Princeton Engineering News

October 2006

Photo of H. Vincent Poor

The fall semester is off to a great start. The freshman engineering class is the largest in Princeton's history, and our incoming graduate class is also among the largest on record. Both groups comprise highly diverse populations of exceptional students. The quality and diversity of these students is a result of ongoing efforts by our faculty and administration to attract the absolute best students from all segments of our potential talent pool. Earlier this month, for example, engineering faculty members Naomi Leonard and Margaret Martonosi helped lead a workshop at the 2006 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. They were joined by Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman, who gave one of the conference's keynote addresses. Such efforts to get our message out to students who have traditionally been under-represented in engineering are critical to the vitality of the profession -- we need to attract the most talented, creative people we can find to make headway against the major challenges facing society.

Please enjoy this second issue of our electronic newsletter and, as always, send your comments and suggestions.

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

Princeton Engineering attracts record freshman class

The freshman class enrolled in Princeton’s School of Engineering and Science this fall is the largest in the school’s history and comprises a diverse and highly qualified group of students.

At registration, 260 freshmen enrolled as B.S.E students, 24 more than last year. The class includes students from 37 states and 27 nations, from Anchorage, Alaska, to Key Biscayne, Florida, and from Vietnam to Mauritius. Thirty-six percent are women, a record high.

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Researchers reveal ‘extremely serious’ vulnerabilities in e-voting machines

In a paper released on Sept 13, a group of Princeton computer scientists reported that they created demonstration vote-stealing software that can be installed within a minute on a common electronic voting machine. The software can fraudulently change vote counts without being detected and can spread from machine to machine.

The findings received widespread attention, including a congressional hearing at which Prof. Ed Felten demonstrated how the machine could be hacked.

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Malik becomes director of Center for Innovation in Engineering Education

Sharad Malik, George Van Ness Lothrop Professor in Engineering, has been named director of Princeton's Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. The freshly minted center begins its second academic year with an ambitious agenda that includes two lecture series, an internship initiative, and innovative curriculum offerings for undergraduates and graduate students.

Collaboration with start-up company aims to improve efficiency of solar power

Solar panels to be installed this fall on the roof of Princeton's Engineering Quadrangle will shave only about $60 off the University's monthly electricity bill. But the technology that emerges from this unique industry-academia research collaboration may eventually save New Jersey households millions of dollars in energy costs.

Princeton Power Systems, a company started in 2001 by three Princeton engineering graduates, is making solar power more efficient when sun conditions are not ideal.

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Undersea robots glide into new realm of marine research

Princeton engineers led a month-long experiment in Monterey Bay, Calif., in August, testing a fleet of undersea robots that, for the first time, worked together without the aid of humans to make detailed and efficient observations of the ocean.

"It's thrilling," said Naomi Ehrich Leonard, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton and co-leader of the project. "The fact that six of these underwater gliders are being coordinated with humans completely out of the loop is unique."

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Quark Park sparks playful collaborations between engineers and artists

Four engineering faculty members were among ten Princeton University scientists who teamed up with local sculptors, architects and landscape architects to create a phenomenon known as Quark Park.

Located in downtown Princeton, the park features playful garden sculptures that evoke the serious research that the scientists do.

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Dudley Saville, renowned teacher and researcher in chemical engineering, dies

Dudley Saville, a chemical engineer whose research and teaching transcended his specialty and inspired advances and leaders in many fields, died Wednesday, Oct. 4, at age 73. The cause was cancer.

Saville, the Stephen C. Macaleer '63 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science, was a pioneer in the fields of fluid mechanics and colloid science. "He was, first of all, a wonderful human being," said Pablo Debenedetti, a longtime colleague and former chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

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Panel to discuss entrepreneurial ventures in India

Three entrepreneurs and a venture capitalist specializing in technology companies in India will participate in a panel discussion at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, in the Friend Center Auditorium. The event is part of a lecture series on technology entrepreneurship sponsored by Princeton University's Center for Innovation in Engineering Education and the Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network.

Full story

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

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