About 200 graduate students were nominated, but only 39 were selected to give oral presentations.

Wilasa's presentation was titled "Beam-bending method for measuring permeability of cements and mortars." Wilasa is studying in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering under the direction of Professor George Scherer.

Wei's gold medal recognized his research on the modeling and simulation of self-assembled nanostructures on solid surfaces.

His work reveals remarkably rich dynamics and suggests a significant degree of experimental control in growing ordered nanoscale structures. The work reveals how various parameters, including free energy of mixing, phase boundary energy, surface stress, average concentration, anisotropy, etc., may influence the formation and evolution of nanostructures. The model and simulation technique provides a powerful tool to conduct "numerical experiments" and investigate various behaviors associated with nanostructure evolution. The ability of patterning nanostructures on a surface is very important for many modern technological applications, such as in microelectronics circuits and digital storage media. It also opens up the possibility of fabricating cheap, large-area devices using non-lithographic techniques.

Born in China, Wei Lu came to Princeton in the fall of 1998. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in materials in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering under the direction of Professor Zhigang Suo.

Moneesh is a visiting graduate student from the University of Michigan. He is studying in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering under the direction of Professor David Srolovitz.

The volleyball champions are...

The results are in and the Engineering Council has announced the winners of this year's volleyball tournament. The champions are the electrical engineering team of Gary Chern '02, Jing Ge '04, Brad Hill '03, Tim Lee '02, James McNally '02, and Professor Peter Ramadge.

Finishing in second place was the computer science team of Belen Arellano '03, Amr Kronfol '02, Charles Lin '03, Alex Peretsman '02, Muju Tsay '02, and graduate student Yuqun Chen.

The only requirement for tournament participation was that at least one professor or graduate student had to be playing as a member of the team.

Engineering departments that had teams represented in the tournament included: chemical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Best graduate presentation

Hang-Shing Ma, a graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, studying under the direction of Professor George Scherer, received the award for best graduate student presentation at the Sixth International Symposium on Aerogels, held in Albuquerque in October. Hang-Shing's research focuses on the mechanical properties of aerogels. He received a plaque and a cash prize.

Graduate student dies suddenly

Cheng Liao, 27, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science, died Jan. 2, 2001, at his home in Plainsboro, N.J. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Tsinghua University in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. At Princeton, Professor Douglas Clark was his adviser. Cheng Liao is survived by his parents Liao Erming and Chen Xiaowei of Beijing.

Wu, Upton Fellows arrive

10 new students begin their graduate studies

The 2000 Gordon Wu Graduate Fellows in Engineering and the 2000 Francis Upton Fellows were formally welcomed to Princeton Nov. 7 with a dinner and reception at Prospect House. All Wu and Upton fellows currently at Princeton were encouraged to attend.

"We hope that you will enjoy your fellowships free of teaching duties and research," said James Wei, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. "And that a few of you may one day endow new fellowships for tomorrow's graduate students."

The 2000 Gordon Wu Graduate Fellows in Engineering are:

* Troy Abe, whose undergraduate degree is from Columbia University, is studying electrical engineering at Princeton.

* Valdo Durrleman, whose undergraduate degree is from Ecole Polytechnique is studying in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering.

* Michael Shell, whose undergraduate degree is from Carnegie Mellon, is studying chemical engineering at Princeton.

* Anthony Wirth, whose undergraduate degree is from the University of Melbourne, is studying computer science at Princeton. Anthony also holds a master's degree from the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, the University of Melbourne.

* Rui Zhang, whose undergraduate degree is from the University of Science and Technology of China, is studying in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The Wu Graduate Fellowships, made possible by the generosity of Sir Gordon Y.S. Wu '58, are the highest honor that can be bestowed on incoming graduate students. Recipients are selected based on outstanding academic records and potential for future success.

 

The 2000 Gordon Wu Graduate Fellows in Engineering are, from left, Troy Abe, Valdo Durrleman, Rui Zhang, Anthony Wirth, and Michael Shell. Below, the 2000 Francis Upton Fellows are, from left, Chih-Chun Wang, David Penry, Jing Bai, Kristy Stokke, and Raja Malkani. Photos by Frank Wojciechowski

The 2000 Francis Upton Fellows are:

* Jing Bai, whose undergraduate degree is from Tsinghui University, is studying in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

* Raja Malkani, whose undergraduate degree is from Johns Hopkins, is studying in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering.

* David Penry, whose undergraduate degree is from Case Western, is studying in the Department of Computer Science.

* Kristy Stokke, whose undergraduate degree is from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is studying in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

* Chih-chun Wang, whose undergraduate degree is from National Taiwan University, is studying in the Department of Electrical Engineering.

The Upton Fellowships are made possible by a gift from The Lucy and Eleanor S. Upton Charitable Foundation and matched by Sir Gordon Y.S. Wu '58. These fellowships are the highest honor that can be bestowed on incoming graduate students. Recipients are selected based on outstanding academic records and potential for future success.