Wednesday, September 21, 2011
First of a Kind Tests to Assess How Elevators, Fire Systems Perform in Earthquakes
Construction crews at the Englekirk Structural Engineering Center topped off today a five-story building, where researchers plan to test a wide range of nonstructural components, including a working elevator, sprinkler systems, ceilings, stairs and medical equipment.
Workers will now install all these components in the structure. Tests are set to take place from January through March 2012.
Click here to learn more.
UC San Diego Cyberlink / September 2011
UC San Diego CyberLink is a monthly digest of news and events related to cyberinfrastructure from San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego Libraries, Administrative Computing & Telecommunications (ACT), and Center for Research in Biological Structures (CRBS). If you have news regarding cyberinfrastructure-related research, applications, or activities on the UC San Diego campus, please send them tocyberlink@sdsc.edu.
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LATEST NEWS…
SDSC-Developed Software Used in First Global Camera Trap Mammal Study
A novel software system developed by SDSC researchers was used in the first global camera trap study of mammals, which made international headlines last month by emphasizing the importance of protected areas to ensure diversity and survival among a wide range of animal populations.
UC San Diego's HPWREN Aids in Recent Supernova Discovery
A recent discovery by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of a supernova within hours of its explosion was in part made possible by the high-speed data transmissions network of UC San Diego’s High-Performance Wireless and Research Education Network (HPWREN).
SDSC, SDSU Receive NSF Grant to Expand Computer Science Curriculum
SDSC and San Diego State University have received NSF grants to jointly expand the computer sciences curriculum among San Diego’s high schools, community colleges, and universities. The three year grants, worth a total of almost $1 million, are for a project called ‘Computing Principles for All Students’ Success’, or ComPASS.
Accessible and Affordable Care at Heart of Healthcare Technology Grants
New projects funded through the von Liebig Center’s Southern California Healthcare Technology Acceleration Program aim to use Web-based and mobile technologies to improve health care, particularly in underserved communities.
Invention Saves Trillions of Watt Hours and Millions of Dollars
A Jacobs School of Engineering technology that significantly reduces the amount of energy wasted by chips in computers, mobile phones, and other electronic devices recently passed the trillion watt-hour milestone in energy savings, according to the technology’s current licensee, Tela Innovations.
Calit2 'Vroom' Debuts as KAUST Booth at SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Conference
At the annual SIGGRAPH conference, Calit2 unveiled the virtual room, or Vroom, a new visualization system that is transportable and configurable, and made of 32 ultra-narrow-bezel, 46-inch-diagonal displays to produce a total resolution of 33 million pixels.
Far from Home, Undergrads Contribute to Earthquake Research
Two dozen UC San Diego undergraduates working on cyberinfrastructure-related projects were finishing up their summer abroad in August as part of the Pacific Rim Experiences for Undergraduates (PRIME) program, and several structural engineering students worked in Taiwan and New Zealand on ways to use CI tools to better understand earthquake damage.
'Data Motion Metric' Needed for Supercomputer Rankings, Says SDSC's Snavely
As we enter the era of data-intensive research and supercomputing, the world’s top computer systems should not be ranked on calculation speed alone, according to Allan Snavely, SDSC’s associate director.
Photonics Student Named 2011 Young Scholar by Marconi Society
Bill Ping Piu Kuo, an electrical engineering doctoral candidate studying photonics at the Jacobs School of Engineering, is one of three students worldwide to be honored by the prestigious Marconi Society. Kuo is developing wideband optical parametric mixers and ultrafast transmission schemes to send and receive signals of unprecedented speed and quality – and with record low power consumption.
Breakthrough in Photonic Chip Research Paves Way for Ultra-Fast Information Sharing
Engineers have discovered a way to prevent light signals on a silicon chip from reflecting backwards and interfering with its operation. The breakthrough, published in Science, marks a significant achievement in the development of integrated photonic chips that could replace electronic chips as the backbone of information technology.
UCSD Researchers Modify Kinect Gaming Device to Scan in 3D
A Calit2 research scientist and computer science graduate student have discovered a relatively cheap and efficient way to scan anything three-dimensional to create an avatar or computer model using a Microsoft Kinect device and extracting data streaming from the Kinect’s onboard color camera and infrared sensor.
SDSC Provides Advanced User Support for NSF's XSEDE Project
A partnership of 17 institutions, including SDSC, has launched the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), replacing the NSF’s TeraGrid program. XSEDE is the most advanced collection of advanced digital resources and services in the world. SDSC is providing advanced user support and expertise across a variety of HPC applications, in addition to supporting XSEDE’s central accounting database.
CAVE-CAD Software Will Help Mine Human Brain to Improve Architectural Design
Calit2 researchers have developed innovative computer-aided design (CAD) software that, when integrated with novel hardware to monitor human neurological and physiological responses, makes architectural design more efficient.
Scientific Computing Gets Flash
Flops aren't everything. Sometimes what a researcher really needs is a computing system that can also do lots of “iops.” And systems that use solid state drives just might fit the bill. Online HPC publication iSGTW tracked down a number of experts to ask them about solid state (a.k.a. flash) drives in high-performance computing and grids. Here's what we learned.
At the Feet of the Pharaohs: Capturing the Majesty of Luxor in 3D
Calit2 Visualization Director Tom DeFanti and colleagues from KAUST in Saudi Arabia braved a revolution to visit the Temple of Luxor in Egypt to demonstrate the 3D CAVEcam – a low-cost solution to capturing 3D, 360-degree still images for playback in a virtual reality environment such as Calit2’s StarCAVE.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR……for these upcoming cyberinfrastructure-connected events and training sessions. All events will be held at UC San Diego (except where noted otherwise).
September 21, 2pm-5pm, Calit2 Auditorium, Atkinson Hall
Calit2 Summer Undergraduate Scholars Presentations and Poster Session
More than 20 Calit2 Scholars will present the research findings from their 10-week summer research during a poster session that will be preceded by oral presentations by four undergraduates.
September 22, Santa Clara, CA
2011 SNIA Cloud Burst Summit
The Center for Large Scale Data Systems research (CLDS) is moderating the ‘Big Data and Cloud Transitions’ panel session, to discuss the state-of-the-industry by 2015, at the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) Cloud Burst Summit. Click on the link for full details.
September 23 and 24, SDSC
GPU Programming for Medical Physics and Medical Imaging Research
This two-day course, delivered by researchers at the Center for Advanced Radiotherapy Technologies, SDSC, and UCSD’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, will give researchers an initial boost in learning GPU programming, with the focus on solving medical physics and imaging related problems. Previous programming experience with C/C++ language is a prerequisite. Working knowledge on Unix/Linux-based system is expected for lab sessions.
October 1, 9:45am-3pm, Calit2 Auditorium, Atkinson Hall
National Geographic Young Explorers Grants Workshops
Calit2 will host a National Geographic Society workshop for UC San Diego students interested in submitting grant requests to support research, exploration, or conservation-related field projects. An evening event in Mandeville Hall will feature talks by three explorers, including Calit2 Research Scientist Albert Lin.
October 2-5, Hyatt Regency, La Jolla, CA
AIRI 50th Annual Meeting
SDSC Director Mike Norman will participate in the 50th annual meeting of AIRI (Association of Independent Research Institutes). Norman will speak at a panel discussion on “Perspectives in Data Management” on Monday, October 3 at 2 p.m. Click on the link for a full event schedule.
October 10 and 11, Atkinson Hall, Calit2 Auditorium, UC San Diego
iDASH Privacy Workshop ‘11
This workshop will discuss the fundamental challenges toward establishing a secure, privacy-preserving environment in which researchers can analyze genomic, transcriptomic, clinical, behavioral, and social data relevant to health. Also discussed will be how current technology and policy solutions can overcome difficulties in privacy-preserving data sharing, integration, and analysis.
November 12-18, Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, WA
Supercomputing Conference 2011 (SC11)
SC11 will bring together an unprecedented array of scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, programmers, system administrators, developers and program managers with an extensive program of technical papers, tutorials, and timely research posters.
Please visit SDSC's TeacherTECH website and StudentTECH website on a regular basis or contact Ange Mason at amason@ucsd.edu or at 858 534-5064 for more information. Plus stay tuned for the following SDSC educational activities this fall:
UCSD Elementary/Middle/High School 2011 Fall Science, Technology, Engineering and Art Workshops
Fall 2011 promises to be a season of fun and learning at SDSC and the new UCSD University City Center, in collaboration with UCSD College Explorations. Workshops range from digital art and media to robotics to programming, new Junior Academy classes for younger students, and more. Please click on the link above for course descriptions and registration information. Most workshops are open to students in grades 4-16, but some are for high school students only.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The Lighter Side of Graduate School
The New York Times recently ran a profile of Jorge Cham, the creator of PhD Comics. The popular cartoons explore the life of PhD students and finds humor in it.
The comics have recently been turned into a full-length feature film, titled, appropriately, "The PhD Movie." It features music by Serge Belongie, a computer science professor here at the Jacobs School of Engineering, and his band SO3. Belongie and his crew aren't the only academics in the movie: the producer is a graduate student in geological sciences, the director is a graduate student in aeronautics and all the actors are actually PhD students, according to the Times article.
The movie takes place at Caltech. Cast and crew will celebrate its official premiere there on Sept. 22. That, by the way, is another connection with Belongie: he got his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Caltech.
Related link: See our previous post about Belongie and "The PhD Movie."
Monday, September 19, 2011
Car Talk
Want to know what tomorrow's cars will be able to do? Head on over to the Laboratory for Intelligent and Safe Automobiles (LISA) at the Jacobs School of Engineering. Led by Mohan Trivedi, a professor of electrical engineering, who also is a researcher at Calit2, the lab aims to understand driver behavior and improve technology.
Bonus: LISA is looking for volunteers for test drives in its new simulator.
"Understanding driver behavior is critical to reducing fatalities on U.S. roads," Trivedi said in a lengthy feature that ran in the latest edition of at / UCSD, UC San Diego's alumni magazine. "So in a very real sense, the students who volunteer to spend 30 minutes in the simulator could be saving lives down the road."
Read the whole story here.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Oct 1: Find Out How to Become a National Geographic Young Explorer
Hey Jacobs School engineering students!
A daylong workshop National Geographic’s Young Explorers Grants program will be held at Atkinson Hall’s Calit2 Auditorium on October 1 from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Young Explorers Grants support individuals ages 18 to 25 in their pursuit of research-, exploration- and conservation-based field projects. This workshop will enable students interested in pursuing Young Explorers Grants to meet with recent grant recipients and National Geographic staff, explorers, conservationists and researchers. They will learn about the kinds of projects the program aims to support and will have an opportunity to discuss their ideas for field projects with National Geographic grantees and staff. Lin and other UCSD-based grantees will take part in the workshop.
“Until starting the Young Explorers program in 2006, we tended only to fund more established researchers. We have now realized that, by supporting younger individuals on their first field projects, we can reach a dynamic, new sector,” Francis said. “With our increasingly diverse media and growing number of Young Explorers, we hope to better fulfill the National Geographic vision, which is to inspire people to care about the planet.”
The Oct. 1 workshop will be hosted by UCSD with support from the National Geographic Society, the Brinson Foundation, The North Face, Lucy and Henry Billingsley and ProBar.
“We are hosting the workshop to make students more aware of a tremendous opportunity,” said Ramesh Rao, director of the UCSD division of the Calit2 and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Jacobs School. “We are very proud of our joint Engineers for Exploration program with National Geographic, and this workshop will expose more students to the excitement of exploration – and the role science and technology can play in discovery.”
Welcome Jacobs School of Engineering Students
Welcome Week 2011 at UC San Diego starts this Sunday. To all the incoming engineering students, have a fantastic journey...and don't forget to thank your high school teachers when you run into them in the coming years. And be sure to keep with the latest of live at the Jacobs School via this blog, Facebook or Twitter.
And have you been to the IDEA Student Center at the Jacobs School of Engineering lately?
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