November 4, 2004

Dear Friend of the Samueli School of Engineering,

It is with pleasure that I present the Annual Highlights for The Henry Samueli School of Engineering's 2003-2004 academic term. The past year has brought many key advances highlighted by the growth in faculty, grants and research expenditures. Some successes of particular note include:

Faculty Achievements:

• Five new faculty members were recruited, making our school 95 strong.
• A $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to examine how asthma attacks the walls of the bronchial tubes was awarded to Professor Steven C. George, William J. Link Chair in Biomedical Engineering and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
• The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers was awarded to Assistant Professor Jia Grace Lu, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, for her research in nanotechnology.

Research Developments:
Significant progress has been accomplished across all of our key focused research areas:

• The Biomedical team has developed a software program that sends you on a virtual flight through the vascular system of a heart, aiding doctors in better understanding the risk factors and treatment options for cardiovascular diseases.
• Efforts within our Energy thrust area have uncovered a process which will enable the co-production of ultra high-efficiency electricity and hydrogen from either natural gas or coal concomitant with zero emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases.
• Within Infotech, we have developed DuraNode, a solar-powered wireless sensor node which has been installed across the UC Irvine campus to monitor the health of civil engineering structures.
• Our Nanoscale research team achieved several "firsts" in the carbon-MEMS/carbon-NEMS field highlighted by the discovery of a fractal carbon structure with contacts in the millimeter and micrometer scale with nanometer features. This finding holds tremendous promise for inventions across micro batteries, micro biosensors, micro bio-fuel cells, and many other micro applications.

Looking forward at the 2004-2005 academic year, our School will be recruiting fourteen outstanding new faculty members, the Biomedical Engineering Department will complete plans for expansion into state-of-the-art laboratories in the new Natural Sciences II Building on campus and the design phase for a new engineering building slated for completion in summer of 2008 will begin.

Here at The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine, we are extremely proud of our accomplishments and welcome your interest in our progress.

Sincerely,

Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos

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