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May
24, 2003, 16S:
Special Commencement Issue
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Bechtel
Achievement Award: Ankur
Luthra , EECS
Bechtel
Engineering Scholarship:
Jengyee Liang, IEOR
Departmental
Citation Winners:
Nathaniel Huebsch, BioE
Mark Wan, CEE
Peter Chen, EECS
Kenny Kamrin, Eng. Science
Marc Oman, IEOR
Melissa Santala, MSE
Siddharth Patel, ME
Brian Quiter, NE
Other
Departmental Awards:
Demetri Angelakos Memorial Award
Leon O. Chua
Award
Warren Y. Dere Design Award
Fong Family Award
Arthur M. Hopkin Award
James Tullock Memorial Scholarship Award
Eliahu Jury Award
Tong Leong Lim Pre-doctoral Prize
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
Harry Bolton Seed Award
C.V. Ramamoorthy Award
David Sakrison Memorial Prize
Sevin Rosen Funds Award for Innovation
Samuel Silver Award
Eugene L. Lawler Award
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Additional
Engineering Department Awards
Demetri
Angelakos Memorial Award
Greg McIntyre,
EECS Ph.D. student
The Angelakos Award honors graduate students who both excel in their work
and help other students generously. The 2003 winner, Greg McIntyre, maintains
a 4.0 GPA and is president of the EE Graduate Student Association (EEGSA).
Students praise him for “leading the charge in social events. Thanks
to him we now have a more active EEGSA.” They also say that he really
cares about other students. Staff remark that his “help with our
prospective student Visit Day has been invaluable over the past two years.”
They also say that “Greg is always there to help with big and small
things and that he does so selflessly for the welfare of his fellow students
and the department.”
Leon
O. Chua Award
Jianhai Hu, EECS Ph.D. student
The Chua Award is given to a student or recent alumnus for outstanding
achievement in an area of nonlinear science. Jianghai Hu wins the 2003
award for his “outstanding work in one of the most challenging areas
of nonlinear dynamical systems.” One professor says that Jianghai's
mathematically oriented work in nonlinear systems, analysis and algorithms
is among “the most spectacular contributions in the area that I have
seen for about the last 10 years.” Colleagues comment that even at
this early stage of his career, “Jianghai has managed to become one
of the leading researchers in this area.”
Warren
Y. Dere Design Award
Daniel Horn, EECS senior
Awarded to the graduating senior whose engineering design accomplishments
are most outstanding, the award for 2003 goes to Daniel Horn. Daniel’s
work in computer graphics has “attracted both developers and artists
from around the world to help him expand the system he created.”
He is described as “one of those very rare undergraduate students
who combines the skills and capabilities that make him more like a graduate
student than many other students already enrolled in the graduate program.”
Daniel has also been involved in tutoring with Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa
Nu and was a Computing Services officer.
Fong
Family Award
Artem Tkachenko and Ki Hoon Kim, EECS seniors
The Fong Award is given to students just completing their junior
year who have demonstrated both high scholastic achievement and financial
need. There are two winners for 2003. Artem Tkachenko has a 3.94 GPA,
has earned a grade of A+, and is active in Eta Kappa Nu (HKN). Ki Hoon
Kim has earned two grades of A+ and has a 3.9 GPA.
Arthur
M. Hopkins Award
Shervin Shekarchian, EECS sophomore
In memory of Professor Hopkin, the award honors an EE undergraduate
who demonstrates high academic achievement while confronting financial
limitations. The 2003 award winner is Shervin Shekarchian. Since transferring
to Berkeley from community college, Shervin has maintained a 4.0 GPA and
received an A+ in three courses. Faculty describe Shervin as “very
dedicated to his project, diligent with his research, and has shown creativity
in his work” and they are “impressed by how quickly he has learned
new material to carry on his research.”
James
Tullock Memorial Scholarship Award
Greg McIntyre, EECS Ph.D. student
The Tullock Award is given to an EECS graduate or undergraduate
student who is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. The recipient for 2003
is Greg McIntyre, a graduate student who served as an Army officer for
nine years after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point,
where he majored in physics and served on the Cadet Honor Committee.
Eliahu
Jury Award
Rene Vidal, EECS Ph.D. student
Named for Professor Emeritus Jury, this award is granted to a graduate
student or recent alumnus for outstanding achievement in systems, communications,
control, or signal processing research. Rene Vidal receives the 2003 award
for his research on generalized principal component analysis. Rene’s
work is described as “a terrific example of how data-modeling problems
should be approached.” His professors believe his “analysis
will have a broad impact in the field . . . ultimately resulting in better
engineering.” Colleagues find his “results are of such novelty,
rigor, and relevance to be considered truly exceptional.”
Tong
Leong Lim Pre-doctoral Prize
John Kodumal and Vinod Prabhakaran, EECS Ph.D. students
The Lim Prize recognizes outstanding performance in the predoctoral examination.
It has been given since 1987 in memory of Lim, who ranked at the top for
his prelims. John Kodumal from CS and Vinod Prabhakaran from EE are the
winners for 2003. John ranked at the top of his prelims and was praised
by the committee for his excellent performance. Vinod also ranked highest
in his prelims, with a score of 10, and received an A+ in each breadth
course.
Outstanding
Teaching Assistant Award
Ryan White and Ranjit Jhala, EECS Ph.D. students
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 Ryan White and Ranjit Jhala. Students feel Ryan White
“goes out of his way to assist students” and “is arguably
one of the best TAs I've had at Berkeley.” Ranjit Jhala is “very
enthusiastic and committed to teaching,” and one student says he
is “one of the best instructors I've had in a CS class, better than
many professors.”
Four additional outstanding teaching assistants are also being recognized.
Darren Liccardo is described as an “exemplary TA,” and students
are “impressed with his availability and helpfulness.” Students
say Leland Chang “was one of, if not the best, TA I've had,”
and that “he should be given a professor position.” Students
think that Ajeet Shankar “was a really good TA” who is “always
very helpful in explaining the material, and willing to answer questions.”
Dror Weitz is “very helpful in understanding the material” and
is praised as “extremely nice and knowledgeable.”
Harry
Bolton Seed Award
Lorenzo Paoletti, 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. As this year’s most outstanding
M.S. student, Lorenzo Paoletti has been selected as recipient of the 2003
H. B. Seed Award. Lorenzo earned his B.S. in CEE in 2002 in Italy. Prior
to coming to Berkeley, he served as an officer in the Italian army and
was employed as a project engineer for an international engineering consulting
firm. While working there, he was registered as a professional geologist
and ISO certified internal quality auditor. Lorenzo’s aspirations
include providing advanced geotechnical engineering services to the community
and transferring his knowledge to young professionals and students.
C.V.
Ramamoorthy Award
Sam Madden, EECS Ph.D. student
The Ramamoorthy Award is given to a CS graduate student for outstanding
contributions to a new research area in computer science and engineering.
Sam Madden is the 2003 winner. Sam's thesis work “has culminated
in his development of the TinyDB query processing system for sensor networks
– one of the most exciting and visible projects currently underway
in the database research community.” Sam is described as “without
a doubt the best Ph.D. to come out of the Berkeley database group in many
years” and “an inventive, thorough researcher with a genuinely
exciting dissertation.”
David
J. Sakrison Memorial Prize
Luca Daniel, EECS Ph.D. student
In memory of Professor Sakrison, the prize is given to a student
who has completed an exceptional documented piece of research in the department.
The winner for 2003 is Luca Daniel. Luca has received four best paper
awards for his work on developing tools for minimizing electromagnetic
interference and radiation from printed circuit boards. Luca also won
an applied mathematics award from the math department. He maintained a
4.0 GPA throughout his studies at Berkeley and is described as “a
first-rate talent. His thesis is the best I've seen in five years.”
Sevin
Rosen Award for Innovation
Brian Otis, EECS Ph.D. student
The Sevin Rosen Award is given to an EECS graduate student in recognition
of innovative achievement and potential entrepreneurial success. Brian
Otis receives the 2003 award for his research in the area of very low
power radio frequency design. His professors note that “his work
is already widely recognized in the field.” He is praised as “a
superb mentor. From the start, he started taking a number of more junior
students under his wing and training them in the crafts and arts of RF
design.” His professors believe "Brian's work in the area of
low-energy low-cost wireless transceivers is bound to have a tremendous
impact on the field."
Samuel
Silver Award
Holly Fait, EECS Ph.D. student
The Silver Award recognizes the combination of intellectual achievement
in science and engineering with humanistic and cultural interests. Holly
Fait is the recipient for 2003. In addition to her research in developing
assistive technology, Holly volunteers with Access Studio, an organization
that holds weekly art classes for abled and disabled members of the community.
Holly regularly volunteers for events to help increase the number of women
in computer science. Professors say “Holly's research is top quality”
and that "Holly is an outspoken, intelligent, and caring member of
our community, and she is committed to participating in that community
and making it a better place for everyone.”
Eugene
L. Lawler Award
Syed Ali Rizvi and Hesham Kamel, EECS senior and Ph.D. student
In memory of Professor Lawler, the award is granted to a CS graduate,
undergraduate, or reentry student who has surmounted unusual difficulties
while demonstrating academic achievement. The winners for 2003 are Syed
Ali Rizvi and Hesham Kamel.
Ali’s family emigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan. Two years later,
in a family tragedy, Ali's grandparents and his father’s siblings
died in an accident in Pakistan, and his father suffered a debilitating
stroke, rendering him unable to work. While attending school, Ali began
working long hours to help support his family. Ali maintained a 4.0 GPA
in community college and entered Berkeley as the first person in his family
to attend a four-year college.
Hesham lost his eye sight shortly before emigrating from Egypt. He graduated
from community college with honors and received his CS bachelor's with
honors from Berkeley. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. and has developed
a computer drawing program for the visually impaired. He is praised for
“leveraging his disability to develop research which will provide
assistance to other visually impaired as well as sighted persons.”
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