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May
22, 2004, 16S:
Special Commencement Issue
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Bechtel
Achievement Award: Emery
Sanford, ME
Bechtel
Engineering Scholarship:
Austin Minnich, Eng. Science
Departmental
Citation Winners:
Ryan Doan, BioE
Sarah Gidding, CEE
Kevin Simler, EECS
Olivia Or, Eng. Science
Anthony Paganini, IEOR
Priam Pillai, MSE
Matt Panzer, ME
Ryan Hannink, NE
Other
Departmental Awards
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Additional
Engineering Award Winners
Levens Memorial Prize
Upper Division: Anis Sadeghpour, ME senior
Lower Division: Jonathan Tay, ME freshman
Established in 1986 in memory of ME professor Alexander S. Levens and
his wife, this award honors a lower division student who has excelled
in graphics and an upper division star in mechanical design. Jonathan
Tay was chosen for the lower division. Jonathan, a freshman in mechanical
engineering, was the top student in the introductory Engineering Design
Graphics class in Fall 2003. He earned near-perfect marks on every exam
and homework assignment, as well as perfect scores on the peer evaluations
from his teammates on his group project (which tied for first place overall).
Anis Sadeghpour was chosen for the upper division. He is a senior in ME
and has the highest cumulative score in E128 class to date. His professors
say he produces excellent quality work, and is helpful to other students.
Frank JarretMachine Design Prize
Dan Garcia, Steve Kang, Sean Merklin and Lionel Mohri, ME seniors
Established in 1981 by ME professor Frank Jarrett and a matching contribution
from the FMC Foundation, this prize is awarded each semester for the most
outstanding project in machine design by a student team (ME102B, Mechanical
Design). The winning project in fall 2003 was the “Non-Oscillating
Industrial Crane.” The team members included Dan Garcia, Steve Kang,
Sean Merklin, and Lionel Mohri. The machine was a scaled-down version
of an industrial crane with computer controls designed to prevent the
load that the crane carried from oscillating when it reaches the end of
its run.
Demetri Angelakos Memorial Award
Lukas Chrostowski, EECS Ph.D. candidate
This award honors graduate students who both excel in their work and generously
help other students . The 2004 winner, Lukas Chrostowski, was chosen for
his willingness to help other students while maintaining excellence in
his own research. Lukas has co-authored 20 publications, mentored new
students, and even volunteered to help teach a graduate-level class while
writing his thesis. He was praised for his “selfless personality”
and called “a person with a kind heart, clever mind, and charitable
spirit.”
ChevronTexaco Scholarship
Amy Wu and Michael Yeung, EECS juniors
The ChevronTexaco Scholarship honors students who have demonstrated leadership
experience, an interest in information technology, and financial need.
Amy Wu and Michael Yeung received the scholarship for 2004. Amy has been
active in Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) and AUWiCSEE. Michael has served as a teaching
assistant.
Leon O. Chua Award
Arnab Nilim, EECS Ph.D. candidate
The Chua Award is given to a student or recent alumnus for outstanding
achievement in an area of nonlinear science. Arnab Nilim won the 2004
award for his initiative and his outstanding work in the area of air traffic
control, specifically in reducing flight delays in the face of random
weather turbulence. Arnab was recognized for his unique approach to the
issue of estimation errors in the optimal control of Markov chains. He
was commended for his strength as an independent thinker as well as his
abilities in both theoretical and applied aspects of research.
Warren Y. Dere Design Award
Michael Toomim, EECS senior
The Dere Award honors the graduating senior with the most outstanding
engineering design accomplishments. The 2004 award goes to Michael Toomim
for developing a new programming tool for managing duplicated code, called
CodeLink. Michael won second place in the Intel Student Research Contest
for Undergraduates for CodeLink. He was also praised for his significant
research contributions to the Harmonia research group, as well as his
design projects for classes, one of which appeared in the American Institute
of Graphic Artist's journal, Loop.
William Everitt Award of Excellence
Amy Wung and Mimi Yang, EECS seniors
The Everitt Award is given to an EECS undergraduate with high academic
standing, an interest in communications and computers, and professional
activities. Mimi Yang and Amy Wung received the 2004 award. Mimi is an
outstanding scholar and the president of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the EECS
honor society. Amy is an active member of Eta Kappa Nu and has been done
volunteer work with kindergarten children in Oakland and in a Berkeley
food and housing project.
Fong Family Award
Jeffry West, EECS senior
The Fong Award is given to a junior with high scholastic achievement and
financial need. The winner for 2004 is Jeffry West, who earned a 4.0 GPA
and mentored EECS transfer students.
Arthur M. Hopkin Award
Katherine Yiu, EECS senior
In memory of Professor Arthur Hopkin, this award honors an EE undergraduate
who demonstrates high academic achievement and financial need.
The 2004 winner is Katherine Yiu, who was selected for her research on
microlenses in her MEMS optics group as well as her stellar academic record.
She was commended for her enthusiasm, creativity, intelligence, motivation,
and ability to work independently.
Information Technology Scholarship Award
Kun Gao, Xiaofan Fred Jiang, Margaret Yau and Meng Yu, EECS seniors
This scholarship is for CS undergraduates in good academic standing with
financial need. There are four winners for 2004: Kun Gao was praised by
professors as one of the best undergraduate students they have had, Xiaofan
(Fred) Jiang for his impressive work in sensor networks, Margaret Yau
for being a great student, strong researcher, and extremely dependable.
Meng Yu for her outstanding work in computer graphics and on the Berkeley
Logo interpreter.
James Tullock Memorial Scholarship Award
Sean Harris, EECS senior
The Tullock Award is for an EECS graduate or undergraduate student who
is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. The 2004 recipient is Sean Harris.
Sean is earning a degree in computer science after serving five years
in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was assigned a military occupational
specialty of Signals Intelligence Operator. He left the Marines as a sergeant
to pursue his degree at Berkeley and is interested in artificial intelligence
and human perception and cognition.
Eliahu Jury Award
Rohit Puri, EECS Ph.D. candidate
Named for Professor Emeritus Eliahu Jury, the award recognizes outstanding
achievement in systems, communications, control, or signal processing
research. Rohit Puri received the 2004 award for his thesis work, centering
on robust, reliable and efficient multimedia delivery over packet networks
and wireless channels. Rohit’s research was described as brilliant,
ground breaking, and unmatched for his combination of “theoretical
mastery, algorithmic ingenuity, real-world system savviness, and design
skills.”
Tong Leong Lim Pre-doctoral Prize
Abhijit Davare and Hoe Teck Wee, EECS Ph.D. candidates
The Lim Prize recognizes outstanding performance in the predoctoral examination.
It has been given since 1987 in memory of Professor Lim, who ranked at
the top for his prelims. Hoe Teck Wee from CS and Abhijit Davare from
EE are the 2004 winners, for their top prelim scores and excellent academic
records. Hoe Teck received praise from his committee for his excellent
presentation of technical results, and for his quick and thorough answers.
Abhijit‘s committee commented that his was “one of the very
best performances seen on the exam in the past few years.”
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
Greg Krimer, EECS senior
Bobak Nazer, EECS Ph.D. candidate
These awards are selected by the national honor society, Eta Kappa Nu
(HKN), the IEEE Student Branch Chapter, and the EECS women’s organization,
AUWiCSEE, in recognition of graduate student instructor excellence. The
highest honors go to Bobak Nazer of EE and Greg Krimer of CS. Students
feel Bobak is “really good at helping students understand concepts,”
and Greg is “really enthusiastic, very funny, and really tries to
make sure people understand things.” Five additional outstanding
teaching assistants are also being recognized. Students say David Fang
“was always willing to go out of his way to help students.”
Daniel Hazen “was the best GSI that I met at Berkeley.” Shyam
Lakshmin “was very helpful to all students.” Farhana Sheikh’s
“extra effort was especially helpful to students.” Chung Ming
Wu “was outstanding, patient, encouraging, and extremely helpful.”
Marian Wojciech Para Memorial Award
Wei-Chung Wu, EECS Ph.D. candidate
The Para Award is for a graduate or undergraduate student who achieved
in the face of adversity, for example any condition that has disadvantaged
the student’s pursuit of academic achievement. Wei-Chung Wu is the
2004 recipient of the award. Wei-Chung came to the U.S. 13 years ago from
Taiwan to continue his education. Wei-Chung is admired by faculty, students,
and staff for his outstanding academic record, important research contributions,
determination, and ever-present smile.
Harry Bolton Seed Award
Adamantia Athanasopoulos, CEE master’s student
Christian Ledezma, CEE master’s student
The H.B. Seed Award is given to the student who completes the M.S. program
in “the most exemplary manner.” In a year of exceptional graduate
students, two particularly outstanding M.S. students were selected as
co-recipients of the 2004 H.B. Seed Award. They are Adamantia Athanasopoulos
and Christian Ledezma. Adamantia, is a U.S. citizen who earned her B.S.
degree from the University of Patras, Greece in 2003. Prior to coming
to Berkeley, she worked for an engineering consulting firm. Christian
earned his B.S. degree and then his M.S. degree in 1999 from Pontificia
Universidad Catolic, Chile. Before coming to Berkeley, he served as an
instructor at his alma mater. Both students aspire to serve the geotechnical
engineering profession as professors after earning their Ph.D. degrees
from Berkeley.
C.V. Ramamoorthy Award
Mark Paskin and Dror Weitz, EECS Ph.D. candidates
The Ramamoorthy Award is given to a CS graduate student for outstanding
contributions to a new research area in computer science and engineering.
Mark Paskin and Dror Weitz are the 2004 winners. Mark is recognized for
his research in probabilistic inference, state estimation, and sensor
networks. He is praised for his theoretical insight, organization, and
hard work. Dror is praised for his research in the area of Glauber dynamics
and commended for his independent and original approach and his outstanding
technical skills.
David J. Sakrison Memorial Prize
René Vidal EECS alum
In memory of Professor David Sakrison, this prize is given to a student
who has completed an exceptional documented piece of research in the department.
The 2004 winner is René Vidal for his work addressing the problems
of simultaneously estimating multiple models from data, without knowing
which data come from which model. René is commended for his many
significant publications on the subject, as well as reviews calling his
submission a “breakthrough paper.” He is described as “the
most notable doctoral researcher in the EECS department at UC Berkeley.”
Mark D. Weiser Excellence in Computing Scholarship
Chung Ming Wu, EECS senior
The Weiser Scholarship, in memory of distinguished computer scientist
and innovator Mark Weiser, is awarded to promising undergraduate CS students.
The recipient for 2004 is Chung Ming Wu. Chung Ming is a member of the
EECS Honors Program, and has earned 10 grades of A+. He has chosen film
as his breadth area. He has also written plays and is interested in theater
arts.
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