Report - ee.ucla.edu · mer aerospace executive, funded a new endowment to provide scholarships to members of the UCLA chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, and the Samueli Foun-dation

H e n r y S a m u e l i S c h o o l o f E n g i n e e r i n g a n d A p p l i e d S c i e n c e

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A N N U A L R E P O R T

INTRO

2 Electrical and Computer Engineering

We meet the academic year with a new name: Electrical and Computer Engineering. This name reflectsthe fact that for many years we have had strong researchand educational presence in computer engineering. Wewill now be accurately advertising the breadth of activitiestaking place in the Department. As part of the two-yearplanning process accompanying this change, we havejointly designed with the Computer Science Department anew B.S. degree in Computer Engineering with twotracks: embedded networked sys-tems such as the Internet of Things,and data science. This complementsthe existing B.S. degree in Electri-cal Engineering. The M.S. andPh.D. degrees will be named ECE.

We are also continuing to roll outour Fast Track program by ex-panding the number of honorscourses offered, to create the firsthonors program in UCLA Engineer-ing. We are also undertaking a topto bottom review of our undergrad-uate and graduate instructional programs, including instructionalmethods, technologies and assess-ment, topic sequencing, and design,writing and entrepreneurshipthreads in the curriculum. Arguably,the educational infrastructure of thenation is largely focused on trainingstudents for the mass production industries of the 20th

Century, rather than the rapidly evolving and interdisci-plinary personal products and services structure of the 21st

Century. What is meant by degrees in electrical and com-puter engineering will need significant re-working. We areassessing what topics every ECE student must take, whattopics should be available within the curriculum, andwhich extracurricular experiences we should support in-cluding club experiences, industry-led workshops, intern-ships, and alumni advising. These activities are part of theDean’s strategic planning for 2017/2018.

At our annual departmental retreat, Professor Asad A.Abidi observed that ECE research is now entering a periodof exceptional challenge and opportunity. Up until recentlywe were following clear roadmaps in integrated circuitsand communications: CMOS scaling and achieving theShannon limits. Through many years of creative activity

by the profession, we have reached the end in each, butour society depends more than ever on continued scalingof processing and communication as information technol-ogy becomes pervasive in expanding spheres of daily life.

The two main ways to continue to improve processingspeed and efficiency are bringing software functions intohardware through a mix of new architectures and designtools, and over the longer term, development of new de-vices for processing and storage. Some of the UCLA re-

search activities are highlighted onpages 4-14. Faster communicationrequires new materials, devices andarchitectures to make use of higherfrequency bands from the mm-waveregime up to teraheartz. Some excit-ing research activities in the ECEDepartment are highlighted onpages 12-13. Finally, many facultyare engaged in research collabora-tions in applications related to med-icine, as discussed on page 16.

Dean Murthy is moving theSchool towards concrete actions inincreasing our diversity to reflect thepopulation we serve as a public university. Two initiatives stand out.The first is a broad-based effort to increase the number of women attracted to engineering as under-graduates, graduate students and

faculty. A new Women in Engineering organization isbeing created, with the launch of new programs in thecoming academic year. Similarly, a new staff position hasbeen created to support a closer relationship betweenUCLA Engineering and California community colleges.The objective is to remove all the barriers that transfer stu-dents face by supporting creation of new engineeringcourses, student organizations, internship opportunitiesand transition scaffolding, in collaboration with commu-nity college and industry partners.

The mission of the University of California is to educatenot only our current students, but the state as a whole.This is a forward-looking vision that has stood the test oftime. The UCLA ECE Department is embracing thisconcept with enthusiasm, through our educational, re-search, and service activities. We hope that you will joinwith us in this noble enterprise.

UCLA Electrical and Computer Engineering:

A New Era

Chair Gregory Pottie

15 Department Initiatives16 UCLA Undergraduates

Excel in Engineering and Translational Biomedical Research Program

17 UCLA IEEE WATTECEGAPS

18 2016-2017 Outstanding Student and Teaching Awards

19 UCLA IEEE Student ChapterUCLA HKN UCLA Electric Vehicle Project

20 Members of National Academies22 Faculty: Circuits & Embedded Systems26 Faculty: Physical & Wave Electronics30 Faculty: Signals & Systems34 Department Overview36 Alumnae Advisory Committee37 Alumni Advisory Board38 Industry Relations / MediaTek Fellows39 Department Administration

2016-2017 Annual Report

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

3

2 Message from the Chair Gregory Pottie 4 New Faculty:

Aydin Babakhani’s Chip-Scale Sensors 5 New Women in

Engineering Organization

6Research Offers Evidence of Majorana Particle 7 Asad M. Madni

Receives SixMajor Honorsand Awards

8 EducationalProgram Innovations 9 Resonators

and AkhiezerDamping

10 Subramanian S. Iyer’sUCLA CHIPS 11Dan Goebel

Nominated Fellow at JPL 12 The Cutting

Edge of Terahertz Technologies

14 Time-Varying Circuits

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Today’s silicon process technology makes it possible tointegrate everything from antennas to processors on a sin-gle chip at almost no cost. This creates new opportunitiesfor implementing complex sensors and systems on a mil-limeter scale. Associate Professor Aydin Babakhanifocuses on building integrated sensors and spectrometersbased on silicon technology.

Wirelessly-Powered mm-Sized SensorsProfessor Babakhani builds single-chip wirelessly poweredmedical devices to record neural signals, stimulate neu-rons, record electrical activities of heart, enable minimallyinvasive wireless pacing and defibrillation, induce pulsehyperthermia on cancerous tumors, and enable bioelec-tronics medicine. Recently, his team demonstrated wirelesspacing of a living heart in large animals (sheep and pig)based on a custom single-chip pacemaker equipped withon-chip antennas. They have also developed wirelessly-powered implantable chips to stimulate sciatic nerve andtrigger leg movement in rodents.

In addition to medical applications, his group buildswirelessly powered sensors for infrastructure monitoring.This technology brings an unprecedented level of moni-toring to oil/gas wells, reservoirs, pipelines, dams, and sub-sea infrastructures. These mm-sized sensors are designedto perform critical measurements in harsh environmentsand previously impossible locations thousands of feetunder the ground.

DC-to-THz Sensors and Systems in SiliconProfessor Babakhani investigates techniques to produceand detect broadband THz signals based on integrated silicon technology. He has invented the technique of directDigital-to-Impulse (D2I) radiation. His team demonstratedgeneration and radiation of 1.9 psec broadband pulses

with a GHz repetition rate. They have also produced elec-tromagnetic signals at 1.1THz with line-width of 2Hz and applied this technology for gas spectroscopy, hyper-spec-tral imaging, and high-speed wireless communication.

Miniaturized Magnetic Resonance SpectrometersProfessor Babakhani builds miniaturized magnetic reso-nance spectrometers. His team has reported the first sin-gle-chip transceiver to perform Electron ParamagneticResonance (EPR) spectroscopy. They have applied this tech-nology to measure the EPR signature of free radicals andparamagnetic chemicals. Their EPR sensor technology hasbeen successfully deployed in major oil and gas fields acrossthe world. The technology is used to monitor concentrationof asphaltenes (a chemical that clogs oil wells) in real-timeand to minimize the use of environmentally hazardouschemical inhibitors in energy production.

Integration of CMOS Photonics and ElectronicsProf. Babakhani’s team works on integrating complex elec-tronics and photonics systems on a single chip. They havedemonstrated fast optical photodiodes, waveguides, andmodulators in a commercial CMOS process technology.They have integrated an entire receiver with on-chip pho-todiodes on a silicon chip with an area of smaller than0.1mm2. The chip can support data rates as high as 2.5Gbits/sec. In addition, his group has demonstrated sub-pi-cosecond wireless time transfer using a line-of-sight (LOS)optical link. This chip can transfer time and frequency toremote locations with a high precision. His near-term goalis to build a massive array of optical receivers with inte-grated photodiodes and thereby enable a wireless link thatcan support data rates up to 1 Tbits/sec. He also plans tobuild a giga-frames/second camera, for capturing scenesand events that last less than 1 nsec.

Aydin Babakhani Researches Complex Chip-Scale Sensors

NEW FACULTY


Picosecond pulse radiator producing electromagnetic waves beyond 1THz; Single-chip transceiver for EPR spectroscopy; Wirelessly powered pacemaker with on-chip antennas

Audrey Pool O’Neal Will Lead Women in Engineering Program

Audrey Pool O’Neal, a lecturer in Mechanical andAerospace Engineering and former senior manager withGeneral Motors, has been named director of the Womenin Engineering program at the UCLA Henry SamueliSchool of Engineering and Applied Science (WE@UCLA).Through academic reinforcement, mentorship, team-building, research experiences, industry internships, andpersonal and professional development activities,WE@UCLA will provide a unique environment for femalestudents to thrive in engineering and computer science.

“At the undergraduate level, women who attend UCLAEngineering will be part of an active learning community,with the sole focus of ensuring their academic and profes-

sional success,” said Jayathi Murthy, dean of UCLA Engi-neering. “Upon graduation, these women will join a net-work of more experienced female engineers who cancontinue to foster a supportive and collaborative environ-ment for new engineers and computer scientists.”

In February, Joanne Maguire, a UCLA alumna and for-mer aerospace executive, funded a new endowment toprovide scholarships to members of the UCLA chapter ofthe Society of Women Engineers, and the Samueli Foun-dation recently announced a $20 million gift to supportexpanding the diversity of undergraduate students in en-gineering and computer science. The Samueli FoundationEngineering Undergraduate Scholarship Fund will provide

financial support and a researchor industry internship early inthe student’s undergraduate pro-gram to connect academic stud-ies to real-world experiences.

“Engineering and computerscience are demanding, excitingand rewarding careers, but theyalso pose unique challenges towomen, both academically andsocially,” O’Neal said. “My job isto make sure women under-stand those challenges and havethe skills to meet them success-fully.”

O’Neal received her Ph.D. andmaster’s degrees from UCLA inmechanical engineering. Her research is in the area of multi-functional nanocomposite mate-rials.

In addition to her academicduties, O’Neal most recentlyserved as associate director ofUndergraduate Programs for theUCLA Center for Excellence inEngineering and Diversity,which focuses on research, aca-demic performance, and reten-tion strategies for UCLA studentswho are traditionally underrep-resented in engineering andcomputer science.

WE@UCLA

5Electrical and Computer Engineering

Audrey Pool O’Neal

A research led by Kang Wang, a distinguishedprofessor who holds the Raytheon Chair in Electrical En-gineering, has found a “smoking gun” signature of the longsought-after Majorana particle. The particle, whose exis-tence was first proposed by Italian physicist Ettore Majorana in 1937, could be the foundation for a class ofrobust topological quantum computers.

“Imagine that bits of data in standard computers are likecars traveling both ways on two-lane highways,” said Wang.“A quantum computer could have many lanes and manylevels of ‘traffic,’ and the cars could hop between levels andtravel in both directions at the same time, in every lane andon every level. We need stable, armored quantum ‘cars’ todo this and the Majorana particles are those supercars.”

Because the Majorana particle is its own anti-particle —carrying zero electrical charge — it is viewed as the bestcandidate to carry a quantum bit, orqubit, the unit of data that would be thefoundation of quantum computers. Un-like “bits” of data in standard comput-ers, which can be represented as either0s or 1s, qubits have the ability to beboth 0s and 1s, a property that wouldgive quantum computers exponentiallymore processing power and speed thantoday’s best supercomputers.

The Majorana particle has been the focus of interest forquantum computing in large part because its neutral chargemakes it resistant to external interference and gives it theability to leverage and sustain a quantum property knownas entanglement, generating enormous computing power.

For their research, published in Science, the team setup a superconductor, a material that allows electrons toflow freely across its surfaces without resistance, and

placed above it a thin film insulator, to give the engineersthe ability to manipulate the particles into a specific pat-tern. After sweeping a very small magnetic field over thesetup, the researchers found the Majorana particles’ dis-tinct quantized signal — the telltale fingerprint of a specifictype of quantum particles — in the electrical traffic be-tween the two materials.

“The Majorana particles show up and behave like halvesof an electron, although they aren’t pieces of electrons,”said Qing Lin He, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar and thepaper’s co-lead author. “We observed quantum behavior,and the signal we saw clearly showed the existence of theseparticles.” In the experiment, Majorana particles traveledalong the insulator’s edges in a distinct braid-like pattern.The next step will explore how to use Majorana particlesin quantum braiding, to allow information to be stored

and processed at super high speeds.Lei Pan, a UCLA doctoral student in

electrical engineering and the paper’s co-lead author, said Majorana particles’unique properties make them especiallyuseful for topological quantum comput-ers. “While conventional quantum sys-tems have sophisticated schemes tocorrect errors, information encoded in a

topological quantum computer cannot be easily corrupted.What’s exciting about using Majorana particles is that thesystem would be fault-tolerant.”

The paper’s authors include Xufeng Kou, who earnedhis master’s and doctoral degrees at UCLA and is now amember of the faculty at Shanghai Tech University, incollaboration with Jing Xia, a professor at UC Irvine, KaiLiu, a professor at UC Davis and Shou-Cheng Zhang,a professor at Stanford University. — by Matthew Chin

Research Offers Evidence of Majorana Particle

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS


Rendering of superconductor and magnetic topological insulator in whichMajorana particle signs were observed

Qing Lin He, Kang Wang and Lei Pan

Asad M. Madni Receives SixMajor Honors and AwardsDistinguished Adjunct Professor Asad M.Madni was awarded a Chair Professorship and an Hon-orary Doctor of Philosophy Degree by the NationalChiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan in 2016, “inrecognition of his outstanding achievements in science, en-gineering, technology innovation, and corporate manage-ment.” After the ceremony, Professor Madni delivered alecture, “Grand Challenges for Engineering Proposed bythe U.S. Academy of Engineering,” for faculty, students,staff, visiting scholars and distinguished guests.

In 2016, the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers, San Fernando Valley Section, presented Pro-fessor Madni with the Visionary Leadership Award“for visionary leadership, remarkable innovations, andseminal and pioneering contributions to science and tech-nology that have had a worldwide impact and significantlybenefited humanity.”

In recognition of his visionary leadership, ProfessorMadni was awarded the 2017 Gordon Medal and dis-tinction of Gordon Fellow, for Engineering Leadership,from the Bernard and Sophia Gordon Engineering Lead-ership Center at The Jacobs School of Engineering, Uni-versity of California, San Diego.

The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) U.K.,elected Professor Madni a RAeS Fellow. Established in1866, the Society has been at the forefront of

developments in aerospace, seeking to promote the high-est professional standards and provide a central forum forsharing knowledge.

The Government of India’s NRI Welfare Societyawarded Professor Madni the 2017 Mahatma GandhiPravasi Samman Gold Medal. The official award cer-emony will take place at the House of Lords, London, U.K.The Medal is awarded to recognize people of Indian originfor their outstanding contributions in their respective fieldsin the country of their residence and in the service of thewider global community.

The IEEE - Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) awarded ProfessorMadni the Vladimir Karapetoff Outstanding TechnicalAchievement Award, a major IEEE-HKN recognition forcareer accomplishment in the field of electrical and com-puter engineering. It dates from 1922, when the Board ofGovernors established the award in honor of VladimirKarapetoff, an IEEE Fellow and a prominent member ofEta Kappa Nu. This major recognition is presented to apractitioner of electrical or computer engineering who hasdistinguished himself/herself through an invention, devel-opment, or discovery in the field of electrical or computertechnology. Factors considered in bestowing this award include the impact and scope of applicability, the impacton the public welfare, and the impact on the standard ofliving and/or global stability.

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

7

Professor Madni (with ProfessorChang) at NationalChiao Tung University


The 2017/2018 academic year will seemajor education program planning activities at thelevels of the Campus, School and Department. At theCampus level, task forces met throughout the prior yearfor the UCLA Innovation initiative, which encompassescivic engagement, global impact, research, and institutionaleffectiveness in addition to transformation of education.

The goal is to use the latest data and research driven ap-proaches to improve the educational experience at UCLAand to determine what incentives and infrastructure needto be put in place to enable this. The Office of InstructionalDevelopment has been re-structured, with new programsin place for improving the training of faculty and teachingassistants in evidence-based instructional techniques suchas active learning and criterion-based grading.

Associate Dean Richard Wesel is leading the School’sown strategic planning for education. Goals for the un-dergraduate program include creation of threads providingpractice in writing, oral expression, design, computationand entrepreneurship throughout the four years. Require-ments for foundations (math, science, and discipline-spe-cific) and breadth will be reviewed to determine what isneeded for careers that will likely outlast industries in thefast-changing environment of the 21st Century. The set oftechnical electives and extracurricular activities will be re-viewed so that every student has the opportunity to be ex-posed to the latest technology in their chosen areas ofspecialization. All of this must be accomplished withoutincreasing the number of units required for graduation.

We are increasing industry and alumni participation indesign activities and instruction of skills, both within thecurriculum and in those directed by student organizations.These activities work in parallel to training of instructors,and the use of undergraduate learning assistants to helpstudents in skill building.

Additionally, planning has proceeded for cre-ation of a new maker space within the School adja-

cent to the Student Creativity Center in Boelter Hall.This will provide resources for student organizations, in-dividual projects, design courses, and potential new cap-stones in entrepreneurship. The School is also providingnew staff support for extracurricular activities.

Two new positions have been created to oversee summerresearch, increase industry internship opportunities, andenhance interactions with the community college system.A committee under the leadership of Professor GregoryPottie is engaged with how to reduce the many barriersconfronting transfer students in transitioning to four-yearschools, including lack of engineering courses, internshipand research opportunities, and prior engagement withstudent organizations. Our goal is to make the transitionsmoother and reduce time to degree. At the Departmentlevel, besides participating in the School’s strategic plan-ning process, we are actively engaged with rolling out thefirst honors program in engineering at UCLA, and imple-menting the Computer Engineering Degree.

As part of this planning, a faculty committee under theleadership of Professor William Kaiser has been chargedwith determining what sequence of tools and devices students should be exposed to in the curriculum fromfreshman through senior year, so that by the end they seeindustry-standard tools. We are also working to enablemore students to be able to take advantage of the manyextracurricular experiences that can lead to a more fruitfulcareer. For these purposes, the department has hiredGabriela Ledezma as our inaugural undergraduate pro-gram officer. She will organize information and supportevents, assist with recruitment, create databases of intern-ship and research opportunities, and help connect studentswith alumni and campus resources. — Gregory Pottie

ACADEMIC INITATIVES


Educational Program Innovations

Resonators and Akhiezer Damping

Like a metronome in music, resonating devicesprovide the timing reference for communication betweenthe numerous wireless devices we use everyday, includingphones, watches, and even smart appliances. However, ametronome typically beats around once every second,whereas the resonators in modern electronics operate atmillions (MHz) or billions (GHz) of cycles every second.For devices that operate in the GHz frequency range, thereremains a lack of fundamental understanding about howthe devices work. In particular, much remains to be learnedabout the ways in which energy dissipation occurs in thedevices, which is important because energy dissipation di-rectly affects the noise in the devices when operated as fre-quency references.

To address this lack of understanding, researchers inthe Sensors and Technology Laboratory (STL) di-rected by Professor Rob Candler have developed a newformulation for phonon-based energy loss in these de-vices, essentially the ways in which mechanical vibra-tion energy is irreversibly converted to heat. The theory

for this type of phonon-based energy loss, namedAkhiezer damping after its original discoverer, has re-mained largely unchanged for several decades.

In particular, there was a long held assumption thatAkhiezer damping depends only on materials and istherefore independent of the resonator design. The workperformed in STL upended this assumption, showingthat the crystal vibrations, called phonons, are dissipatedto heat in a way that highly depends on the resonator’sshape of vibration. With confirmation of the design de-pendence of Akhiezer damping, the team can now makerecommendations for designs with minimum energy dis-sipation and has shown that different resonator designshave a difference in energy dissipation as large as 40X.The reductions in energy dissipation enabled by thismodeling could have impacts beyond timing referencesto other applications, including inertial sensing and pre-cise sensing of biological and chemical species.


FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

Professor Rob Candler and his student developed anew theory and simulation method for Akhiezer damping in micromechanical resonators

Width Extensional

Cubic Extensional

Square Extensional

Lamé (shear)

The UCLA Center for Heterogeneous Integra-tion and Performance Scaling (CHIPS) is an interdis-ciplinary university-led consortium with leading industrialpartners and universities with the support of governmentagencies to address the dramatic changes taking place inthe electronic hardware arena. Led by Professor Subra-manian Iyer, UCLA CHIPS develops core hardware tech-nology, devices and applications in the area ofmicroelectronics and advanced packaging.

Advanced Heterogeneous PackagingOur work is focused on enabling package and boardlevel scaling to achieve a more holistic implementationof “Moore’s Law” enabling heterogeneous integration

similar to monolithic SoCs. We have pio-neered the concept of the high-densitySilicon Interconnect Fabric (Si-IF) as ageneral platform for interconnecting di-verse dielets at ultra-fine pitch (down to2μm) and have extended the concept toFan-out Wafer level processing to bio-compatible flexible substrates (Flex-

trateTM) with low die-shift. We also investigate extendiblemethods of monolithic integration that allow for waferlevel stacking at fine pitch.

The capabilities that we are developing open doors tonew methods of integrating diverse systems includingsubstantial reduction in inter chip communication power,more intimate integration of memory and logic, scale-outof ultra large systems, scaling of memory and neuromor-phic systems, power management and distribution, aswell as the implementation of new concepts in medicalengineering. With strong collaboration from our consor-

tium partners, we provide paths to design methodologyand enablement, thermal management, novel materials,advanced tooling and equipment, instrumentation, andcost effective high yield manufacturing.

Devices and applicationsUCLA CHIPS also leverages new device technology tobuild advanced circuits and systems. Besides applica-tions of our advanced packaging efforts, we have pioneered the development and use of the Charge TrapTransistor (CTT) as novel embedded digital and analogmemory, and are leveraging its use in scalable neuro-morphic systems. We have also employed industry AIplatforms to interpret medical imaging and provide easyidentification of biological markers.

Our main achievements to date include:The development of a baseline process for sub-10μmpitch dielet to Si-IF and the integration of multipledielets (over 3000mm2) on a single Si-IF board at 10 μmpitch and 100 μm inter dielet spacing; the developmentof the bio-compatible Fan-out based FlextrateTM processwith high density interconnects and minimal die shift;and the implementation of the CTT for logic compatibleembedded digital memory as well as for neuromorphicsystems for both supervised and unsupervised learning.

UCLA Center for Heterogeneous Integrationand Performance Scaling

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS


Si-InterconnectedFabric (Si-IF)

Example of FlextrateTM around a pen

Reprogrammability of a CTT arraySi-dielets bonded onto Si-IFwith 10µm pitch and 100 µminter-dielet spacing

Professor Dan Goebel Nominated a Fellow at Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announcedthe selection of the 2017 class of JPL Fellows — a position on the top of the Laboratory’s individual con-tributor career ladder, recognizing those few who havemade extraordinary technical and institutional contri-butions over an extended period of time. The selectionsare the consensus outcome of a rigorous process that included current JPL Fellows, management representa-tives from the JPL Directorates, and a subgroup of theJPL Executive Council.

This year, UCLA Electrical and Computer EngineeringAdjunct Professor and Senior Research Scientist at JPLDan M. Goebel was selected for this honor, along withfour other new members. His nomination cites “seminalwork in conceptualizing, implementing, and trouble-shooting electric propulsion technology for NASA

missions, such as Dawn and Psyche, and serving as aJPL expert in other emerging mission technologies, including microwave sources, advanced plasma sources,high voltage engineering, and ultra-linear traveling wavetube amplifiers.”

Dan Goebel is a member of the National Academyof Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors, and a Fellow of the IEEE, AIAA and APS.He holds 52 patents and is the author of over 125 technical journal papers, 150 conference papers, 8 bookchapters, and the book (with I.Katz) Fundamentals ofElectric Propulsion. He is an internationally recognized ex-pert in electric propulsion, microwave sources, advancedplasma sources and high voltage engineering. He receivedhis Ph.D. from the UCLA Electrical Engineering Depart-ment in 1981.

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS


New metamaterial dramatically improves terahertz imaging, sensingand communication systems

A research team led by Professor Mona Jarrahi has developed an artificial composite material to controlhigher-frequency electromagnetic waves, such as those inthe terahertz and far-infrared frequencies.

The material, specifically a metamaterial because it hasproperties not found in nature, could be transformative forimaging, sensing and communication applications. Itcould be used for quality control in pharmaceutical production lines, scanning pills at high speeds to look forany defects; to spot cancerous tumors at early stages usingtomography; or for forming adaptive high data-rate communication channels.

“Terahertz frequencies in particular offer some uniqueadvantages, for example they can ‘see’ some details not

otherwise ‘visible’ in other parts of the spectrum,” saidMona Jarrahi. “However their use is not widespread. Current systems require a mechanical scanning techniqueto steer or guide the focus area of the terahertz beam, muchlike how an office copy machine uses a moving arm underneath the glass to capture an image.”

Despite extensive progress developing mechanicalbeam-steering techniques through miniaturization and theutilization of micro-electro mechanical systems, the potential use is still limited. Those tiny systems are com-plex with moving parts and for terahertz-based systems,they have not been practical. The team’s solution is simple.

“Our new metamaterial acts as a kind of moving lensthat can focus on different areas of an object, but insteadof being moved mechanically, its focus point is instead controlled electronically by changing an electric currentthat moves through it,” Jarrahi said. “The material itselfnever moves.”

The material is made up of metal-coated vanadiumdioxide on silicon and is punctured with cross-shapedopenings. It would be placed in front of the radiation

On the Cutting Edge of Terahertz Technologies

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS


beam used in an imaging or sensing application. Depend-ing on the level of electric current, the material can deflectthe beam’s focus point by as much as 44 degrees, both vertically and horizontally.

The new technology could lead to imaging, sensing andcommunication technologies in terahertz and far-infraredfrequencies that are more reliable, compact, cost-effectiveand faster than the current state-of-the-art.

This work has been published online in Scientific Reports and supported by the National Science Foun-dation. The lead author on the paper was MohammedReza Hashemi, a postdoctoral scholar at UCLA andmember of Jarrahi’s lab. Other authors include UCLA graduate student Shang-Hua Yang, and Tongyu Wangand Nelson Sepulveda, a graduate student and an associate professor, respectively, at Michigan State University’s College of Engineering.

Terahertz nano-antenna array can

find faint target signals

Professor Mona Jarrahi led a research team that de-veloped a new antenna array that greatly expands the op-eration bandwidth and level of sensitivity for imaging andsensing systems using terahertz frequencies.

Terahertz frequencies are an underused part of the elec-tromagnetic spectrum that lies between the infrared andmicrowave bands. The unique features of this part of thespectrum could be useful for biological sensing and med-ical imaging, chemical identification and material charac-terization. However terahertz technology is not yet mature.One component researchers are aiming to make more ef-ficient is a terahertz detector, which receives the terahertzsignals, much like photodetectors in a camera that senselight to produce an image.

By operating across a broader bandwidth, the newnanoscale antenna array developed by Jarrahi and NezihTolga Yardimci, a UCLA graduate student in electricaland computer engineering, can extract more informationabout material characteristics. The device’s higher signal-to-noise ratios mean it can find faint target signals. For ex-ample, the new terahertz detector can be tuned to detectcertain chemicals even when target molecules are present

in miniscule amounts. It can also be used to image both thesurface of the skin, and deeper tissue layers.

The unique nanoscale geometry of the antenna array ad-dresses the bandwidth and sensitivity problems of previ-ously used terahertz detectors, the researchers said. “Upclose, it looks like a row of small grates,” Yardimci said.“We specifically designed the dimensions of the nanoan-tenna elements and their spacing such that an incoming

terahertz beam is focused into nanoscale dimensions,where it efficiently interacts with a stream of optical pumpphotons to produce an electrical signal proportional to theterahertz beam intensity.”

Jarrahi said: “The broad operation bandwidth and highsensitivity of this new type of terahertz detector extendsthe scope and potential uses of terahertz waves for manyimaging and sensing applications.”

The research was published in Scientific Reports andsupported by financial support from Moore InventorFellowship and the Presidential Early Career Awardfor Scientists and Engineers.

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS


The metamaterial with cross-shaped openings can deflect aterahertz beam’s angle (right)

Nanoantenna arrays for high-sensitivity terahertz detection(left)

Graduate student Nezih Tolga Yardimci, aligning thenanoantenna arrays for terahertz detection

Passive electromagnetic devices such as transmissionlines, filters and antennas are essential parts of a wirelesssystem. They often dominate the efficiency, bandwidth andnoise performance. Traditional passives are built with materials and structures that have time independent prop-erties. They have limited flexibilities and can hardly betuned without incurring a great penalty in performance.Additionally, passives are subject to many well-known fun-damental limits such as the reciprocity limit in transmis-sion, quality factor limit in resonators and efficiencybandwidth product limit in electrically small antennas. Utilization of transistor based active electronics may helpto overcome some of these challenges but they oftentimesincur noise and power handling disadvantages.

Professor Y. Ethan Wang’s work at UCLA DigitalMicrowave Lab aims at breaking those well-known limits in passives through the development of a new classof electro-magnetic devices that are operated in a time-varying fashion. The time-dependent property of these

devices including transmission lines, filters and antennascan be created through semiconductor physics or electro-mechanical interactions, which also allow them to be constructed on integrated circuits (IC) platforms for precision production and system integration. Through addition of the new time dimension, several of these fundamental limits of passives can be lifted and advancedsignal processing functions can be performed directly at

the radio frequency with these devices which will significantlyimprove the performance of exist-ing wireless systems.

One example of such devices isTime-Varying TransmissionLine (TVTL) whose impedance isa function of time through exter-nal parametric modulations.These transmission lines possessextraordinary properties such asnon-reciprocal transmission, zeroloss frequency conversion andunidirectional amplification with almost no noise penalty.An IC version of such a transmission line is shown in Figure 1. These chips can be used as a fundamentalbuilding block to realize sophisticated RF functions suchas correlators and tunable filters, which may become crit-ical components in the upcoming 5G wireless commu-

nication systems. Another example is Sequentially

Switched Delay Lines (SSDL) whichconsists of multiple transmission lines thatare interconnected with switches whoseturning on and off actions are synchronizedwith the propagation of the electromagneticwaves on those lines. It is demonstratedthat electromagnetic waves traveling to-ward different directions can be routed todifferent ports, smilarly to how traffic flowsare routed by traffic lights to differentstreets without any additional delay. Sucha device is called a circulator and it allowsnon-reciprocal wave propagation beingachieved on a IC without the need of mag-netic material. Figure 2 shows a picture ofthe on-chip realization of such a device. Asthe bandwidth of such circulators is funda-mentally unlimited, radios that simultane-

ously transmit and receive information in any desiredfrequency through a single antenna may be built withsuch devices, enabling the next generation wireless systems such as cognitive radios.

These innovative projects are conducted in collabora-tion with aerospace giants such as Boeing and NorthropGrumman, with the strong support of initiatives such asthe DARPA SPAR program and the NSF EFRI program.

Time-Varying Circuits Break the Limit of Passives for FutureWireless Systems

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS


Figure 2: Picture of a SSDL circulator chip fabricated withRaytheon’s 0.15µm GaN process

Y. Ethan Wang

Figure 1: Picture of a TVTL chipfabricated with NorthropGrumman’s 0.2µm GaN process

Undergraduate Seminar EE 1During Spring Quarter, a new class for first-year Electri-cal and Computer Engineering students was introduced.It was designed to provide information about the ECEmajor and what ECE alumni do in their careers after theygraduate. Six alumni and two faculty members were invited to speak. The alumni are approximately 5-10years after graduation, and are working in diverse industries and companies, including Disney, Facebook,Northrop Grumman, Texas Instruments, Western Digital, and Beckman Coulter. The faculty are conduct-ing research in biomedical devices and robotics. Half ofthe alumni speakers are women. The students were required to prepare a short summary of each speaker’spresentation along with lessons learned. The studentfeedback was excellent; and the class will be presentedagain in Fall Quarter.

Distinguished Alumni Speaker SeriesA new speaker series began in 2016. Two distinguishedalumni were invited to speak to our faculty, alumni, andstudents, about a topic of their choice. Dr. Jon Arenberg,1983, MS 1985, Ph.D. 1987, Chief Engineer, James WebbSpace Telescope, Northrop Grumman, spoke about theJames Webb Space Telescope, which he and his teamare designing and building for NASA. He guided the au-dience through the many technical challenges that theproject has encountered and overcome; and the excitingchallenges that still lie ahead as the telescope is preparedfor launch and deployment next year.

Professor Asad M. Madni, 1969, MS 1972, spokeabout numerous “grand challenges” facing humanity thatmust be addressed by us as a global society to maintain

our quality of life, healthcare, environment, energyneeds, manufacturing efficiencies, etc., if we are to con-tinue humanity’s trajectory of progress. He describedsome of these major technologies and their applicationsincluding intelligent sensors and wireless sensor net-works, intelligent cars and smart highways, tele-health(wireless healthcare), micro-electromechanical systems(MEMS), nanotechnology, clean technology and thesmart grid, robotics and automation, and advanced sig-nal processing, and how these technologies are currentlybeing used and their potential future applications.

The department plans to present two or three distin-guished alumni speakers each future school year.

Opportunity Network & ExperienceUCLA ONE, which stands for Opportunity, Networkand Experience, is a new software platform designed tobring alumni and current students together for personalized career advice, mentorship, and other inter-actions, not only between alumni and students, but alsobetween alumni. It is operated by the UCLA Alumni Association. During the fall quarter, UCLA ONE was utilized for an alumni mentorship program betweenalumni and current students; and EE alumni and studentswere included in that program. Alumni were invited topost their career information and indicate their willingnessto serve as mentors. Current students then were invited tocontact these alumni and explore a possible mentorshiparrangement. We hope to greatly increase participation ofalumni and students this year for their mutual benefit —students hear the real story about career opportunities, andalumni have the pleasure of engaging with our outstand-ing and enthusiastic students. — William Goodin

NEW INITIATIVES


NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope,due to deployment in 2018. The projectis headed by Alumni Jon Arenberg

DepartmentInitiatives

Will researchers and scientists be able to imageDNA molecules or detect waterborne pathogens in the fieldwithout having to carry heavy and costly machinery? Thisis becoming possible through the use of devices such assmartphones and lens-free computational microscopy tools.

Creating cost-effective, portable, mobile measurementdevices form a key theme among the projects that morethan 40 UCLA undergraduate researchers present everySpring quarter at the annual Presentation & DemoDay of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute(HHMI) Undergraduate Research, Training and Innova-tion Program, created and organized by the Ozcan Research Group of the Electrical and Computer Engi-neering Department as well as the California Nano Sys-tems Institute. Students conduct hands-on experimentalwork in Ozcan’s lab throughout the entire year, co-author

publications, and present and demo their results in scientific meetings and conferences. Since 2014, under-graduate researchers have co-authored more than 30 journal articles, and more than 85 conference proceedings,also achieving ~98% retention in STEM fields after gradu-ation. Approximately 40% of the students are female, andthe students are admitted each year to this highly interdis-ciplinary program from various departments on campus,such as Electrical & Computer Engineering, Bioengineer-ing, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics,and Biology, giving them hands-on opportunities to conduct cutting-edge research with applications in mobilehealth, telemedicine and environmental monitoring.

“The most fun part is when I see students own theirprojects in front of the audience and present their results,” said HHMI Professor Aydogan Ozcan. “Thisownership and peer-to-peer learning and mentorship are

very exciting to see from these young researchers.” Each year, the event features approximately 10 oral

presentations, 15-20 posters and 10 demos in the posterand demo viewing session, followed by an awards cere-mony and banquet. The students are judged by a facultypanel as well as researchers from industry, and attendeesvote for recipients of awards in various categories.

In the last year’s event, Best Poster Presentationaward went to undergrad students Michelle Luong andAlex Guziak for their project Yeast viability analysis usingon-chip imaging and machine learning. A journal articlewas also published on these results, which was Luong’sfirst. When asked about the benefits about being in the program, Luong said, “The time in the lab — I was ableto use the microscope; I handled the dyes and yeasts.There was a lot more opportunity to be in the lab thansome of my other friends performing research who are notin the program.”

Patrick Wolf and Kyrollos Yanny received the BestOral Presentation last year for their project, Real-timealgae and waterborne pathogen monitoring using on-chipholographic flow cytometry. “The traditional way involveson-site manual sampling. Somebody has to go to everywater source, get a sample and send it back to the labora-tory for further identification. This will require a lot ofmanpower that we might not always have access to,”Yanny said. Furthermore, programs have to rely on volunteers, which may impede the integrity of the sample.“There is a need for an on-site, real-time monitoring system that can minimize the delay between the samplingand monitoring.”

The Best Demo Award went to AshutoshShiledar, Jeffrey Wong, Shuowen Shen, and XuanChen for Rapid air quality measurement based on lens-freemicroscopy. Their instrument consists of a micropump thatdrives air through an air-sampler where aerosols within theairflow are collected in a sticky coverslip. Three fiber- coupled light-emitting-diodes are then turned on, record-ing the scattering holograms of the collected aerosols onan image sensor chip. The captured images are transmit-ted to a remote server where they are reconstructed andanalyzed in less than 30 seconds.

Seungkyeum Kim of the Chemical Engineering Department received the Best Project Award last yearfor his project Single-molecule imaging on a mobile phone.This award was determined by popular vote from both thejudges and the attendees.

UCLA Undergraduates Excel in Engineering and Translational Biomedical Research Program

UNDERGRADUATESTUDENTS


Photo by tunde Akinloye/deRek tSenG

Professor Aydogan Ozcan (far right) with the HHMI Undergraduate Research Group

UCLA WATT (Women Advancing Technologythrough Teamwork) is the UCLA chapter of IEEE-WIE(Women in Engineering). WATT’s goal is to create aspace to support minorities within the Electrical andComputer Engineering community, particularly women.WATT uses electrical engineering as a common interestin order to build a community of confident, socially awareengineers.

The emPower mentorship program matches up first-and second-year students with upperclassmen who guidetheir mentees through their time at UCLA, be it academ-ically, technically, socially, or professionally. Technical andprofessional workshops are also held throughout the year.They serve as opportunities for members to build theirtechnical skills through tinkering workshops such aswearables workshops, as well as to network with the sur-rounding ECE community through networking eventslike a dinner with Intel. WATT is also unique in its focuson advocacy and mental health. WATT holds many work-shops that pertain to social issues such as unconsciousbias, imposter syndrome, and LGBT issues, as well asworkshops related to health such as meditation, depres-sion and anxiety, and productivity workshops.

There are many challenges associated in attaining a graduate degree; from the hours spent inthe study halls to the filing of the final dissertationand all financial burdens, the sacrifices made in thepursuit of knowledge are considerable. As a foreignstudent, these hardships are further compounded bythe language barrier, ignorance of the native etiquetteand customs, and in most circumstances a generalfeeling of isolation. In understanding of the difficul-ties graduate students must endure, the Electricaland Computer Engineering Graduate studentand Post-doc Society (ECEGAPS) was establishedin this academic year.

ECEGAPS is a new organization that aims to providea social and professional community for electrical andcomputer engineering graduate students and post-docs.We also hope to be able to act as a medium for the members’ social, cultural, academic, and professionalobjectives. We have been able to assist in new graduatestudent orientation, hold weekly social events, and havecollaborated with other organizations across UCLA Engineering for recruiting events to this date. We hopeto continue with these activities and offer new ones inthe future.

If you would like additional information or want to become a sponsor for ECEGAPS, please [email protected] for details. — Sina Basir-Kazeruni

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS


UCLA IEEE Women Advancing Technologythrough Teamwork

Electrical and ComputerEngineering Graduate Student and Post-doc Society (ECEGAPS)

2016-2017 Outstanding Student and Teaching Awards

18

STUDENT AWARDS


Jaclyn Yanguen, Fernando Pacheco, Lindsay Light, Ali Jishi, and KevinBalke, recipients of the Engineering Achievement Awards for Student Welfare, next to Chair Greg Pottie. not pictured: Nicholas Ryan Adair, Bryan John Emerson, Justine Capati Figuerres, Kari Garcia, Emil Shallon, and Alex Sin.

Frederic Sala, outstanding Ph.d. dissertation in Signals & Systems,Algorithms and Coding Techniques for Reliable Data Management and Storage, with advisor Professor lara dolecek and Chair Greg Pottie.

Sina Basir-Kazeruni, recipient of theHenry Samueli Excellence in Teaching Awardfor a graduate course, with Professordana Watson and Chair Greg Pottie.

Pranshu Bansal (left), recipient of theHenry Samueli Excellence in Teaching Awardfor a design course, with ProfessorWilliam kaiser and Chair Greg Pottie.

Ahmed Hareedy received the HenrySamueli Excellence in Teaching Award for alecture course, with Chair Greg Pottie.

Chi-Yo Tsai, Outstanding Bachelor of Science and Christina Huang Memorial Prizerecipient, with Chair Greg Pottie.

Luyao Xu, outstanding Ph.d. dissertation in Physical & Wave electronics, Terahertz Metasurface Quantum Cascade Laser, with advisor Professor benjamin Williams and Chair Greg Pottie.

Sameed Hameed, outstanding Ph.d. dissertation in Circuits & embeddedSystems, Design and Analysis of Programmable Receiver Front-Ends Basedon LPTV Circuits, with advisor Prof. Pamarti and Chair Greg Pottie.

Vignesh Manohar, Outstanding Master’sThesis Award in Physical & Wave Electronics,with Professors Rahmat-Samii and Pottie.

Mohammadhasan Fayazi, OutstandingMaster’s Thesis Award in C&ES. Seyed ArminRazavi received the award on his behalf.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS


UCLA HKN

UCLA Electric Vehicle Project

UCLA IEEE Student Chapter

UCLA Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) is one of the largest engineering-focused clubsat UCLA. In addition to our corporate infosessions,workshops, and events aimed to help students in careerbuilding and professionalism, UCLA IEEE is known forthe challenging, educational, and fun projects that allowtrue hands-on experience outside the classroom.

The Open Project Space program focuses on teachingthe fundamentals of hands-on electrical engineering.Our computer science-focused analogy, C3 (Code, Create, Compete), allows computer science majors tojoin in on the fun with their own customized projects.For advanced students who want a challenging roboticsexperience, the Micromouse and Natcar projects areoportunities to build something crazy. Students are alsofree to come up with independent projects.

IEEE hosts several large events open to the wider en-gineering community, such as an annual fair showcas-ing local startups, as well as an all-day professionaldevelopment workshop.

The UCLA Electric Vehicle (EV) is a project-oriented student clubwith a simple mission statement: to build UCLA’s first ever fully electricvehicle. EV is a member of the Bruin Racing team within the MAE De-partment, but with an emphasis on Electrical and Computer Engineer-ing. As one of the only clubs to be advised by two departments, EVprovides students with a unique interdisciplinary experience spanningall stages of building a car—from chassis design to electric motor control.

For new recruits, EV conducts Freshmen Seminars, a series of lec-tures and mini projects designed to equip members with practical hard-ware engineering skills. Additionally, EV hosts resume building daysand career workshops throughout the year in conjunction with thoseheld by IEEE. EV also does its best to introduce members to cuttingedge car technologies such as autonomous driving and vehicle-to-ve-hicle communication. The ultimate goal for EV is to develop a custombrushless DC motor controller and enter the vehicle to race in the ShellEco-Marathon competition. With a little over 20 active members splitinto multiple design teams, EV offers a unique environment akin to astart-up for passionate students to work on an electric vehicle.

The UCLA Iota Gamma Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) is aunique organization dedicated to encouraging and recognizing ex-cellence through a balance of scholarship, service, leadership, andcharacter in the electrical and computer engineering fields. The clubprovides valuable service by conducting training sessions in MAT-LAB and Lab View. HKN members also provide tutoring services.

The club hosts lunches with professors, technical talks, and visitingcompanies. With the IEEE, it co-hosts the annual ECE DepartmentTown Hall where concerns of students are discussed with the faculty.

The Iota Gamma Chapter of HKN continues to see impressive student involvement under the guidance of its advisor, Professor Benjamin Williams, with over 200 members currently participatingin the student club.

Members of National Academies

20

Professor Asad A. Abidi national Academy of engineering, 2007 for his contributions to the development of MoS integrated circuits for RF Communications.

Distinguished Adj. Professor Asad M. Madninational Academy of engineering, 2011national Academy of inventors, 2015Former President, Coo and Cto of bei technologies inc. he is a Fellow of thenAi, ieee, iee, iet, AAAS, nyAS, SAe, iAe and AiAA.

Professor Mau-Chung Frank Chang national Academy of engineering, 2008national Academy of inventors, 2015, for his contributions in developmentand commercialization of iii-V-based heterojunction bipolar transistors(hbts) and field-effective transistors (Fets) for RF wireless communications.

Adjunct Professor Dan Goebel national Academy of engineering, 2015Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion laboratory. For contributions to low- temperature plasma sources for thin-film manufacturing, plasma materialsinteractions, and electric propulsion.

Professor Tatsuo Itohnational Academy of engineering, 2003national Academy of inventors, 2013“for seminal contributions in advancing electromagnetic engineering for microwave and wireless components, circuits, and systems.”

Professor Chandrashekhar Joshi national Academy of engineering, 2014Founder of the experimental field of plasma accelerators. he is also a Fellowof the American Physical Society, ieee and the institute of Physics.

Professor Kuo-Nan Liounational Academy of engineering,1999director of the Joint institute for Regional earth System Science and engineer-ing. nobel Peace Prize, 2007, shared with intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Professor Stanley Osher national Academy of Sciences, 2005for “major contributions to algorithm development and applications in levelset methods, high-resolution shock capturing methods, and Pde-basedmethods in imaging science.”

Professor C. Kumar Patelnational Academy of Sciences, 1974national Academy of inventors, 2012Made numerous contributions in gas lasers, nonlinear optics, molecular -spectroscopy, pollution detection and laser surgery.

Distinguished Professor Yahya Rahmat-Samiinational Academy of engineering, 2008for his contributions to the design and measurement of reflector and hand-held device antennas.

NATIONAL ACADEMIES


Professor Henry Samueli national Academy of engineering, 2003for his “pioneering contributions to academic research and technology entre-preneurship in the broadband communications system-on-a-chip industry.” Recipient of the Marconi Prize, 2012, and uClA Medal, 2010.

Professor Jason Speyernational Academy of engineering, 2005for “the development and application of advanced techniques for optimal navigation and control of a wide range of aerospace vehicles.”

Professor Dwight Streit national Academy of engineering, 2001for “contributions to the development and production of heterojunction transistors and circuits.”

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Gabor Temesnational Academy of engineering, 2015for his “contributions to analog signal processing and engineering education.”

Professor Eli Yablonovitchnational Academy of engineering, 2003national Academy of Sciences, 2003

Professor Alan N. Willson, Jr. national Academy of engineering, 2014for “contributions to the theory and applications of digital signal processing.”

NATIONAL ACADEMIES


New Members of National Academy of Engineering

Distinguished Chancellor's Professor Jason Cong national Academy of engineering in 2017, for pioneeringcontributions to application-specific programmable logicvia innovations in field-programmable gate array synthe-sis. Professor Cong’s area of interests are computer systemarchitecture, energy-efficient computing, reconfigurable

computing, electronic design automation, fault-tolerant de-sign of VlSi systems, design for nanotechnologies, designand analysis of algorithms. he is the director of the Centerfor Customizable domain-Specific Computing and the VlSiArchitecture, Synthesis, and technology (VASt) laboratory.

Professor Behzad Razavinational Academy of engineering in 2017, for contribu-tions to low-power broadband communication circuits.Professor Razavi’s areas of interest are Analog, RF, mixed-signal integrated circuit design, dual-standard RF

transceivers, phase-locked systems and frequency synthesizers, A/d and d/A converters, high-speed datacommunication circuits. he is the director of the Communication Circuits laboratory.

Circuits & Embedded Systems

22

FACULTY


Design Automationfor Computer Systems

We investigate methodologies and algorithmsfor the design of complex systems, including circuits and semiconductor technologies, robots,cyberphysical and energy systems, and the internet of things.

the effects of nanoscale semiconductor tech-nologies span the entire hardware-softwarestack, and we investigate how technologychanges in devices as well as semiconductor fabrication influence design (especially layout).We study digital, mixed-signal, and FPGA-basedconfigurable integrated circuits in the context ofemerging challenges of energy efficiency, secu-rity, reliability, variability and manufacturability.We also explore architecture and system software techniques to mitigate variability andreliability challenges of increasingly unpre-dictable circuit fabric.

Robotics and cyberphysical systems is a rapidly growing field that spans a range of engineering disciplines. We study how such abroadly scoped area can be rigorously codified,inventing representations for the formal defini-tion and analysis of interdisciplinary design.With an eye towards manufacturability, we investigate methods of encapsulating engineer-ing principles and distilling them into design automation algorithms.

our research seeks to dramatically reducecost, increase proliferation, and promote the democratization of design of hardware- softwaresystems.

Faculty PicturedJason CongPuneet GuptaAnkur Mehta

AlsoLei He

C&ESFACULTY


Energy-Efficient DigitalArchitectures and CircuitsWe are focusing on digital integrated circuit optimiza-

tion in the power-area-performance space, its applicationto emerging health care and communication algorithms,and the investigation of design principles with post-CMoS devices. this includes advanced communicationalgorithms such as those found in future cognitive radiosand new advances in biomedical applications.

NeuroengineeringWe address challenges that limit our ability to obtain information

as well as our ability to process it in incredibly small and low-powerform factors, to advance technology for science, therapy and globalhealth. our work brings together low-power data processing, biosig-nal interfaces, communication, and energy aspects to push the lim-its of biosignal transducer systems, where the energy, size andprocessing requirements are often orders of magnitude more chal-lenging than in conventional applications. the cross- disciplinary na-ture of our work naturally stimulates collaboration across the areasof signal processing, circuits and systems, and devices, as well as in-teractions at the biological and engineering levels. Jason Cong Dejan Markovic

Faculty PicturedDanijela CabricBabak Daneshrad

Subramanian S. IyerDejan Markovic

AlsoJason CongLei He Ali SayedC.-K. Ken Yang

Emeriti FacultyRajeev JainGabor TemesJack WillisAlan Willson

24

C&ESFACULTY


Communication CircuitsWe develop integrated circuits for data

communications spanning the entire gamut ofdata rates, ranges, and communication media:from wireless to wired, from PCb traces toplastic waveguides, from intra-chip to longhaul links, from cellular to space communica-tions, from VhF to terahertz frequencies, andfrom low power links to multi-Gb/s links. ourfocus is on CMoS electronics and our facultymembers are pioneers in this field. We address the fundamental challenges posed bynoise, device nonlinearity, and variability in affecting communications in harsh environ-ments, employing theoretical analysis, creative circuit design, and algorithmic digital correction techniques. the recent focus hasbeen on enabling true software defined radios, mm-wave and terahertz applications.

Sensory information is foundational tomodern electronic computing systems acrossa myriad of application domains such ashealth, energy, environment, and communi-cations. our research is developing innova-tive technologies for the entirewaveform-to-decision pathway throughwhich sensor information flows, often inreal-time, distributed and resource-con-strained settings. in work, we are developing(i) high-sensitivity and low-power transduc-

ers and A/d converters for capturing and digitizing sensor signals; (ii) high-perfor-mance hardware-software platforms for pro-cessing sensor data; and (iii) efficient algorithms and protocols for processing sen-sor data to derive rich inferences underpower, processing, and security constraintsin networked settings. Moreover, the resultsof our research are being applied to real sys-tems in various applications.

Sensor Information Acquisition, Processing, and Applications

Faculty Pictured Asad AbidiWentai LiuSudhakar PamartiBehzad Razavi

Henry SamueliC.-K. Ken YangAlsoM.-C. Frank ChangY. Ethan Wang

Faculty Chi On Chui

AlsoSam EmaminejadWilliam KaiserAydogan OzcanGregory PottieMani Srivastava

C&ESFACULTY


Embedded and Mobile Computing and Cyber-Physical SystemsWe focus on foundational hardware and software technolo-

gies and architectures for computing and communication ca-pabilities necessary for emerging embedded, mobile, andcyber-physical systems. Such systems are found in emerging ap-plication domains of critical socio-economic importance, such asrobotics, mobile health, sustainable built environments, smartelectrical grids, smart water networks, and transportation sys-

tems. our research addresses the fundamental capabilitiesneeded by these systems such as energy efficiency, real-timeperformance, location awareness, precise time synchronization,adaptation to variations, secure operations, etc., and also de-velops novel implementation methods spanning the entire sys-tem stack from application and operating system software downto the processor, datapath, memory, and i/o hardware.

Faculty PicturedLei HeWilliam KaiserMajid SarrafzadehMani Srivastava

AlsoSuhas DiggaviPuneet GuptaAnkur MehtaPaulo Tabuada

Circuits and Embedded Systems Adjunct FacultyHooman DarabiShervin Moloudi

26

FACULTY

Physical & Wave Electronics

Electromagnetics

Faculty PicturedAydin BabakhaniM.-C. Frank ChangTatsuo ItohKuo-Nan LiouYahya Rahmat-SamiiY. Ethan Wang

AlsoRobert CandlerMona JarrahiWarren MoriAydogan OzcanBenjamin WilliamsChee Wei Wong

Emeritus FacultyFrederick Schott


Professor Yahya Rahmat-Samii’s

antenna design for JPLand Tendeg LLC

electromagnetics embodies all aspects ofscience and engineering topics stemming fromMaxwell’s equations, describing the behaviorof electric and magnetic fields and their inter-actions with electric charges and currents. thescience of electromagnetics underlies nearlyall modern electric, computation, and com-munications technology. both our courseworkand research address theoretical, computa-tional, optimization, design and measurement aspects of electromagnetic devices for a varietyof applications, including wireless communi-cations, satellite, space and ground systems,medical and sensor applications, multi-func-tion antennas and metamaterials in frequencies ranging from microwaves and mil-limeter waves to t erahertz.

P&WEFACULTY


Nanoelectronics, Devices and Heterogeneous Integration

in the area of nanoelectronics and solid-state devices,uClA is at the forefront of research. Major research effortsare ongoing for the synthesis and design of advanced mate-rials, such as two- dimensional semiconductors, topologicalinsulators, and magnetic oxides — both their fundamentalproperties and their applications to ultra-scaled logic andmemory devices. We also have extensive activities in the design and fabrication of ultra-scaled devices on both siliconand compound semiconductors, such as power and RF tran-sistors, spin-based switches and memory elements, tunnelFets, and other novel devices that are suitable for applica-tions that go beyond conventional scaling. Another majorthrust is the development of neuromorphic (i.e., brain- inspired) devices and nanosystems for computation and

information processing. nanoelectronic devices are under investigation for use as sensors for compact biomedical sens-ing tools. this area also includes the development of Micro-and nano-electromechanical Systems (MeMS and neMS).in addition, we investigate new methods of interconnecting heterogeneous devices for a more holistic interpretation ofMoore's law. Many of these research activities take place in collaboration with other research groups, both within and outside eCe, on circuit/system/device co-design and co- optimization. the nanoelectronics research in the depart-ment is supported by advanced commercial simulation toolsfor device analysis, a state-of-the-art nano-fabrication facility,and device characterization equipment with capability fromdC to over 100Ghz.

Faculty PicturedRobert Candler Sam EmaminejadDiana HuffakerMona JarrahiDwight StreitKang WangChee Wei WongJason C. S. Woo

AlsoAydin BabakhaniChi On ChuiSubramanian S. Iyer

Emeriti FacultyFred G. Allen Harold FettermanDee Son PanKing-Ning TuChand Viswanathan

28

P&WEFACULTY


PhotonicsPhotonics deals with the generation, detec-

tion, and manipulation of light — specificallyhow it can be harnessed to provide useful func-tions. For example, nearly all of the informationon the internet is transported by encoding itonto signals of infrared light carried on opticalfibers. Many unknown materials can be identi-fied by studying how light interacts with them(i.e., by scattering, absorbing, phase shifting, orpolarizing some incident photons). the name“photonics” emphasizes the importance ofquantum mechanical properties of light and itsinteraction with matter. Many topics in pho-tonics research involve development and/oruse of lasers. our research program encom-passes topics such as how light interacts bothwith matter on the nanoscale and in plasmas,as well as new ways to generate, detect, andcontrol light in underdeveloped spectral re-gions. Applications under investigation includethe diverse topics of solar energy generation, lensless microscopy for cell-phone basedtelemedicine, high energy laser wakefield par-ticle accelerators, ultra-high frame rate imag-ing, silicon photonics, biomedical imaging, anduse of stabilized lasers for ultra-high precision measurements — just to name a few.

AlsoDiana HuffakerMona JarrahiChan JoshiChee Wei Wong

Emeritus FacultyHarold Fetterman

Faculty PicturedKatsushi ArisakaWarren GrundfestBahram JalaliJia-Ming LiuAydogan OzcanOscar StafsuddBenjamin Williams

P&WEFACULTY


Plasma ElectronicsPlasma electronics covers a wide spectrum of activities that

include electro-dynamics of charged particles in external fields,non-linear optics of plasmas, high energy-density plasmas, laser-plasma interactions, basic plasma behavior, computer simulationsof laboratory and space plasmas and fusion plasmas. the applica-tions being studied are plasma-based charged particle accelerators,free electron lasers, other plasma-based radiation sources, laser- fusion, astrophysical plasmas, plasma propulsion, gas lasers and

plasmas for lighting. there are opportunities to do experimental,theoretical and computer simulations research in all these areas.Close collaborations exist with national laboratories at livermoreand SlAC and uClA’s state-of-the art laboratories including the nep-tune laboratory that houses the world’s most powerful Co2 laser.the research group also has the dawson ii computational cluster forresearch on inertial confinement fusion, plasma accelerators and astrophysical plasmas.

Physical & Wave Electronic Adjunct Faculty Dan GoebelPedram Khalili

Asad M. MadniYi-Chi ShihZachary TaylorEli Yablonovitch

Faculty PicturedChan JoshiWarren Mori

Emeritus FacultyFrancis F. Chen

30

FACULTY


Signals & Systems

Communicationsand NetworkinguClA has a tradition in Communications

and networking research. For example, thefirst internet packets were sent from uClAand the Viterbi Algorithm was developedhere. in an increasingly interconnected andonline world, our research encompassescomputer networks, social networks, wire-less networks, on-chip networks and biolog-ical networks. our work spans fromfundamental questions in communications networking, autonomous vehicular networks,multimedia telecommunications, coding the-ory, algorithms, resource allocation, gametheory, network economics, information theory and security to applications in mobilecomputing, sensors and embedded systems, distributed control systems, media distribu-tion, green computing, intelligent cities,smart grid, cognitive radios, emergency networks and mobile health.

AlsoDanijela CabricBabak DaneshradSuhas Diggavi Asad M. MadniAnkur Mehta

Mihaela van derSchaar

Mani SrivastavaPaulo TabuadaJohn VillasenorRichard D. Wesel

Faculty PicturedChristina FragouliAli MoslehGregory PottieIzhak RubinAli H. SayedLixia Zhang

Emeriti FacultyNhan LevanPaul K.C. WangDonald WibergKung Yao (below)

S&SFACULTY


Signal Processing and Machine Learning

We rely on signals to interact with thephysical and virtual world. A challengetoday is how to collect, analyze, store,and process large data in an efficient andscalable manner. our signal processingresearch targets the inference, visualiza-tion, representation, and learning of abroad spectrum of signals related tomedia (including speech, video and social media networks), sensors (formedical, military, space, process controlor environmental applications), commu-nications and control networks (such as

wireless and utility networks), and adap-tive arrays (such as acoustic and radar).this applies to problems ranging in scale from the microscopic to big data. Research contributes to disciplines descended from both ee and CS roots,such as machine learning, statistical signal processing, stochastic modeling,graphical models, information theory,adaptation and learning algorithms, inference over networks, distributed signal processing, data analysis and distributed optimization.

Faculty PicturedAbeer AlwanLara DolecekJonathan Kao

Stefano SoattoPaulo TabuadaJohn Villasenor

AlsoDanijela CabricAllie FletcherLei HeSuhas Diggavi William KaiserAsad M. MadniGregory PottieVwani RoychowdhuryAli H. SayedMihaela van der SchaarMani SrivastavaLieven Vandenberghe

Emeriti FacultyKung Yao Alan Willson (above)

32

S&SFACULTY


Control and Decision Systems

Control and decision sys-tems research aims to developthe mathematical principles explaining how complex systemscan behave correctly in uncertain environ ments. one key programstrength is in cyber-physical systems that network togethercollaborating computational elements with physical elements.We work in improving their functionality, autonomy, andadaptability, analyze their performance and ensure their secure operation. Applications include autonomous vehicles,transportation networks, medicalsystems, robotics coordination,smart buildings and smart powergrids. Another strength is in theintersection of economics withengineering.

Faculty PicturedPanagiotis ChristofidesAlan LaubMihaela van der SchaarJason L. Speyer

AlsoSuhas DiggaviAnkur Mehta Ali MoslehIzhak Rubin

Ali H. SayedPaulo TabuadaLieven Vandenberghe

Signals & Systems Adjunct FacultyEzio BiglieriDariush DivsalarAllie FletcherAsad M. MadniIngrid Verbauwhede

S&SFACULTY


Information, Computation and OptimizationTheoryinformation theory research develops

the fundamental limits of compression, en-cryption, and channel coding of data in avariety of networks, storage media andcommunications systems. Applicationareas include new types of storage systemsand more efficient and secure networks.Computation theory research characterizesthe fundamental complexity of problemsand the types of algorithms that can beused to solve them efficiently and/or ap-proximately. optimization theory researchstudies how minimizing cost functions in-herent in problems spanning from eco-nomics to broad swaths of engineering canbe formulated and efficiently solved.

Faculty Pictured Suhas DiggaviStanley OsherVwani RoychowdhuryLieven VandenbergheRichard D. Wesel

AlsoLara DolecekChristina FragouliAlan LaubAnkur MehtaIzhak Rubin

Ali H. SayedMihaela van de SchaarPaulo Tabuada

Emeritus FacultyStephen Jacobsen

34

OVERVIEW


The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

RecognitionsSociety Fellows 47NAE Members 16NAS Members 3National Academy of Inventors 4Marconi Prize 1

Faculty and StaffLadder Faculty 47Courtesy Appointments 13Emeriti Faculty 13Adjunct Faculty 11Lecturers 14 Post-Doc 45Staff 42

Research CentersThe Electrical and Computer Engineering Department contributes to the following Research Centers:

• Anderson School of Management – easton technology ManagementCenter (etMC)

• California nanoSystems institute (CnSi)• Center for design-enabled nanofabrication (C-den)• Center for development of emerging data Storage Systems (CodeS2)• Center for domain-Specific Computing (CdSC)• Center for engineering economics, learning and networks (Ceeln)• Center for heterogeneous integration and Performance Scaling (ChiPS)• Center for high Frequency electronics (ChFe)• Center of excellence for Green nanotechnologies (CeGn)• Function Accelerated nanoMaterial engineering (FAMe)• institute for digital Research and education (idRe)• institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (iPAM)• institute for technology Advancement (itA)• integrated Systems nanofabrication Clean Room (iSnCR)• interconnected & integrated bioelectronics lab (i2bl)• Joint institute for Regional earth System Science and engineering

(JiFReSSe)• nanoelectronics Research Facility (nRF)• Public Safety network Systems (PSnS)• translational Applications for nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (tAnMS)• Variability expedition, Variability-Aware Software for efficient Computing

with nanoscale devices (Ve)• Water technology Research Center (Water)• Western institute for nanoelectronics (Win)• Wireless health institute (Whi)

B.S. 135 M.S. 204 Ph.D. 42

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1Graduate Student Fellowshipsdepartment Fellowships 1,512,753non-resident tuition for teaching Assistants 327,210dissertation year Fellowship 254,279broadcom Fellowship 187,245dean’s GSR Support 168,750Samueli Fellowship 71,546Mediatek Fellowship 57,125Faculty unrestricted Fellowships 56,607Qualcomm Fellowship 55,308Guru krupa Fellowship 51,629Ph.d. Preliminary exam top Score Fellowships 49,747Microsoft Fellowship 44,324Graduate opportunity Fellowship 36,405living Spring Fellowship 35,951dean’s Fellowship & Camp Funds 29,000GeM 22,142hSSeAS MS online tA nRt Support 15,102kalosworks 10,123Cyber Medical imaging 10,000ieee 10,000living Rocks Fellowship 5,440Graduate dean’s Scholar 5,000Raytheon Fellowship 2,163intel Fellowship 2,163TOTAL $3,020,012

Graduate Students Admitted

OVERVIEW


Graduate Applicants for Fall 2016

224USA

Iran

India

ChinaSouth Korea

Taiwan

68

283

937

75

38

Other Countries 131TOTAL 1756

Undergraduate StudentsStudents Enrolled 598Applicants 1477Admitted 329New Students Enrolled 121Average Incoming GPA 4.46 (weighted)

3.92 (unweighted)

Graduate StudentsStudents Enrolled 557Applicants 1964Admitted 459New Students Enrolled 185Median Incoming GPA 3.78

460Rejected

Physical & Wave Electronics Applicants

Signals & Systems Applicants

Circuits & Embedded Systems Applicants

249Rejected

550Rejected

109Accepted

191Accepted

Total Applicants1756

Total Admitted497

197Accepted

Graduate Students Admitted

Alumnae Advisory Committee

ADVISORS


Grace Evita KingCo-ChairAttorney with SquirePatton Boggs

Ani GarabedianCo-ChairNorthrop Grumman,Communications Systems Engineering

Kelsey CurtisChair of the Subcommittee on Student Mentoring Engineer at Infineon Technologies

Melissa EricksonChair of the Bay Area ChapterSr. Technical Program Managerat Amazon Lab126

Sonia HingoranyChair of the Seattle ChapterAmazon, North AmericanTransportation Group

Guadalupe ZaragozaCo-Chair Subcommittee for Alumnae NetworkingPrincipal Systems Engineerat Raytheon

Caitlin GomezCo-Chair of the Subcommittee on K-12 OutreachRadiation Oncologist

Judy GilmoreCo-Chair Subcommittee for Alumnae NetworkingSystems Engineer at Advanced Concept Technologies

Jenny JiCo-Chair of the Subcommittee on K-12 OutreachCaptain at US Air Force

Thanks to the leadership of Professor Abeer Alwanand our accomplished alumnae, a new and vibrant organization has been created. The UCLA ECE Alumnae Advisory Committee aims to educate and enable female students of all ages to pursue academic and career opportunities in electrical and computer engineering. The key mission of the committee is to unite alumnae to support one another, and to foster a community of outreach and development for girls interested in science andtechnology, from the time they start elementaryschool through university and beyond.

Alumni Advisory Board

ADVISORS


Sharon Black GPS & NavigationSystems DirectorRaytheon

Phil BangayanDirector of MarketingNBC/Universal

Ray (Ramon)GomezRetired Sr. Technical Director Broadcom

Heba A. ArmandGroup Product Manager, Avery Consumer Products

David DoamiDirector ProgramsNorthrop Grumman

Dan Goebel Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Scientist at JetPropulsion Laboratory

Leonard BonillaRetired Program ManagerRaytheon

The Alumni Advisory Board provides advice to assist theUCLA Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in enhancing its leadership role in education and research.The Board organizes the Distinguished Alumni LectureProgram focusing on insights from their fields of expertiseor offering guidance on topics of practical interest, such aslaunching and funding a technology-based business and protecting intellectual property rights.

Grace KingAttorney with SquirePatton Boggs

Robert GreenAttorneyLewis RocaRothgerberChristie, LLP

Erica SkoglundTexas InstrumentsHP Worldwide Account Manager

Ani GarabedianNorthrop GrummanCommunications Systems Engineering

Asad M. MadniECE AAB ChairPresident, COO andCTO (Retired)BEI Technologies, Inc.

Leo Szeto FounderCodeate, Inc.

William GoodinUCLA Engineering Retired

Electrical and ComputerEngineering Partnerships

INDUSTRY


the electrical and Computer engineering department has been forging new partnershipswith industry over the past year with its electricalengineering Partnerships (eeP) program. theuClA eeP tightly couples academic educationand research with the needs of industry by working directly with partners in nurturing ourpipelines of talent both at the undergraduateand graduate levels. We enhance visibility to ourstudent activities with industry through openhouses and research reviews, and we propagate industry needs with our students through hands-on projects, material in courses, industry lectur-ers, and collaborative research opportunities.eeP also provides linkages for partners to accessuClA’s state-of-the-art facilities. these activitiesare possible through the support of our partners.More details are available at the eeP website: http://www.ee.ucla.edu/industry

MediaTek Fellowships 2016-2017

UCLA Electrical and Computer Engineering and The MediaTek Foundation are proud to announce the new2016-2017 MediaTek Fellows. The Selection Committee selected two students based on proposed research projectswhich showed the most innovative technology research concept. The MediaTek Fellowship provides full graduatestudent researcher support, including non-resident tuition for one academic year and a possible paid summer internship. Founded in 1997, MediaTek is a pioneering fabless semiconductor company and a market leader in cutting-edge systems on a chip. MediaTek created the world’s first octa-core smartphone platform with LTE; and theCorePilot technology released the full power of multi-core mobile processors. MediaTek is committed to making technology more accessible and affordable for everyone. This year’s Fellows are:

Jiacheng PanA highly efficient wireless power transfersystem that is immune to distance and load variationsAdvisor: Asad Abidi

Sameed Hameed highly linear and programmable receiverfront-endsAdvisor: Sudhakar Pamarti

ANNUAL REPORT


UCLA HSSEAS Electrical and Computer Engineering

Annual Report 2016-2017

Editors/CoordinatorsGregory J. Pottie Professor & ChairJacquelyn T. Trang Chief Administrative officer

Writers

Matthew Chin, uClA engineering Communications Manager Associate Professor Aydin BabakhaniSina Basir-Kazeruni, Ph.d. StudentProfessor Rob CandlerWilliam Goodin, uClA engineering, RetiredProfessor Dan GoebelProfessor Subramanian S. Iyer

Professor Mona JarrahiProfessor Asad M. MadniProfessor Aydogan OzcanProfessor Gregory J. PottieProfessor Kang WangProfessor Y. Ethan Wang

DesignMauricio Feldman-Abe designer

AdministrationGregory J. Pottie department ChairAbeer Alwan Vice-Chair, undergraduate AffairsMona Jarrahi Vice-Chair, Graduate AffairsC.-K. Ken Yang Vice-Chair, industry RelationsPuneet Gupta Vice-Chair, Computer engineering

Area DirectorsDanijela Cabric director, Circuits and

embedded SystemsChristina Fragouli director, Signals and Systems Y. Ethan Wang director,Physical and

Wave electronics

ABET CommitteeAbeer Alwan Professor and Vice-Chair,

undergraduate Affairs

Asad M. Madni Alumni Advisory board Chair

Gregory J. Pottie department Chair

C.-K. Ken Yang Professor and Vice-Chair, industry Relations

Center Directors and Committee ChairsRobert N. Candler director, nano-electronics

Research FacilitySuhas Diggavi Chair, Recruitment CommitteeWarren Mori Chair, tenure CommitteeSudhakar Pamarti Chair, non-tenure CommitteeLieven Vandenberghe Chair, Courses and

Curriculum CommitteeY. Ethan Wang director, Center for

high-Frequency electronics

Electrical and Computer Engineering DepartmentUniversity of CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA 90095www.ee.ucla.edu

Documents

Report - ee.ucla.edu · mer aerospace executive, funded a new endowment to provide scholarships to members of the UCLA chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, and the Samueli Foun-dation