News & Events

06-02-23

The Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes are awarded annually to PhD candidates selected for the best thesis, publication, or discovery in select fields. Saransh Sharma, advised by Professor Azita Emami, has received the prize in Biotechnology or Related Fields for his research in developing ultra-low power and highly miniaturized medical electronics for in-vivo localization and tracking. Nathaniel Wei, advised by Professor John Dabiri, has received the prize in Environmentally Benign Renewable Energy Sources or Related Fields for his research that explores the ways in which unsteady flows in the atmosphere can be leveraged in wind-energy systems for enhanced performance, robustness, and operational longevity. Rebecca Gallivan, advised by Professor Julia Greer, has received the prize in Nanotechnology or Related Fields. Coupled with the development of novel materials processing, Gallivan's research focuses on uncovering fundamental insight into the relationship between length-scale and microstructural features on nanomechanical phenomena in order to lay the foundation for advanced engineering and complex design of materials in nanotechnologies.

Tags: APhMS EE honors GALCIT MedE MCE John Dabiri Julia Greer Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes Azita Emami Rebecca Gallivan Saransh Sharma Nathan Wei

06-01-23

A space solar power prototype that was launched into orbit in January is operational and has demonstrated its ability to wirelessly transmit power in space and to beam detectable power to Earth for the first time. Wireless power transfer was demonstrated by MAPLE, one of three key technologies being tested by the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1), the first space-borne prototype from Caltech's Space Solar Power Project (SSPP). SSPP aims to harvest solar power in space and transmit it to the Earth's surface. [Caltech story]

Tags: APhMS EE GALCIT MCE Harry Atwater Ali Hajimiri Sergio Pellegrino

05-22-23

Guruswami (Ravi) Ravichandran, John E. Goode, Jr., Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, receives the 2023 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Timoshenko Medal "for pioneering contributions to the mechanics of engineering materials and biological systems, especially in extreme mechanical environments." Established in 1957, the Timoshenko Medal recognizes distinguished contributions to the field of applied mechanics. 

Tags: honors GALCIT MCE Guruswami Ravichandran

04-27-23

Leaning into a fictive role as a cheerful "exoplanet real estate agent," aerospace graduate student Niyati Desai described her real-life research on imaging planets in regions that are "just right" to support life: those not too hot and not too cold. Her performance won her first place—and a $3,000 prize—at Caltech Library's annual Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition held April 25 in Hameetman Auditorium. [Caltech story]

Tags: GALCIT Niyati Desai

04-25-23

Inspired by the mechanics of a phase of matter called liquid crystals, researchers have developed the first three-dimensional model of a layer of cells and the extrusion behavior that emerges from their physical interactions. From this new model, the team discovered that the more a cell is squeezed by its neighbors in a particular symmetric way, the more likely it is to get extruded from the group. [Caltech story]

Tags: research highlights GALCIT MCE Jose Andrade Guruswami Ravichandran

03-22-23

EAS faculty from multiple departments are on project teams that have received an award from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Initiative (MURI) Program. 

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Tags: APhMS honors GALCIT MCE CMS ESE Tapio Schneider Tim Colonius Kaushik Bhattacharya Andrew Stuart Aaron Ames Animashree Anandkumar H. Jane Bae

03-02-23

Our circulatory system's 500 million years of evolution is on full display during the nine months of human embryonic heart development. The hallmark of this evolution is a beating, complex, autonomous muscular pump that sustains life. In this lecture, Mory Gharib (PhD '83), the Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Medical Engineering, explains the wave system established by the beating heart that moves through the human body, which can provide a window to the health of the cardiovascular system and early diagnoses of its devastating diseases by utilizing modern data science. [Watch the lecture]

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Tags: GALCIT Morteza Gharib watson lecture

02-22-23

When firefighters battle a blaze in a rugged, mountainous region, one of their biggest challenges is simply staying in touch. "The technologies that they're using today are not that different from what their grandparents would've used to put out fires 50 years ago," says John Dabiri, Centennial Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering at Caltech and a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). [Caltech story]

Tags: GALCIT John Dabiri

02-14-23

Engineers from Caltech have discovered that Leonardo da Vinci's understanding of gravity—though not wholly accurate—was centuries ahead of his time. In an article published in the journal Leonardo, the researchers draw upon a fresh look at one of da Vinci's notebooks to show that the famed polymath had devised experiments to demonstrate that gravity is a form of acceleration—and that he further modeled the gravitational constant to around 97 percent accuracy. [Caltech Story]

Tags: research highlights GALCIT Morteza Gharib

02-02-23

Michael Stramenga, Aerospace graduate student, and Kevin Yu, Materials Science graduate student, have been selected as affiliates for the Keck Institute of Space Studies (KISS). KISS Affiliates are an ongoing cohort of campus graduate students and postdocs who are seen as the next generation of space exploration leaders. KISS Affiliates are provided with unique experiences with industry CEOs, astronauts, space mission leaders, NASA leadership, and world-renowned space exploration researchers.

Tags: APhMS GALCIT KISS Michael Stramenga Kevin Yu