Princeton Engineering Newsletter March 2007

March 2007

This spring semester features a wide array of lectures, conferences and other events that are bringing people and ideas to Princeton Engineering. These events help us create a more vibrant environment for teaching and research, while exposing our work to the greater community. An excellent example took place earlier this month with our second annual Innovation Forum, cosponsored by the Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Investor Network. Eleven research groups from Princeton gave three-minute presentations on work with commercial promise to a large and enthusiastic audience, including potential early-stage investors. These presentations were followed by a very lively poster session and reception.

Coming up, I urge you to consider joining us for a number of other exciting events:

March 19-20: The Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials will hold its annual University-Industry Research Symposium;
April 5: Xerox chief Anne Mulcahy will deliver the next lecture in our Leadership in a Technological World lecture series;
April 17: Graduate alumni are invited to attend our annual Grad-Alumni Mixer, giving current students a chance to meet and learn from their predecessors;
April 18: A lecture by Jeff Wilke '89, a senior vice president at Amazon.com, will complete this year's series of lectures on technological leadership;
April 27-28: We are hosting a conference for our black engineering alumni: "Leading Change in Science and Society."

I am very much looking forward to seeing you at these events.

-- H. Vincent Poor *77
Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Michael Henry Strater University Professor of Electrical Engineering

Princeton team prepares self-driving car for urban challenge

Since 2004, the Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering group has been working on developing self-driving, "autonomous" vehicles, competing in contests run by the Pentagon.

Now, the team is ready with this year's entry. It's a red Escape hybrid, donated by Ford Motor Co. and modified so that the brakes, throttle and steering systems can be controlled by remote.

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Innovation Forum highlights rich range of research

The second annual Innovation Forum at the School of Engineering and Applied Science Feb. 27 showcased emerging technology ranging from a novel laser eye surgery technique to a new way to improve security on the Internet.

Full story

Socolow testifies before Senate on 'America's Energy Future'

The nation's energy future can be protected by the immediate implementation of techniques to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, engineering professor Robert Socolow told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee Tuesday, Feb. 27.

The co-director of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative, a joint research project of Princeton University, BP and the Ford Motor Company, Socolow was one of five expert witnesses to testify in the hearing, "America's Energy Future: Bold Ideas, Practical Solutions."

Full story

Two faculty members elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Stephen Chou and Sergio Verdu, professors of electrical engineering, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the greatest honors in the engineering field.

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Engineering students win Princeton's top grad and undergrad honors

Two Princeton Engineering students were among the winners of the highest honors Princeton awards to students, the University announced at Alumni Day ceremonies Saturday, Feb. 24.

Lester Mackey, who is majoring in computer science and pursuing a certificate in applied and computation mathematics, was one of two seniors awarded the Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize. Egemen Kolemen, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical and aerospace engineering, was one of four graduate students selected to win the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship.

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Princeton Engineering hosts leadership conference for black alumni

Princeton alumni from engineering and the sciences will gather on campus April 27-28 for a conference focusing on leadership and diversity in academia and industry.

"Leading Change in Science and Technology: A Princeton Engineering Conference for Black Alumni" will feature panels on current engineering research and education at Princeton, strategies for increasing diversity, connections between student leadership and leadership in the real world, and the interplay between technology and entrepreneurial endeavors.

Full story

Anne Mulcahy, Xerox CEO and chair, to share leadership lessons, April 5

Anne Mulcahy, chief executive officer and chairwoman of Xerox Corp., will share insights from personal experience in the next "Leadership in a Technological World" lecture. Her talk, "Leadership Lessons Learned on the Firing Line," is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in the Friend Center Convocation Room.

Full story

Recent items in EQN, the Princeton Engineering blog

Jeremy Kasdin's bird-tracking satellite work is highlighted in The Economist... Jim Smith is part of Latrobe architecture prize ... Naomi Leonard comments in Wired on super deep glider... Ed Felten's blog is quoted in the New York Times... Vince Poor contemplates the future of paper and peer review ...and more...

Read blog

Photos by: Denise Applewhite, John Jameson, and Frank Wojciechowski

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