Read All About It! SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING IN THE NEWS The USC School of Engineering continues to strut its stuff in national and local media. Here are some of the highlights: On March 6, the New York Times Circuits section focused on MONICA NICOLESCU, computer science graduate student, and GEORGE BEKEY, professor emeritus of computer science, in a story headlined “Making Robots More Like Us”. Pictured in the story were Nicolescu and her adviser, Associate Professor MAJA MATARIC. Dean C. L. MAX NIKIAS had an op-ed article in the San Diego Union Tribune on February 27 about how Hollywood can prosper in the new era of digital TV, movies and the Internet. Nikias penned another article for the Sacramento Bee on February 11 calling for increased broadband access to connect to “the next generation Internet” and thus complete the Internet revolution. On February 6, KELLY GOULIS, executive director of the Distance Education Network (DEN), and DEN, were heavily featured in a worldwide Voice of America story about distance learning. NAJMEDIN MESHKATI, associate professor of civil engineering, and his graduate student KRISTA SLONOWSKI wrote an op-ed article published in the Orange County Register on February 20 calling for a task force to address the high fatality rate at street-level rail crossings before new light rail projects begin operating. Astronaut-trained Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering PAUL RONNEY was the principal investigator of the doomed Columbia’s key scientific experiment. In the aftermath of the disaster, in February and March, he was widely quoted in the nation’s media, becoming a strong advocate for manned space flight. Some of the media included the New York Times, the Washington Post, Florida Today, the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Daily News, the Boston Globe, Japan Public TV, Science, Reuters, Associated Press, United Press International, Space.com, Automotive News, the Discovery Channel and television stations KCBS-TV, KNBC-TV, KABC-TV and KTLA-TV. He also found time to talk to the campus through the Daily Trojan and the USC Annenberg News Service. Some of the stories also featured MOHAMED ABID, a postdoctoral fellow working with Ronney. See stories on Ronney and his work on pages 15 and 48. Kitty Felde, hostess of “Talk of the City” on public radio station KPCC-FM, broadcast a grading of eleven Los Angeles infrastructure systems by the local chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Joining public officials for the panel discussion of local infrastructure were JOSEPH DEVINNY, professor of civil and environmental engineering (see Devinny op-ed on page 8), and JAMES MOORE, professor of civil engineering and public policy and management. HARVEY GOBAS, (BSCE ’72, MSENV ’75), current president of ASCE, presented the report card, and HANK KOFFMAN, past ASCE president and director of the construction engineering
Fabric That Hears?
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and management program in the School, organized the event. In addition to KPCC-FM, many other local radio stations, including KNX-AM and KFWB-AM covered the report card, as did the L.A. Daily News and Spanish TV station KVEA-TV. The discussion was broadcast on Channel 36, L.A.’s cable television public access channel, and it can be viewed on the School’s web site at: http://www.usc.edu/dept/engineering/news/news.html HERB SCHORR, senior associate dean and executive director of the Information Sciences Institute (ISI), was quoted in a New York Times story January 9 about “virtual worlds,” a sort of digital Club Med for online guests. CARL KESSELMAN (MSEE ’84) from ISI, was chosen as a global leader in innovation for his work in grid computing and featured on the cover of the February issue of Technology Review. Wired.com presented Kesselman’s views on the impact of grid computing in January. The Integrated Media Systems Center’s ALBERT “SKIP” RIZZO, and his use of virtual reality technology to assess and treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other cognitive problems, was the subject of a story on FoxNews.com. That story led to a television story on KCOP-TV.
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canvas or Kevlar used for heavy-duty applications.” Future wearable fabrics could be integrated cell phones, navigation systems or personal warning systems. Parker concluded with a vision reminiscent of the recent film “Minority Report”: “Think of your blouse or slacks interacting
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KPCC-FM’s Kitty Felde, far right, hosted a discussion of L.A.’s infrastructure broadcast Feb. 12. The panel, from left to right, included County Supervisor Chair Yvonne Brathwaite Burke; James Moore, professor of civil engineering; Beverly O’Neil, Mayor of Long Beach; economist Jack Kyser; Andy Lipkis, president of Tree People and Joseph Devinny, professor of environmental engineering.
with the environment as you pass through it. Think of walking into a mall and your blouse tells you where you can get that special gift item that has been on your must-get list for months.” Will soldiers’ wardrobes someday include sound detector sweaters, satellite signal antenna hats or chemical sniffer vests?
Not right away, but perhaps soon. It’s not a big stretch of the imagination. Stretch was funded by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (Darpa). In addition to Parker and Jones, the research group includes Ron Riley at USC/ISI and Don Leo, Louis Beex and Zahi Nakad at Virginia Tech/CCL.