Volume 3, Issue 5 June/July 2003

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2002
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Comments, questions, suggestions? Send us your feedback by emailing lab-notes@coe.berkeley.edu. May 2003 1944: Metallurgist Earl Randall Parker joins the UC Berkeley Engineering faculty I have a decidedly personal story regarding Professor Parker. In 1978, I was his and Professor Zackay's secretary. One day he asked me why I was a secretary and whether I had ever considered going back to school. I replied that indeed I was considering going back to school, maybe to study chemistry or physics. He replied, why not engineering? I told him I thought I wasn't intelligent enough for engineering. Then he said the words that changed my life: you don't have to be intelligent to be an engineer — you just have to work hard. I went on to study engineering, first at Diablo Valley College part-time (while still working full-time for Professors Parker and Zackay) and then I went full-time to Berkeley. Professor Parker suggested a double major would be better than "just" a degree in Materials Science, so I took a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. Professor Parker appointed himself my surrogate father — he continually checked on my grades, allowed me to do my homework at my desk, and "borrowed" graduate students to help me with my homework. I went on to be awarded the Departmental Citation for Materials Science in 1982 (my name's on the plaque in the Department Office, or it was last time I looked!). I went on for a Masters Degree in Materials Science and now work at LLNL as the Deputy Division Leader for the Proliferation Detection and Defense Systems Program. All because Professor Parker said that all I had to do was to work hard! Seriously, though, it was Professor Parker's continued support and encouragement that allowed me to succeed. — Jean Hodson de Pruneda BS '82, MS '85 Thanks for the write-up on Professor Parker. I greatly enjoyed studying under him in the 50's. Still remembered is the simple lab experiment he set up to show that a common volt-amp relationship assumption in welding was not true — no one had bothered to correct the old handbooks! — Ron Jameson, MetE '55 May 2003 A Shot at a New Drug-Delivery System This syringe is a great way to deliver any kind of pharmaceutical "out in the bush." It might also be a super way to deliver hormonal contraceptives. When enabling more people to survive killer diseases, it becomes more essential than ever to enable them to also space out their children and decide how many to have. It does them no good to help them survive typhoid, only to see them or their children starve to death because there is not enough food for everybody. We in the U.S. are used to having 2, maybe 3 kids in a family. Most people in developing countries would love to have families that small; currently many have 5 or even 8 or more kids per family because effective contraception is as hard for them to get as effective medicines. — Barb Parcells Comments may be edited for clarity. Lab Notes is published online by the Public Affairs Office of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering. The Lab Notes mission is to illuminate groundbreaking research underway today at the College of Engineering that will dramatically change our lives tomorrow. Editor, Director of Public Affairs: Teresa Moore Writer, Researcher: David Pescovitz Designer: Robyn Altman Subscribe or send comments to the Engineering Public Affairs Office: lab-notes@coe.berkeley.edu. © 2003 UC Regents. Updated 5/30/03.