “Barbara and I hoped that UCI would continue to develop and grow as one of the best California universities.”

He wants UCI students and the community to feel a sense of wonder and connection in the openness of Kleist Terrace, and he offers this advice: “Future generations should work collaboratively to solve issues pertaining to global changes such as air quality, ocean quality and medical support for people at reasonable prices.”

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HALL OF LORI BRANDT

THE SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING INDUCTED THREE ENGINEERING ALUMNI INTO THE 2021 HALL OF FAME. INTERIM DEAN MICHAEL GREEN HONORED EACH OF THE RECIPIENTS VIRTUALLY LAST MAY.

Ed Hernandez ‘91, Johnny Lincoln ’04 (M.S.), ’07 (Ph.D.) and Ramin Massoumi ‘94 are now part of the group of exceptional engineering graduates who have been recognized for making a significant impact in their profession or for bringing distinction to engineering and their alma mater. Fifty-five people have now been named to the engineering alumni Hall of Fame since it was established in 2015 to coincide with UCI’s 50th anniversary.

Green called each honoree via video conference to congratulate them and present them with the award. Although it wasn’t the traditional in-person big-event celebration as in years past, the personal one-on-one virtual exchange provided each honoree the opportunity to express their excitement and appreciation for the acknowledgement of their work. It also allowed recipients to share a few memories of their time as an Anteater and offer insights on their relationship with their alma mater and profession.

“I am proud to induct each of these engineers into the school’s alumni Hall of Fame,” says Green. “Each is deserving of this honor as they are all contributing to making the world better in some way. Ed is educating the next generation of STEM learners, Johnny is developing sustainable materials, and Ramin is improving our transportation and agriculture operations. And they are all giving back to their alma mater.”

2021 Here are this year’s Hall of Famers.

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FAME ED HERNANDEZ

B.S. 1991 – Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

HERNANDEZ IS A FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE GRADUATE WHO IS USING HIS EXPERIENCES TO HELP A NEW GENERATION OF COLLEGE HOPEFULS ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. He spent 13 years in the

semiconductor industry before becoming an educator. As an engineering teacher and director of the Tustin High School T-Tech Academy of Technology & Engineering, Hernandez inspires engineering students who attend amazing schools each year – including UCI. According to Grant Litfin, assistant superintendent of the Tustin Unified School District, “Ed not only has used his electrical engineering and computer science degree from UCI to contribute professionally to the field, but he has also taken direct action to impact engineering and the world in the strongest way possible. He teaches and motivates students to be engineers on a grand scale.

He has undoubtedly made a ripple-effect that has changed hundreds of lives for the better.”

In the 16 years since becoming a teacher, Hernandez has been recognized with numerous awards, including Tustin High School’s Teacher of the Year, Orange County’s Engineering Teacher of the Year, OC Parenting Magazine’s High School Teacher of the Year and California’s Career Technical Education Teacher of the Year.

“This recognition means so much to me,” Hernandez says. “I am a proud UCI alum. UCI was a huge challenge to get into and an even bigger challenge to get out of. This really means the world to me.”

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

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HALL OF JOHNNY LINCOLN

M.S. 2004 – Engineering, Ph.D. 2007 – Materials Science and Engineering

LINCOLN IS FOUNDER, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF AXIOM MATERIALS, INC., AN AEROSPACE MATERIALS BUSINESS KNOWN FOR ITS SPECIALIZATION IN ADVANCED COMPOSITES. Lincoln is a hands-on leader who specializes in building and developing organizations and engineering processes. He founded Axiom Materials in 2009, and under his leadership it grew quickly. Ten years later, he sold the company to Kordsa for $181 million, merging leading international businesses in advanced materials.

Through his Lincoln Dynamic Foundation, he made a generous gift to the Samueli School to establish the World Institute for Sustainable Development of Materials. Called WISDOM, the institute will guide development and adoption of sustainable materials through interdisciplinary collaboration with professionals in the fields of business, chemistry, materials engineering and public health.

“Johnny Lincoln’s commitment to a better world is refreshing and inspiring, especially during these challenging social and economic times,” says Julie Schoenung, professor and chair of the UCI Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “We are very excited about this opportunity to work with Johnny in this effort to leverage UCI’s leadership in providing data-driven guidance to push the frontiers of sustainable development of materials.”

When asked about a favorite professor, Lincoln recalled the consistent support he received from his adviser Jim Earthman, professor of materials science and engineering. “He told me what I needed to know and made me work for what I wanted to know. If I was struggling, he calmed, encouraged and protected me. It built a lot of trust. It’s an approach I use as a mentor today with colleagues.

I’m very grateful for his wonderful guidance.”

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

FAME RAMIN MASSOUMI

B.S. 1994 – Civil and Environmental Engineering

MASSOUMI IS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER FOR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AT ITERIS, A WORLD LEADER IN APPLIED INFORMATICS THAT TURNS BIG DATA INTO SMART INSIGHTS FOR TRANSPORTATION AND AGRICULTURE. He began his career as a transportation engineer and has advised local, regional and state governments around the country about ways to improve mobility across all modes of transportation. He had early involvement in UCI’s Institute of Transportation Studies and is a member of the UC-wide Institute of Transportation Studies Board of Advisors. For many years, he has been an industry lecturer and mentor at UCI, and he sits on the school’s Engineering Leadership Council.

Massoumi is a steadfast advocate of UCI to elected state and federal legislative leaders. “Ramin has taken time to travel to Washington, D.C., and Sacramento to promote policy positions and gain support of resources beneficial to the campus community,” explains P. Alberto Sandoval, senior director of UCI Community and Government Relations. “His letters to legislators remind them of UCI’s economic and public impact in Orange County.”

“It’s a true honor to be recognized by an organization that has such a large impact on the county, state and the nation,” says Massoumi. When asked about his favorite memory of being at the university, he said, “Well, I have to say that my fondest memory is meeting my future spouse!”

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

A $1 MILLION GIFT TO UCI FROM BRIAN FARGO, FOUNDER AND STUDIO HEAD OF INXILE ENTERTAINMENT, WILL ADVANCE EFFORTS TO DEVELOP A TREATMENT FOR TINNITUS, COMMONLY DESCRIBED AS “RINGING IN THE EARS.” According to the American

Tinnitus Association, an estimated 50 million people in the U.S. suffer from the condition, which can interfere with the ability to work, socialize and sleep.

A UCI multidisciplinary research team, led by Dr. Hamid Djalilian, professor of otolaryngology and biomedical engineering, found that electronic stimulation of the inner ear can alleviate tinnitus. Based on the success of their initial studies – which involved inserting a miniature electrode in the ear canal and through a small opening of the ear drum – the team has recently been developing an innovative implantable device that is placed behind the ear drum. Patients use a compact hand-held controller to turn electric stimulation on and off as symptoms occur and subside.

“Anyone who has the condition knows the frustration of dealing with the general lack of hope for a cure. Coming to UCI was a real breath of fresh air in a world of pessimism,” says Fargo, who is a patient of Djalilian. “I spent years researching and traveling the

PAT HARRIMAN

world looking at different solutions. One of the things that was abundantly clear was the lack of money being put into solving this problem. That’s why I’ve decided to step up and help accelerate the doctor’s work.”

Fargo’s gift is a $1 million challenge. He will match all donations one-on-one until $2 million is raised to fund the next phases of research and, ultimately, bring a device to market.

Although the exact cause of tinnitus is unclear, medical experts believe that inadequate stimulation of the cochlea – the organ in the inner ear that senses sound – or the cochlear nerve, which carries signals, causes over-sensitization of the auditory cortex, which is located in the brain’s temporal lobe and is responsible for processing sound. The result is hearing sound when there is no actual external noise.

“Outcomes so far have been very exciting, and Brian’s generous gift will help us continue this important work,” Djalilian says. “Our implantable electronic stimulation device shows great promise for bringing a life-changing breakthrough to millions of people.”

Djalilian’s collaborators include Michael Green, professor of electrical engineering and computer science; Fan-Gang Zeng, professor of otolaryngology; and Harrison Lin, associate professor of otolaryngology.

A one-on-one matching $1 million challenge gift from Brian Fargo (opposite page, left) will fund the next stages of research for an innovative implantable device being developed by a UCI multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Hamid Djalilian (opposite page, right), professor of otolaryngology and biomedical engineering, to treat tinnitus.

STEVE ZYLIUS

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

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FOLLOW MY LEAD AARON ORLOWSKI

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2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

THERE ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT TYPES OF JOBS AT COCA-COLA, VICTORIA ALEGRIA TRACY TOLD HER SON, JOHN, AS THEY VISITED THE BOTTLING PLANT IN LOS ANGELES WHEN HE WAS A CHILD: IN ONE, YOU WATCH THE BOTTLES GO PAST ON AN ASSEMBLY LINE AND VERIFY THE LEVEL OF LIQUID IN THEM – AND GET PAID NEARMINIMUM WAGES. IN THE OTHER, YOU WEAR A WHITE LAB COAT AND DETERMINE THE CHEMISTRY OF THE LIQUID – AND RECEIVE A SIZABLE SALARY. She made clear that if John wanted the second kind of job, he would need a good education.

Victoria Tracy had a sharp mind but had never gone to college because her family couldn’t afford it. She came from humble origins, growing up in a Spanish-speaking home in Boyle Heights and marrying a man whose pursuit of higher education was prevented by World War II. She got her first job at age 55 when her husband retired – and then worked for the next three decades as a real estate developer.

In the years after that visit to the Coca-Cola plant, John Tracy latched onto a dream of becoming a scientist, first earning a bachelor’s degree in physics at California State University, Dominguez Hills; then a master’s degree in physics at California State University, Los Angeles; and, in 1987, a Ph.D. in engineering at UCI. He spent an illustrious career at Boeing, where he eventually was put in charge of the entire engineering department of 55,000 people and the manufacturing department of 45,000.

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

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IN MY WORK AT BOEING, I SAW FIRSTHAND HOW A KID “FROM AN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY CAN DRAMATICALLY

CHANGE THE LIFE OF AN ENTIRE FAMILY OVERNIGHT WHEN THEY GET THEIR FIRST PAYCHECK IN A TECHNOLOGY FIELD.

”

ENABLING OTHERS’ SUCCESS At a meeting a few years ago in Chicago, Tracy spoke with UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman, who mentioned that the university is now officially a Hispanic-serving institution. The federal HSI designation is awarded to schools where at least 25 percent of undergraduates are Latino and at least half of all students receive financial aid. UCI’s commitment to Hispanic students convinced Tracy that he needed to give back. He knew from personal experience the difference that higher education can make for Latino families.

“In my work at Boeing, I saw firsthand how a kid from an underserved community can dramatically change the life of an entire family overnight when they get their first paycheck in a technology field,” Tracy says. “If students would pursue engineering, chemistry, physics, computer science or similar paths, it would dramatically change their lives. And the way the Hispanic community works, it would change the life of their whole family.”

In 2020, Tracy donated $100,000 to UCI to create an endowed scholarship named in honor of his mother, Victoria Alegria Tracy. UCI matched the amount, adding another $100,000.

From the fund, four undergraduate scholarships will be awarded each year to underrepresented students in STEM fields, based on financial need. Tracy is in the process of setting up a similar endowment for underrepresented graduate students.

Active in the UCI community for years, Tracy was selected in 2009 as The Henry Samueli School of Engineering’s Lauds & Laurels Distinguished Alumnus. And he has been a member of the Chancellor’s Club for three years.

TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHER From 2006 to 2016, when Tracy retired from Boeing, he was chief technology officer and senior vice president of engineering, operations and technology.

But his distinguished career wasn’t always assured.

After flunking his ninth-grade algebra class, Tracy met

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with his teacher every day after school if he didn’t understand something. “I went from failing to getting an A in algebra and every math class after,” he says. “And that’s because of this one guy who was willing to stay with me. He wasn’t paid to be there.”

On the day Tracy received his Ph.D., he realized that if not for this one person, he wouldn’t be graduating. It took 20 years of searching, but Tracy found his former teacher and told him of the difference he had made.

PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF From the day Tracy earned his bachelor’s degree, he was working full time. When he was in UCI’s doctoral program, Tracy was putting in 60-hour weeks as an engineer at Boeing while raising two children with his wife.

He would depart for his job at Boeing at 7 a.m., then attend classes at UCI in the afternoon before heading back to Boeing.

In the evening, he would go home for dinner and some family time and then return to UCI, where he would work in the lab until midnight. “It wasn’t easy, but the education radically changed my life,” Tracy says.

He taught at UCI for a couple terms while still employed at Boeing, exploring the possibility of becoming a professor, but ended up focusing on his career at the aerospace giant. As the company grew, Tracy grew with it, earning multiple high-level roles as an executive.

Stratospheric success was not something he would have imagined as a minority student at Gardena High School – or during his first job as a high school physics teacher. But through hard work, persistence and the support of those around him, Tracy rose to the top of his field. He urges today’s students to similarly commit to realizing their dreams.

“If you find something you like to do, you can do anything you set your mind to. You just can’t give up; I don’t care if you fail a class,” Tracy says. “UCI can give students a vision of what they can do and provides a supportive environment – including scholarships – so they can achieve what they aspire to.”

2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL The Samueli School of Engineering Dean’s Leadership Council is a distinguished group of thought leaders whose industry expertise, community engagement and entrepreneurial endeavors support, inspire and promote the school’s vision.

Nicolaos Alexopoulos

Scott Kitcher

Errol Arkilic

Robert Kleist

Broadcom Foundation UCI Beall Applied Innovation

Donald Beall

Retired, Rockwell

Ken Beall

The Beall Family Foundation

Tudy Bedou

Sustain SoCal

John Labib + Associations

John Lenell Qxonix Inc.

Biosynthetic Technology

Iteris

Versant Ventures MORF3D

Jake Bredsguard

Ramin Massoumi

Roger Brum

Michael Mussallem

Steve Bucknam

Rabi Narula

Al Bunshaft

Stacey Nicholas

Bill Carpou

Denys Oberman

Ray Chan

Anoosheh Oskouian

OCTANe

K5 Ventures

Dan Cregg

Edwards Lifesciences Corp.

Knobbe Martens

Ship and Shore Environmental

Northrop Grumman Corp.

Danny Provenzano

Corent Technology, Inc.

Henry Samueli

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth

Amit Shah

Executive Technology Consulting

AECOM

Bruce Feuchter Pete Fiacco

Deepak Garg

Smart Energy Water

Judy Greenspon NPI Services, Inc.

Jai Hakhu

Horiba International Corp.

Bernard Harguindeguy

Atlantis Computing, Inc.

JD Harriman

Foundation Law Group, LLP

UPS

Broadcom

Artiman Ventures

Aiqian Ivy Shen Paul Singarella

Latham & Watkins, LLP

James Spoto Xidas Inc.

Rob Valle

Mazda North American Operations

Daniel Volz Medtronic

Joan Wada

The Boeing Company

James Watson CMTC

Larry Williams

Joe Kiani

Diane Zanca

Masimo

$5,986,105 CORPORATIONS $1,511,415 INDIVIDUALS $1,400,089 FOUNDATIONS $324,910 OTHER ORGANIZATIONS $101,355 ALUMNI

The Boeing Company

Michel Kamel MelRok, LLC

GIFT 2020-21 SOURCE

Oberman Associates

Al Pedroza

Feyzi Fatehi

$9.3M

Opus Foundation

Insteon

Tony D’Agostino

NUMBER OF GIFTS

John Labib

Ivan Madera

Dassault Systèmes

NUMBER OF DONORS

Skyworks Solutions

Retired, DRS Defense Solutions

Bucknam & Associates

526 646

Steve Kovacic

William Link

Meggitt Defense Systems, Inc.

$9.3M

OVERALL GIVING 2020-21

Retired, Printronix

Thales Avionics

Gregory Brand

DONOR SUPPORT CASH DONATIONS RECEIVED 2020-21

$9.3M

GIFT PURPOSE 2020-21

AND PROGRAM SUPPORT $6,882,456 DEPARTMENT $1,280,533 STUDENT SUPPORT $852,886 RESEARCH AND INSTRUCTION $308,000 EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES

ANSYS

Parker Hannifin

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

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RIDING INTO THE FUTURE WHEN UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF LABOR MARTY WALSH WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE WORKFORCE IMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPING A MORE SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, SUCH AS A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS, HE CAME TO UCI. In July 2021, he met with Chancellor Howard Gillman, University of California dignitaries and campus leaders, including Samueli School of Engineering’s Scott Samuelsen, founding director of UCI’s Advanced Power and Energy Program, and Jack Brouwer, APEP’s current director and head of the National Fuel Cell Research Center.

Samuelsen and Brouwer discussed a variety of research projects happening at UCI with the goal of decarbonizing transportation in the United States.

Secretary Walsh was shown an array of UCI sustainable transportation assets, including electric vehicle charging facilities; a fully electric passenger bus, part of the university’s zero-emissions public transportation fleet; a pickup truck equipped with a mobile, rapid charging system; and a collection of electric vehicles, including a zero-emission cargo/work truck that operates on campus.

He even took a ride aboard a fully electric passenger bus with Brouwer (standing right) and campus leaders to see how the future of sustainable transportation is already at work at UCI.

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2019-20 2020-21 DEAN’S REPORT

SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING • UC IRVINE

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NONPROFIT NONPROFIT ORG. ORG. U.S. U.S. POSTAGE POSTAGE

PAID PAID

Santa Santa Ana, Ana, CACA Permit Permit No.No. 1106 1106

5200 Engineering Hall Irvine, CA 92697-2700