Now in its third semester, last week’s ASUC Bookswap was a resounding success. More than 2,000 participants cut out the middleman by swapping and selling books to each other. The event’s participation rate almost tripled from 700 students during the fall semester. The bookswap was the brainchild of engineering physics junior and ASUC senator Misha Leybovich (above), who says that many students saved an average of $200. Leybovich looks forward to expanding the event to eventually include a “student swapmeet” element.

Alum and successful entrepreneur shares insights with Berkeley students

In 1991, Taiwan-born Hong Liang Lu visited mainland China for the first time in his life. The UC Berkeley civil and environmental engineering grad was struck by the vibrancy of what he expected to be a very rigid culture, but something surprised him even more.

“People were very lively and in a hurry to get places, but they didn't have a basic telephone infrastructure,” Lu says. “The only time I could make a phone call was during the lunch hour or when people were sleeping. I literally had to dial a number 100 times to get through.”...[FULL STORY]

Undergraduate Research Opportunity program gives student more than just research experience

EECS junior Ali El-Annan always wanted to be a part of a dynamic research team. That’s why he jumped at the chance to participate in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity (URO) program last fall.

“Berkeley is famous for its research but not many undergrads get involved in it. It was a great opportunity to work closely with a professor and a team of graduate and undergraduate students and be part of a dynamic process,” says El-Annan...[FULL STORY]

Engineering alum Andy Marshall answers to “Sandwich Engineer” and “Mr. Honeycomb”

Andy Marshall (BS’43 ME) still gets excited about honeycomb sandwich, a type of composite construction he helped popularize after World War II that made the building of large weight-critical aircraft more practical and paved the way for a revolution in the aviation industry.

“Now sandwich is everywhere,” he says, noting that a low-tech version is used in public bathroom stall partitions. “But in the early years, all the customers were involved in aircraft.”...[FULL STORY]

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