Daniel Bodony, Assistant Professor
Professor Bodony earned his BS (1997) and MS (1999) degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue University, and his PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in 2004. Before coming to Illinois, he served as a as a post-doctoral research fellow, and later, as a research associate at the Center for Turbulence Research at Stanford.
His research areas include aeroacoustics, computational fluid dynamics, combustion. He is especially interested in unsteady flow phenomena, with a particular emphasis on flows that generate sound, using large scale simulations (large-eddy and direct numerical simulations) and analytical methods. His research includes high-speed flows (e.g., the noise produced by modern turbo-fan engines) and low-speed flows (e.g., the sound produced during turbulent combustion and by the human voice).
Selected publications:
• Bodony, D. J. (2006) “Analysis of Sponge Boundary Treatments for Computational Fluid Mechanics,” J. Comp. Phys. 212, pp. 681-702.
• Bodony, D. J. and Lele, S. K. (2006) “Applications and results: Jet noise.” LES for Acoustics (ed. C. Wagner, T. Hiittl & P. Sagaut). Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 289-310.
• Bodony, D. J. and Lele, S. K. (2005) “On Using Large-Eddy Simulation for the Prediction of Noise from Cold and Heated Turbulent Jets.” Phys. Fluids, Vol. 17, 085103.
New Faces 2007
Faculty
New Faces 2007
More than 20 new professors are expanding the breadth of expertise in the College of Engineering, already one of the largest and most prestigious engineering institutions in the nation. The new faculty members, hired in 2006, join more than 400 colleagues that include two Nobel laureates and a winner of both the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology.
Aerospace Engineering
Timothy Wolfe Bretl, Assistant Professor
Professor Bretl, who joined the aerospace engineering faculty in August 2006, said that he chose the University of Illinois to be part of the new and growing area of aerospace information technology. Broadly, he develops tools for motion analysis, planning, and control. These tools include geometric search algorithms, methods of model reduction, and convex optimization routines that take advantage of problem structure. He is applying these tools to a diverse set of mechanical and biological systems: autonomous sail-planes for atmospheric and environmental science, neuro-prosthetic devices with a control interface designed using biological principles, and robotic manipulators for intelligent machining of deformable objects. All of these applications are safety-critical, so there is a strong emphasis on trust: tools must be practical, easy to implement, and have verifiable performance guarantees.
He received a BS in engineering and a BA in mathematics from Swarthmore College in 1999. He earned an MS in 2000 and a PhD in 2005, both in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University. His dissertation focused on motion planning for large free-climbing robots, which (like human free-climbers) rely only on frictional contact with rock features, not tools like pitons. This research led to a working implementation on a real robot, in cooperation with NASA-JPL—results are collected in “Motion Planning of Multi-Limbed Robots Subject to Equilibrium Constraints: The Free-Climbing Robot Problem,” T. Bretl, International Journal of Robotics Research, 25(4):317-342, Apr 2006. Most recently, Professor Bretl was a postdoctoral fellow in computer science at Stanford University, where he extended this work to a variety of other legged robots, including a humanoid and a hexapod for lunar exploration.
Moving to one of the flattest places in the country does present a personal challenge, since Professor Bretl enjoys bouldering, rock climbing, and mountaineering. So in his “spare time,” he is building a climbing gym in his garage. Meanwhile, he and his wife Andrea are making do with long-distance cycling.
Professor Bretl, who joined the aerospace engineering faculty in August 2006, said that he chose the University of Illinois to be part of the new and growing area of aerospace information technology. Broadly, he develops tools for motion analysis, planning, and control. These tools include geometric search algorithms, methods of model reduction, and convex optimization routines that take advantage of problem structure. He is applying these tools to a diverse set of mechanical and biological systems: autonomous sail-planes for atmospheric and environmental science, neuro-prosthetic devices with a control interface designed using biological principles, and robotic manipulators for intelligent machining of deformable objects. All of these applications are safety-critical, so there is a strong emphasis on trust: tools must be practical, easy to implement, and have verifiable performance guarantees.
He received a BS in engineering and a BA in mathematics from Swarthmore College in 1999. He earned an MS in 2000 and a PhD in 2005, both in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University. His dissertation focused on motion planning for large free-climbing robots, which (like human free-climbers) rely only on frictional contact with rock features, not tools like pitons. This research led to a working implementation on a real robot, in cooperation with NASA-JPL—results are collected in “Motion Planning of Multi-Limbed Robots Subject to Equilibrium Constraints: The Free-Climbing Robot Problem,” T. Bretl, International Journal of Robotics Research, 25(4):317-342, Apr 2006. Most recently, Professor Bretl was a postdoctoral fellow in computer science at Stanford University, where he extended this work to a variety of other legged robots, including a humanoid and a hexapod for lunar exploration.
Moving to one of the flattest places in the country does present a personal challenge, since Professor Bretl enjoys bouldering, rock climbing, and mountaineering. So in his “spare time,” he is building a climbing gym in his garage. Meanwhile, he and his wife Andrea are making do with long-distance cycling.
Cedric Langbort, Assistant Professor
Born in Paris, France, Professor Langbort studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace–Supaero in Toulouse, received a BS and MS aerospace engineering. At the Institut Non-Lineaire in Nice, he earned a MS dynamical systems before receiving the PhD degree in theoretical and applied mechanics from Cornell University in January 2005. After a stint as a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for the Mathematics of Information at Caltech, he joined the engineering faculty at Illinois in March 2006.
“I am interested in the dynamics and control of complex interconnected systems, such as multi-vehicle missions, air traffic management systems, and smart materials. In particular, I try to understand the role of communication constraints between subsystems and system’s architecture, tolerance to individual failure, and study intrinsic limitations of distributed control algorithms due to segmentation of information.
“Given its tradition of excellence and close cross-departmental collaborative research in the field of control theory (as exemplified by the strength and vitality of the Coordinated Science Laboratory), the University of Illinois was a very natural choice for me. A large number of preeminent figures in the field have been or are currently affiliated with our university and it is thus both very exciting and humbling to be a part of this community.
“In the next five years, I intend to develop a research program where both theoretical and applied aspects of control of distributed systems are addressed. Beyond tackling some of the mere technical and mathematical challenges that they pose, I am also interested in exploring the societal and economical implications of distributed control systems. In my increasingly elusive spare time, I particularly enjoy the theater arts, both in the audience and on stage.”
Selected publications:
• J-C. Delvenne and C. Langbort. The Price of Distributed Design in Optimal Control. To appear in Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (San Diego, CA), 2006
• C. Langbort, R. S. Chandra and R. D’Andrea, Distributed Control Design for Systems Interconnected over an Arbitrary Graph. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. 49, no. 9, pp. 1502-1519, Sept. 2004.
Born in Paris, France, Professor Langbort studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace–Supaero in Toulouse, received a BS and MS aerospace engineering. At the Institut Non-Lineaire in Nice, he earned a MS dynamical systems before receiving the PhD degree in theoretical and applied mechanics from Cornell University in January 2005. After a stint as a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for the Mathematics of Information at Caltech, he joined the engineering faculty at Illinois in March 2006.
“I am interested in the dynamics and control of complex interconnected systems, such as multi-vehicle missions, air traffic management systems, and smart materials. In particular, I try to understand the role of communication constraints between subsystems and system’s architecture, tolerance to individual failure, and study intrinsic limitations of distributed control algorithms due to segmentation of information.
“Given its tradition of excellence and close cross-departmental collaborative research in the field of control theory (as exemplified by the strength and vitality of the Coordinated Science Laboratory), the University of Illinois was a very natural choice for me. A large number of preeminent figures in the field have been or are currently affiliated with our university and it is thus both very exciting and humbling to be a part of this community.
“In the next five years, I intend to develop a research program where both theoretical and applied aspects of control of distributed systems are addressed. Beyond tackling some of the mere technical and mathematical challenges that they pose, I am also interested in exploring the societal and economical implications of distributed control systems. In my increasingly elusive spare time, I particularly enjoy the theater arts, both in the audience and on stage.”
Selected publications:
• J-C. Delvenne and C. Langbort. The Price of Distributed Design in Optimal Control. To appear in Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (San Diego, CA), 2006
• C. Langbort, R. S. Chandra and R. D’Andrea, Distributed Control Design for Systems Interconnected over an Arbitrary Graph. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. 49, no. 9, pp. 1502-1519, Sept. 2004.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Arif Masud, Professor of Mechanics and Structures
Professor Masud received a BS in civil engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan (1986), an MS in structural engineering from Stanford University (1987) and PhD in computational mechanics from Stanford University (1993). Prior to joining the Illinois faculty, he served on the faculty of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) from 1994-2006, where he held joint appointments in civil and materials engineering, and bioengineering.
Professor Masud teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on finite element methods, structural analysis, structural mechanics, and computational inelasticity. His research interests span stabilized and multiscale finite element methods for solids and fluids, fluid-structure interaction, computational micro and nano-mechanics, and computational biomechanics. He has delivered several keynote lectures at international conferences, organized more than ten international symposia on Multiscale & Stabilized Finite Element Methods, and has served as co-chair for the 1st Sino-US joint symposium on "Multiscale Analysis in Material Science & Engineering", held in Beijing, China, 2002. He is co-editor of the book The Finite Element Method: 1970s and Beyond (2004).
He has received several awards for his teaching at UIC including the "Teaching Recognition Award 1999" by the Council for Excellence in Teaching, and "Edward M. Burke Teaching Award 2003" from the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering. In 2002, he was awarded the Faculty Distinguished Research Award by the UIC College of Engineering.
Professor Masud chairs the Computational Mechanics Committee of ASCE (2006-2008); he is a member of CONCAM Committee on Computational and Applied Mechanics of ASME, and a member of the Fluid Mechanics Committee of ASME. He is also a member of the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM), US Association of Computational Mechanics (USACM). In 2006, Professor Masud was elected Fellow of the International Association of Computational Mechanics (IACM).
Since 2004 he has served as an associate editor of the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics. He has been a guest editor for various international journals and serves on the editorial boards of Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, International Journal of Multiscale Computational Engineering, and International Journal of Computational Methods in Engineering Science and Mechanics.
Professor Masud received a BS in civil engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan (1986), an MS in structural engineering from Stanford University (1987) and PhD in computational mechanics from Stanford University (1993). Prior to joining the Illinois faculty, he served on the faculty of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) from 1994-2006, where he held joint appointments in civil and materials engineering, and bioengineering.
Professor Masud teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on finite element methods, structural analysis, structural mechanics, and computational inelasticity. His research interests span stabilized and multiscale finite element methods for solids and fluids, fluid-structure interaction, computational micro and nano-mechanics, and computational biomechanics. He has delivered several keynote lectures at international conferences, organized more than ten international symposia on Multiscale & Stabilized Finite Element Methods, and has served as co-chair for the 1st Sino-US joint symposium on "Multiscale Analysis in Material Science & Engineering", held in Beijing, China, 2002. He is co-editor of the book The Finite Element Method: 1970s and Beyond (2004).
He has received several awards for his teaching at UIC including the "Teaching Recognition Award 1999" by the Council for Excellence in Teaching, and "Edward M. Burke Teaching Award 2003" from the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering. In 2002, he was awarded the Faculty Distinguished Research Award by the UIC College of Engineering.
Professor Masud chairs the Computational Mechanics Committee of ASCE (2006-2008); he is a member of CONCAM Committee on Computational and Applied Mechanics of ASME, and a member of the Fluid Mechanics Committee of ASME. He is also a member of the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM), US Association of Computational Mechanics (USACM). In 2006, Professor Masud was elected Fellow of the International Association of Computational Mechanics (IACM).
Since 2004 he has served as an associate editor of the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics. He has been a guest editor for various international journals and serves on the editorial boards of Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, International Journal of Multiscale Computational Engineering, and International Journal of Computational Methods in Engineering Science and Mechanics.
Ilinca Stanciulescu, Assistant Professor of Structural Engineering
Professor Stanciulescu holds a BEng (1995) and an MASc (1996) from the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, a BS in applied mathematics (2000) from Bucharest University and a PhD in civil engineering (2005) from Duke University.
Before joining the PhD program at Duke, she served as a junior lecturer (1996-2000) in the Department of Strength of Materials of the Technical University of Civil Engineering (T.U.C.E.) in Bucharest, Romania. During that time, she taught several classes (strength of materials, elasticity theory, finite element analysis, nonlinear analysis of structures), participated in various research projects, and co-authored a textbook, Post-Elastic Analysis of Structures. She has also worked as a structural design engineer. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois, she was a postdoctoral research associate at Duke University.
Her research interests are in computational mechanics (non-linear finite elements), constitutive modelling of materials, structural analysis, and non-linear dynamics. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the United States Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the American Mathematical Society (AMS), and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Professor Stanciulescu holds a BEng (1995) and an MASc (1996) from the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, a BS in applied mathematics (2000) from Bucharest University and a PhD in civil engineering (2005) from Duke University.
Before joining the PhD program at Duke, she served as a junior lecturer (1996-2000) in the Department of Strength of Materials of the Technical University of Civil Engineering (T.U.C.E.) in Bucharest, Romania. During that time, she taught several classes (strength of materials, elasticity theory, finite element analysis, nonlinear analysis of structures), participated in various research projects, and co-authored a textbook, Post-Elastic Analysis of Structures. She has also worked as a structural design engineer. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois, she was a postdoctoral research associate at Duke University.
Her research interests are in computational mechanics (non-linear finite elements), constitutive modelling of materials, structural analysis, and non-linear dynamics. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the United States Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the American Mathematical Society (AMS), and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Computer Science
Chandra Chekuri, Associate Professor
Professor Chekuri said that there were several things that attracted him to Illinois. “This is one of the best computer science departments in the country and the world; top quality students are attracted here and the department felt like a collegial and easy place to work at. Because the CS department did not have faculty in the area of my research interests,I felt that I could have an impact by coming here and interacting with other faculty as well guide students in my area.”
His primary research interests are in algorithms, discrete and combinatorial optimization, and their applications. He is also broadly interested in all aspects of theoretical computer science. His main research contributions are provably good approximation algorithms for NP-hard discrete optimization problems. In particular, he has obtained polynomial time approximation schemes for several fundamental packing and scheduling problems, and more recently obtained new insights and much improved algorithms for routing problems in graphs such as maximum disjoint paths and unsplittable flow.
“Over the next five years, I would like to continue pushing the frontiers of algorithms. Currently my focus is on multicommodity routing problems such as disjoint paths. In the longer term I plan to explore better and automated ways to exploit graph structure in algorithm design. Another goal is to build fruitful connections with other areas of computer science and other departments including electrical engineering, industrial engineering, and mathematics. Theoretical computer science is making richer and deeper connections to many areas and it is important to develop and exploit those connections.”
Professor Chekuri obtained his B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (now Chennai) in 1993, and a PhD from Stanford University in 1998, both in computer science. Before joining the Illinois faculty, he worked as a member of the technical staff at Lucent Bell Labs where he contributed to various network design projects that spanned wireless, wireline, and optical networks.
Selected publications:
• Edge-Disjoint Paths in Planar Graphs with Constant Congestion (with Sanjeev Khanna and Bruce Shepherd), STOC, 2006.
• A PTAS for the Multiple Knapsack Problem (with Sanjeev Khanna), SIAM Journal on Computing, 35(3): 713-728, 2006.
• Approximation Schemes for Minimizing Average Weighted Completion Time with Release Dates (with F. Afrati, E. Bampis, D. Karger, C. Kenyon, S. Khanna, I. Milis, M. Queyranne, M. Skutella, C. Stein, and M. Sviridenko), 40th FOCS, October 1999.
Professor Chekuri said that there were several things that attracted him to Illinois. “This is one of the best computer science departments in the country and the world; top quality students are attracted here and the department felt like a collegial and easy place to work at. Because the CS department did not have faculty in the area of my research interests,I felt that I could have an impact by coming here and interacting with other faculty as well guide students in my area.”
His primary research interests are in algorithms, discrete and combinatorial optimization, and their applications. He is also broadly interested in all aspects of theoretical computer science. His main research contributions are provably good approximation algorithms for NP-hard discrete optimization problems. In particular, he has obtained polynomial time approximation schemes for several fundamental packing and scheduling problems, and more recently obtained new insights and much improved algorithms for routing problems in graphs such as maximum disjoint paths and unsplittable flow.
“Over the next five years, I would like to continue pushing the frontiers of algorithms. Currently my focus is on multicommodity routing problems such as disjoint paths. In the longer term I plan to explore better and automated ways to exploit graph structure in algorithm design. Another goal is to build fruitful connections with other areas of computer science and other departments including electrical engineering, industrial engineering, and mathematics. Theoretical computer science is making richer and deeper connections to many areas and it is important to develop and exploit those connections.”
Professor Chekuri obtained his B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (now Chennai) in 1993, and a PhD from Stanford University in 1998, both in computer science. Before joining the Illinois faculty, he worked as a member of the technical staff at Lucent Bell Labs where he contributed to various network design projects that spanned wireless, wireline, and optical networks.
Selected publications:
• Edge-Disjoint Paths in Planar Graphs with Constant Congestion (with Sanjeev Khanna and Bruce Shepherd), STOC, 2006.
• A PTAS for the Multiple Knapsack Problem (with Sanjeev Khanna), SIAM Journal on Computing, 35(3): 713-728, 2006.
• Approximation Schemes for Minimizing Average Weighted Completion Time with Release Dates (with F. Afrati, E. Bampis, D. Karger, C. Kenyon, S. Khanna, I. Milis, M. Queyranne, M. Skutella, C. Stein, and M. Sviridenko), 40th FOCS, October 1999.
Samuel King, Assistant Professor
“My research interests are in designing, implementing, and analyzing secure and robust software systems. My current and future work spans across all levels of software from low-level virtual-machine monitor and operating system software to high-level application code.”
Professor King, who received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 2006, is eager to help build systems that can be trusted. “Computer intrusions that result from insecure software lead to a number of problems including the loss or corruption of sensitive data, costly and time intensive cleanup efforts, and damage to a company’s reputation. Additionally, software bugs can cause system outages that have been estimated to cost businesses billions of dollars each year. I believe that the best way to validate designs is by implementing and deploying experimental software systems, as I have done with my current research projects and plan to continue doing with my future research projects.”
Selected publications
• Samuel T. King, Peter M. Chen, Yi-Min Wang, Chad Verbowski, Helen J. Wang, and Jacob R. Lorch, “SubVirt: Implementing malware with virtual machines,” Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, May 2006.
• Samuel T. King, George W. Dunlap, Peter M. Chen, “Debugging operating systems with time-traveling virtual machines,” Proceedings of the 2005 Annual USENIX Technical Conference , April 2005; Best Paper award.
• Samuel T. King, Peter M. Chen, “Backtracking Intrusions,” Proceedings of the 2003 Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP), October 2003; Award paper.
“My research interests are in designing, implementing, and analyzing secure and robust software systems. My current and future work spans across all levels of software from low-level virtual-machine monitor and operating system software to high-level application code.”
Professor King, who received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 2006, is eager to help build systems that can be trusted. “Computer intrusions that result from insecure software lead to a number of problems including the loss or corruption of sensitive data, costly and time intensive cleanup efforts, and damage to a company’s reputation. Additionally, software bugs can cause system outages that have been estimated to cost businesses billions of dollars each year. I believe that the best way to validate designs is by implementing and deploying experimental software systems, as I have done with my current research projects and plan to continue doing with my future research projects.”
Selected publications
• Samuel T. King, Peter M. Chen, Yi-Min Wang, Chad Verbowski, Helen J. Wang, and Jacob R. Lorch, “SubVirt: Implementing malware with virtual machines,” Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, May 2006.
• Samuel T. King, George W. Dunlap, Peter M. Chen, “Debugging operating systems with time-traveling virtual machines,” Proceedings of the 2005 Annual USENIX Technical Conference , April 2005; Best Paper award.
• Samuel T. King, Peter M. Chen, “Backtracking Intrusions,” Proceedings of the 2003 Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP), October 2003; Award paper.
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Todd Coleman, Assistant Professor
“My research interests include network information theory. I am interested in developing theoretical limits of reliable communication, and in constructing robust architectures as well as practical encoding/decoding algorithms that achieve reliable performance near the theoretical boundaries. This applies to a variety of scenarios, including universal distributed data compression, wireless networks, and the communication of correlated information across networks. My research interests also include computational neuroscience. I am interested in understanding, in a probabilistic sense, how neurons dynamically represent information about sensory signals in terms of their spiking activity; how to model dynamic representations between stimuli and neural spiking in a canonical way, with measures of accuracy that can be quantified statistically; and how to develop new algorithms and technologies that will improve the analysis and representations of these models or create opportunities for the sensory impaired to have improved functional capabilities.”
Professor Coleman received his BS degrees in electrical engineering and computer engineering from the University of Michigan in 2000. He completed the MS degree in 2002 and PhD degree in November 2005, both in electrical engineering from MIT, under the supervision of Professor Muriel Medard. Later he was a postdoctoral scholar in the Neuroscience Statistics Research Laboratory at MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Massachusetts General Hospital, under the supervision of Professor Emery Brown. In addition to his appointment in the ECE department and the Coordinated Science Laboratory, Professor Coleman is also affiliated with the Neuroscience Program at Illinois.
“My research interests include network information theory. I am interested in developing theoretical limits of reliable communication, and in constructing robust architectures as well as practical encoding/decoding algorithms that achieve reliable performance near the theoretical boundaries. This applies to a variety of scenarios, including universal distributed data compression, wireless networks, and the communication of correlated information across networks. My research interests also include computational neuroscience. I am interested in understanding, in a probabilistic sense, how neurons dynamically represent information about sensory signals in terms of their spiking activity; how to model dynamic representations between stimuli and neural spiking in a canonical way, with measures of accuracy that can be quantified statistically; and how to develop new algorithms and technologies that will improve the analysis and representations of these models or create opportunities for the sensory impaired to have improved functional capabilities.”
Professor Coleman received his BS degrees in electrical engineering and computer engineering from the University of Michigan in 2000. He completed the MS degree in 2002 and PhD degree in November 2005, both in electrical engineering from MIT, under the supervision of Professor Muriel Medard. Later he was a postdoctoral scholar in the Neuroscience Statistics Research Laboratory at MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Massachusetts General Hospital, under the supervision of Professor Emery Brown. In addition to his appointment in the ECE department and the Coordinated Science Laboratory, Professor Coleman is also affiliated with the Neuroscience Program at Illinois.
Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Professor
Rakesh Kumar received a B.Tech. degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur (2001) and a PhD in computer engineering from the University of California, San Diego (2006). Prior to moving to Champaign-Urbana in January 2007, he was a visiting researcher with Microsoft Research at Redmond, Washington. His research interests are in computer architectures and programming models for emerging workloads.
“I would like to understand what processor architectures and programming models make sense to exploit and express parallelism that is inherent in current and emerging workloads. I would also like to explore building processors that are malleable and can truly adapt to all workload characteristics and conditions.
“Personally, I would like to get a pilot's license and a skydiving license. I would also like to understand why it takes so long for snow to melt near the sidewalks and parking lots.”
Representative publications:
• Rakesh Kumar, Dean Tullsen, Norman Jouppi, and Partha Ranganathan. "Heterogeneous Chip Multiprocessors," in IEEE Computer, November 2005
• Rakesh Kumar, Victor Zyuban, Dean Tullsen. "Interconnections in multi-core architectures: Understanding Mechanisms, Overheads and Scaling," 32nd International Symposium on Computer Architecture,* ISCA-32, *Madison, Wisconsin, June 2005
Rakesh Kumar received a B.Tech. degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur (2001) and a PhD in computer engineering from the University of California, San Diego (2006). Prior to moving to Champaign-Urbana in January 2007, he was a visiting researcher with Microsoft Research at Redmond, Washington. His research interests are in computer architectures and programming models for emerging workloads.
“I would like to understand what processor architectures and programming models make sense to exploit and express parallelism that is inherent in current and emerging workloads. I would also like to explore building processors that are malleable and can truly adapt to all workload characteristics and conditions.
“Personally, I would like to get a pilot's license and a skydiving license. I would also like to understand why it takes so long for snow to melt near the sidewalks and parking lots.”
Representative publications:
• Rakesh Kumar, Dean Tullsen, Norman Jouppi, and Partha Ranganathan. "Heterogeneous Chip Multiprocessors," in IEEE Computer, November 2005
• Rakesh Kumar, Victor Zyuban, Dean Tullsen. "Interconnections in multi-core architectures: Understanding Mechanisms, Overheads and Scaling," 32nd International Symposium on Computer Architecture,* ISCA-32, *Madison, Wisconsin, June 2005
Xiuling Li, Assistant Professor
After receiving her PhD degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1993, Xiuling Li worked as a postdoc research fellow at California Institute of Technology for a year before moving to Illinois where she was first a postdoc researcher and then a research assistant professor. After that, she worked at a local startup company EpiWorks, Inc. for six years, before joining the Faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is also an affiliate faculty member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Her research interests are in the area of III-V compound semiconductors from growth by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), to fabrication of nanostructures, and applications in optoelectronics and chemical and biological sensing.
Representative publications:
• “In-plane Bandgap Control in Porous GaN through Electroless Wet Chemical Etching," X. Li, Y.-W. Kim, P. W. Bohn, and I. Adesida, Appl. Phys. Lett., 80 980-982 (2002).
• “Impurity states are the origin of yellow band origin in GaN produced by epitaxial lateral overgrowth”, X. Li, P.W. Bohn and J. J. Coleman, Appl. Phys. Lett.75, 4049 (1999).
• “Spatially resolved optical characterization of GaN structures produced by selective area epitaxial lateral overgrowth,” X. Li, P.W. Bohn, Y. W. Kim, and J. J. Coleman, in “III-Nitride semiconductors: Growth” Optoelectronic Properties of Semiconductors and Superlattices; v. 19, edited by M.O. Manasreh and I.T. Ferguson. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2003.
• “Fabrication and Characterization of InGaP/GaAs Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors on Germanium on Insulator (GOI) Substrates,” S. G. Thomas, E. S. Johnson, C. Tracy, P. Maniar, X. Li, B. Roof, Q. Hartmann and D. A. Ahmari, Electron Device Lett., 26, 438 , 2005.
After receiving her PhD degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1993, Xiuling Li worked as a postdoc research fellow at California Institute of Technology for a year before moving to Illinois where she was first a postdoc researcher and then a research assistant professor. After that, she worked at a local startup company EpiWorks, Inc. for six years, before joining the Faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is also an affiliate faculty member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Her research interests are in the area of III-V compound semiconductors from growth by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), to fabrication of nanostructures, and applications in optoelectronics and chemical and biological sensing.
Representative publications:
• “In-plane Bandgap Control in Porous GaN through Electroless Wet Chemical Etching," X. Li, Y.-W. Kim, P. W. Bohn, and I. Adesida, Appl. Phys. Lett., 80 980-982 (2002).
• “Impurity states are the origin of yellow band origin in GaN produced by epitaxial lateral overgrowth”, X. Li, P.W. Bohn and J. J. Coleman, Appl. Phys. Lett.75, 4049 (1999).
• “Spatially resolved optical characterization of GaN structures produced by selective area epitaxial lateral overgrowth,” X. Li, P.W. Bohn, Y. W. Kim, and J. J. Coleman, in “III-Nitride semiconductors: Growth” Optoelectronic Properties of Semiconductors and Superlattices; v. 19, edited by M.O. Manasreh and I.T. Ferguson. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2003.
• “Fabrication and Characterization of InGaP/GaAs Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors on Germanium on Insulator (GOI) Substrates,” S. G. Thomas, E. S. Johnson, C. Tracy, P. Maniar, X. Li, B. Roof, Q. Hartmann and D. A. Ahmari, Electron Device Lett., 26, 438 , 2005.
Eric Pop, Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor Eric Pop arrived in mid-March 2007 from Stanford University, where he had received his PhD he had spent the last 18 months as a visiting researcher for Intel Corporation. Pop’s research interests lie in three major areas: carbon nanotubes for electronic and thermal applications, solid state memory devices, and power and thermal issues in integrated circuits. “Underlying all this, is that I’m generally also very interested in the fundamentals of electrical and thermal transport in nanoscale electronics.”
Among the things that attracted Pop to Illinois was the research stature of the department and the collegiality among the faculty he has met. “Everybody I met has been outstandingly supportive,” he said. A lover of music with wide-ranging tastes, Pop is also excited about the strength of the local music scene. He said, “For me, as longs as there’s music, live music especially, I’m home.”
Selected Articles:
- E. Pop, D. Mann, K. Goodson, H. Dai, "Electrical and Thermal Transport in Metallic Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes on Insulating Substrates," J. Appl. Phys. 101, 093710 (2007)
- E. Pop, S. Sinha, K. Goodson, "Heat Generation and Transport in Sub-90 nm Transistors," [invited] Proc. IEEE 94, 1587 (2006)
- E. Pop, D. Mann, J. Cao, Q. Wang, K. Goodson. H. Dai, "Negative Differential Conductance and Hot Phonons in Suspended Nanotube Molecular Wires," Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 155505 (2005)
- E. Pop, K. Goodson, R. Dutton, "Analytic Band Monte Carlo Model for Electron Transport in Si Including Acoustic and Optical Phonon Dispersion," J. Appl. Phys. 96, 4998 (2004)
Assistant Professor Eric Pop arrived in mid-March 2007 from Stanford University, where he had received his PhD he had spent the last 18 months as a visiting researcher for Intel Corporation. Pop’s research interests lie in three major areas: carbon nanotubes for electronic and thermal applications, solid state memory devices, and power and thermal issues in integrated circuits. “Underlying all this, is that I’m generally also very interested in the fundamentals of electrical and thermal transport in nanoscale electronics.”
Among the things that attracted Pop to Illinois was the research stature of the department and the collegiality among the faculty he has met. “Everybody I met has been outstandingly supportive,” he said. A lover of music with wide-ranging tastes, Pop is also excited about the strength of the local music scene. He said, “For me, as longs as there’s music, live music especially, I’m home.”
Selected Articles:
- E. Pop, D. Mann, K. Goodson, H. Dai, "Electrical and Thermal Transport in Metallic Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes on Insulating Substrates," J. Appl. Phys. 101, 093710 (2007)
- E. Pop, S. Sinha, K. Goodson, "Heat Generation and Transport in Sub-90 nm Transistors," [invited] Proc. IEEE 94, 1587 (2006)
- E. Pop, D. Mann, J. Cao, Q. Wang, K. Goodson. H. Dai, "Negative Differential Conductance and Hot Phonons in Suspended Nanotube Molecular Wires," Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 155505 (2005)
- E. Pop, K. Goodson, R. Dutton, "Analytic Band Monte Carlo Model for Electron Transport in Si Including Acoustic and Optical Phonon Dispersion," J. Appl. Phys. 96, 4998 (2004)
Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering (formerly GE)
Liming Feng, Assistant Professor
Professor Feng earned his PhD in industrial engineering and management sciences from Northwestern University in June 2006. He holds a BS from Beijing Normal University and a MS from Northwestern University, both in mathematics. His main research interests are in financial engineering, applied probability and stochastic modeling. His recent research is on computational methods for jump-diffusion and Levy processes with applications in mathematical and computational finance.
“The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign owns one of the best engineering schools in the world, and has excellent researchers in mathematics, statistics and finance. These constitute a great research environment that is very attractive to me. My plan in the next five years is to establish a productive and influential research group in financial engineering at the IESE department. This includes publishing in top journals, teaching financial engineering at both undergraduate and graduate levels, training students so that they are well prepared for the challenges of financial industry, and bringing in funds to support my research.”
Selected articles:
• L. Feng and V. Linetsky, “Pricing Discretely Monitored Barrier Options and Defaultable Bonds in Levy Process Models: A Hilbert Transform Approach,” Under Review for Mathematical Finance.
• L. Feng and V. Linetsky, “Pricing Options in Jump-Diffusion Models: an Extrapolation Approach,” Under Review for Operations Research.
Professor Feng earned his PhD in industrial engineering and management sciences from Northwestern University in June 2006. He holds a BS from Beijing Normal University and a MS from Northwestern University, both in mathematics. His main research interests are in financial engineering, applied probability and stochastic modeling. His recent research is on computational methods for jump-diffusion and Levy processes with applications in mathematical and computational finance.
“The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign owns one of the best engineering schools in the world, and has excellent researchers in mathematics, statistics and finance. These constitute a great research environment that is very attractive to me. My plan in the next five years is to establish a productive and influential research group in financial engineering at the IESE department. This includes publishing in top journals, teaching financial engineering at both undergraduate and graduate levels, training students so that they are well prepared for the challenges of financial industry, and bringing in funds to support my research.”
Selected articles:
• L. Feng and V. Linetsky, “Pricing Discretely Monitored Barrier Options and Defaultable Bonds in Levy Process Models: A Hilbert Transform Approach,” Under Review for Mathematical Finance.
• L. Feng and V. Linetsky, “Pricing Options in Jump-Diffusion Models: an Extrapolation Approach,” Under Review for Operations Research.
Angelia Nedich, Assistant Professor
Professor Nedich received her BS degree from the University of Montenegro (1987) and MS degree from the University of Belgrade (1990), both in mathematics. She received her PhD degrees from Moscow State University (1994) in mathematics and mathematical physics, and from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in electrical engineering and computer science (2002). From 2002, until August 2006, she had worked as a senior engineer at the BAE Systems Advanced Information Technology in Burlington, Massachusetts, where she developed and analyzed algorithms for automatic decision systems for sensor resource management.
Professor Nedich’s general interests are in optimization theory, large scale decision systems, approximate stochastic dynamic programming, duality theory, and their applications. She has co-authored a book, Convex Analysis and Optimization.
Selected articles:
• Nedich and A. Ozdaglar, “A Geometric Framework for Nonconvex Optimization Duality using Augmented Lagrangian Functions,” to appear in Journal of Global Optimization, 2006.
• A. Nedic, D. P. Bertsekas, and V. Borkar, “Distributed Asynchronous Incremental Subgradient Methods,” Haifa Workshop on “Inherently Parallel Algorithms in Feasibility and Optimization and Their Applications,” D. Butnariu, Y. Censor, and S. Reich, Eds., Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2001.
Professor Nedich received her BS degree from the University of Montenegro (1987) and MS degree from the University of Belgrade (1990), both in mathematics. She received her PhD degrees from Moscow State University (1994) in mathematics and mathematical physics, and from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in electrical engineering and computer science (2002). From 2002, until August 2006, she had worked as a senior engineer at the BAE Systems Advanced Information Technology in Burlington, Massachusetts, where she developed and analyzed algorithms for automatic decision systems for sensor resource management.
Professor Nedich’s general interests are in optimization theory, large scale decision systems, approximate stochastic dynamic programming, duality theory, and their applications. She has co-authored a book, Convex Analysis and Optimization.
Selected articles:
• Nedich and A. Ozdaglar, “A Geometric Framework for Nonconvex Optimization Duality using Augmented Lagrangian Functions,” to appear in Journal of Global Optimization, 2006.
• A. Nedic, D. P. Bertsekas, and V. Borkar, “Distributed Asynchronous Incremental Subgradient Methods,” Haifa Workshop on “Inherently Parallel Algorithms in Feasibility and Optimization and Their Applications,” D. Butnariu, Y. Censor, and S. Reich, Eds., Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2001.
Jiming Peng, Assistant Professor
Professor Peng received a BS degree in computational mathematics and software from Xiangtan University (1987, China), an MS degree in computational mathematics from Chinese Academy of Science (1993), and PhD in information technology and systems from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands (2001). Since 2001, he has been an assistant professor in the department of computing and software at McMaster University where was also an associate member of the department of mathematics and statistics.
His research interest covers several different areas within the field of mathematical programming including numerical methods for variational inequalities and complementary problems, interior-point methods for linear conic optimization, optimization modeling and problem solving in knowledge discovery, decision making and engineering design. His work has been recognized with the Stieltjes Prize from the Netherlands (2003), the Premier’s Research Excellence Award from Ontario (2003), and he was a finalist for the A.W. Tucker prize awarded by the mathematical programming society (2003).
Selected publications:
• J. Peng, Equivalence of Variational Inequality problems to Unconstrained Minimization. Mathematical Programming, 78 (1997), 347-355.
• J. Peng, Z. Lin, A Non-interior Continuation Method for Generalized Linear Complementarity Problems, Mathematical Programming, 86, 533-563, 1999.
• T. Illes, J. Peng, C. Roos and T. Terlaky, A strongly polynomial rounding procedure yielding a maximally complementarity solution for P*(k) linear complimentarity problems SIAM J. Optimization, 11, 320-340,2000.
• J. Peng, C. Roos and T. Terlaky, Self-Regularity: A New Paradigm for Primal-Dual Interior-Point Methods, Princeton University Press, April, 2002.
• J. Peng, C. Roos and T. Terlaky, Self-regular functions and new search directions for linear and semidefinite optimization. Mathematical Programming, 93, 129--171, 2002.
• J. Peng, T. Terlaky and Y. Zhao, A predictor-corrector algorithm for linear optimization based on a specific self regular proximity function. SIAM J. Optimization, 2005.
Professor Peng received a BS degree in computational mathematics and software from Xiangtan University (1987, China), an MS degree in computational mathematics from Chinese Academy of Science (1993), and PhD in information technology and systems from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands (2001). Since 2001, he has been an assistant professor in the department of computing and software at McMaster University where was also an associate member of the department of mathematics and statistics.
His research interest covers several different areas within the field of mathematical programming including numerical methods for variational inequalities and complementary problems, interior-point methods for linear conic optimization, optimization modeling and problem solving in knowledge discovery, decision making and engineering design. His work has been recognized with the Stieltjes Prize from the Netherlands (2003), the Premier’s Research Excellence Award from Ontario (2003), and he was a finalist for the A.W. Tucker prize awarded by the mathematical programming society (2003).
Selected publications:
• J. Peng, Equivalence of Variational Inequality problems to Unconstrained Minimization. Mathematical Programming, 78 (1997), 347-355.
• J. Peng, Z. Lin, A Non-interior Continuation Method for Generalized Linear Complementarity Problems, Mathematical Programming, 86, 533-563, 1999.
• T. Illes, J. Peng, C. Roos and T. Terlaky, A strongly polynomial rounding procedure yielding a maximally complementarity solution for P*(k) linear complimentarity problems SIAM J. Optimization, 11, 320-340,2000.
• J. Peng, C. Roos and T. Terlaky, Self-Regularity: A New Paradigm for Primal-Dual Interior-Point Methods, Princeton University Press, April, 2002.
• J. Peng, C. Roos and T. Terlaky, Self-regular functions and new search directions for linear and semidefinite optimization. Mathematical Programming, 93, 129--171, 2002.
• J. Peng, T. Terlaky and Y. Zhao, A predictor-corrector algorithm for linear optimization based on a specific self regular proximity function. SIAM J. Optimization, 2005.
Tolga Tezcan, Assistant Professor
“My current research interests are focused on the performance analysis and control of parallel server systems with many servers. My recent research involves robust design and control of systems with many servers.”
Professor Tezcan received a BS degree in industrial engineering from Bilkent University in Turkey (2000) and an MS degree in industrial and systems engineering from Colorado State University, Pueblo (2001). He earned a second MS degree in applied mathematics from Georgia Tech (2005), and completed his PhD in industrial and systems engineering in 2006. While pursuing his PhD degree he spent two summers working at the Customer Service Center of UPS in Atlanta as an intern. His research interests are focused on the performance analysis and control of parallel server systems with many servers.
Selected publications:
• Tolga Tezcan and Jim Dai, 2006, “Dynamic Control of N-Systems with Many Servers: Asymptotic Optimality of a Static Priority Policy in Heavy Traffic.”
• Jim Dai and Tolga Tezcan, 2005, “State Space Collapse in Many-Server Diffusion Limits of Parallel Server Systems.”
• Tolga Tezcan, 2005, “Optimal Control of Distributed Parallel Server Systems under the Halfin and Whitt Regime.”
“My current research interests are focused on the performance analysis and control of parallel server systems with many servers. My recent research involves robust design and control of systems with many servers.”
Professor Tezcan received a BS degree in industrial engineering from Bilkent University in Turkey (2000) and an MS degree in industrial and systems engineering from Colorado State University, Pueblo (2001). He earned a second MS degree in applied mathematics from Georgia Tech (2005), and completed his PhD in industrial and systems engineering in 2006. While pursuing his PhD degree he spent two summers working at the Customer Service Center of UPS in Atlanta as an intern. His research interests are focused on the performance analysis and control of parallel server systems with many servers.
Selected publications:
• Tolga Tezcan and Jim Dai, 2006, “Dynamic Control of N-Systems with Many Servers: Asymptotic Optimality of a Static Priority Policy in Heavy Traffic.”
• Jim Dai and Tolga Tezcan, 2005, “State Space Collapse in Many-Server Diffusion Limits of Parallel Server Systems.”
• Tolga Tezcan, 2005, “Optimal Control of Distributed Parallel Server Systems under the Halfin and Whitt Regime.”
Materials Science and Engineering
Dallas Trinkle, Assistant Professor
Professor Trinkle received his BS in physics and mathematics at Xavier University (1996) and his PhD in physics from Ohio State University (2003). He worked as a graduate research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1998 to 2000. After working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Air Force Research Laboratory, he joined the Illinois faculty in 2006.
“I grew up near Cincinnati, Ohio, and am looking forward to spending more time in the Midwest. My goal is to create a thriving top-tier research program while adding to the teaching of both undergraduate and graduate courses. This is the top materials science and engineering department in the country, due in large part, to a breadth of topics being studied with top-notch facilities. I’m excited to be a part of the science being done here today and in the future, and to collaborate with my colleagues both inside and outside MatSE.”
Professor Trinkle uses computational materials science to study chemical effects on mechanical properties of structural metals, such as plasticity, phase transformations, and solidification. Improving and controlling mechanical behavior of structural metals is key to improving energy efficiency through weight reduction (automotive and aerospace) or increasing operational temperatures (turbines for aerospace and energy production). To predict mechanical behavior in real materials, he uses atomistic methods—electronic structure, tight-binding, classical potentials—coupled to larger length-scale models—continuum elasticity, statistical mechanics.
Past research highlights come from structural metals and new alloys, such as: the calculation of solute and interstitial effects on the alpha to omega transformation in titanium to explain the role of as little as 1% oxygen in stopping the transformation under shock-loading; and, the first direct calculation of solute-dislocation interaction in Mo, to explain the 50-year old open-question of solid-solution softening.
Selected publications:
• D. R. Trinkle and C. Woodward, “The Chemistry of Deformation: How Solutes Soften Pure Metals,” Science 310(5754), 1665-1667 (2005).
• R. G. Hennig, D. R. Trinkle, J. Bouchet, S. G. Srinivasan, R. C. Albers, and J. W. Wilkins, “Impurities Block the Alpha to Omega Martensitic Transformation in Titanium,” Nature Materials 4(2), 129-133 (2005).
Professor Trinkle received his BS in physics and mathematics at Xavier University (1996) and his PhD in physics from Ohio State University (2003). He worked as a graduate research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1998 to 2000. After working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Air Force Research Laboratory, he joined the Illinois faculty in 2006.
“I grew up near Cincinnati, Ohio, and am looking forward to spending more time in the Midwest. My goal is to create a thriving top-tier research program while adding to the teaching of both undergraduate and graduate courses. This is the top materials science and engineering department in the country, due in large part, to a breadth of topics being studied with top-notch facilities. I’m excited to be a part of the science being done here today and in the future, and to collaborate with my colleagues both inside and outside MatSE.”
Professor Trinkle uses computational materials science to study chemical effects on mechanical properties of structural metals, such as plasticity, phase transformations, and solidification. Improving and controlling mechanical behavior of structural metals is key to improving energy efficiency through weight reduction (automotive and aerospace) or increasing operational temperatures (turbines for aerospace and energy production). To predict mechanical behavior in real materials, he uses atomistic methods—electronic structure, tight-binding, classical potentials—coupled to larger length-scale models—continuum elasticity, statistical mechanics.
Past research highlights come from structural metals and new alloys, such as: the calculation of solute and interstitial effects on the alpha to omega transformation in titanium to explain the role of as little as 1% oxygen in stopping the transformation under shock-loading; and, the first direct calculation of solute-dislocation interaction in Mo, to explain the 50-year old open-question of solid-solution softening.
Selected publications:
• D. R. Trinkle and C. Woodward, “The Chemistry of Deformation: How Solutes Soften Pure Metals,” Science 310(5754), 1665-1667 (2005).
• R. G. Hennig, D. R. Trinkle, J. Bouchet, S. G. Srinivasan, R. C. Albers, and J. W. Wilkins, “Impurities Block the Alpha to Omega Martensitic Transformation in Titanium,” Nature Materials 4(2), 129-133 (2005).
Mechanical Science and Engineering
William P. King, Associate Professor
William King received the BS degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Dayton in 1996 and the MS and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. Between 1999 and 2001, King worked in the Micro/NanoMechanics group at the IBM Research Laboratory in Zurich Switzerland on Millipede Probe-Based Data Storage, widely regarded as the first corporate, product-focused nanotechnology project in the world. Before coming to Illinois, he was on faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology.
A Kritzer Faculty Scholar, King’s research focuses on nanometer-scale thermal processing, with applications in nano-manufacturing and nano-materials analysis. With the help of his graduate students, King recently developed instruments for probing the nanometer-scale thermomechanical properties of solid materials.The instruments are particularly useful for materials discovery, where scientists previously lacked tools for nanometer-scale thermal analysis.
In 2004, King and collaborators developed a technique to use nanometer-sized heated probe tips for dip pen nanolithography (DPN), an increasingly popular technique using atomic-force microscopy probes as pens to produce nanometer-scale patterns. Using King’s new thermal DPN method, scientists are now able to produce features too small to be formed with light-based lithography.
He is the winner of the NSF CAREER award (2003) and the DOE PECASE award (2005). In 2006,Technology Review magazine included King in its "TR35--one of people under the age of 35 whose work is most likely to change the world." The author of over 100 technical articles, he serves on the scientific advisory boards of six different companies.
Selected publications:
• Nelson, B. A., W. P. King, A. R. Laracuente, P. A. Sheehan, and L. J. Whitman, “Direct Nanoscale Deposition of Continuous Metal Nanostructures using Thermal Dip Pen Nanolithography,” Applied Physics Letters, 88, 033104, 2006.
• King, W. P., S. Saxena, B. A. Nelson, and B. Weeks, “Nanoscale Thermal Analysis of an Energetic Material,” Nano Letters, 6, 2145-2149, 2006.
William King received the BS degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Dayton in 1996 and the MS and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. Between 1999 and 2001, King worked in the Micro/NanoMechanics group at the IBM Research Laboratory in Zurich Switzerland on Millipede Probe-Based Data Storage, widely regarded as the first corporate, product-focused nanotechnology project in the world. Before coming to Illinois, he was on faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology.
A Kritzer Faculty Scholar, King’s research focuses on nanometer-scale thermal processing, with applications in nano-manufacturing and nano-materials analysis. With the help of his graduate students, King recently developed instruments for probing the nanometer-scale thermomechanical properties of solid materials.The instruments are particularly useful for materials discovery, where scientists previously lacked tools for nanometer-scale thermal analysis.
In 2004, King and collaborators developed a technique to use nanometer-sized heated probe tips for dip pen nanolithography (DPN), an increasingly popular technique using atomic-force microscopy probes as pens to produce nanometer-scale patterns. Using King’s new thermal DPN method, scientists are now able to produce features too small to be formed with light-based lithography.
He is the winner of the NSF CAREER award (2003) and the DOE PECASE award (2005). In 2006,Technology Review magazine included King in its "TR35--one of people under the age of 35 whose work is most likely to change the world." The author of over 100 technical articles, he serves on the scientific advisory boards of six different companies.
Selected publications:
• Nelson, B. A., W. P. King, A. R. Laracuente, P. A. Sheehan, and L. J. Whitman, “Direct Nanoscale Deposition of Continuous Metal Nanostructures using Thermal Dip Pen Nanolithography,” Applied Physics Letters, 88, 033104, 2006.
• King, W. P., S. Saxena, B. A. Nelson, and B. Weeks, “Nanoscale Thermal Analysis of an Energetic Material,” Nano Letters, 6, 2145-2149, 2006.
Carlos A. Pantano-Rubino, Assistant Professor
Carlos Pantano-Rubino obtained his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Sevilla in Spain. He earned a master’s degree in applied mathematics from Ecole Central Paris, and a PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of California San Diego.
“I came to Illinois because this was a great opportunity to be a member of one of the best engineering faculties in the nation. I am interested in multidiciplinary research involving large-scale computing and fluid dynamics. Specific areas of research include turbulent combustion, gas dynamics, fluid-structure interaction and numerical methods. My research is aimed at developing efficient computational techniques to simulate and model complex fluid dynamical phenomena.
“My goals for the next five years are to develop the next paradigm of large-scale computational fluid dynamics using the new extremely large supercomputing resources being installed to date. I consider this step to be crucial in order to make advances in multiphase flows and the complex geometries encountered in the majority of engineering applications.”
Recent research includes the study of the dynamics of extinction/reignition fronts in turbulent non-premixed combustion (Direct Simulation of Non-premixed Flame Extinction in a Methane-Air Jet with Reduced Chemistry," Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 514, 231-270, 2004), and the study of nonlinear hydrodynamic instabilities that arise when the interface separating two gases of different density is accelerated by a shock (Large-eddy Simulation and Mulitscale Modelling of a Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability with Reshock," Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 557, 29-61, 2006).
Carlos Pantano-Rubino obtained his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Sevilla in Spain. He earned a master’s degree in applied mathematics from Ecole Central Paris, and a PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of California San Diego.
“I came to Illinois because this was a great opportunity to be a member of one of the best engineering faculties in the nation. I am interested in multidiciplinary research involving large-scale computing and fluid dynamics. Specific areas of research include turbulent combustion, gas dynamics, fluid-structure interaction and numerical methods. My research is aimed at developing efficient computational techniques to simulate and model complex fluid dynamical phenomena.
“My goals for the next five years are to develop the next paradigm of large-scale computational fluid dynamics using the new extremely large supercomputing resources being installed to date. I consider this step to be crucial in order to make advances in multiphase flows and the complex geometries encountered in the majority of engineering applications.”
Recent research includes the study of the dynamics of extinction/reignition fronts in turbulent non-premixed combustion (Direct Simulation of Non-premixed Flame Extinction in a Methane-Air Jet with Reduced Chemistry," Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 514, 231-270, 2004), and the study of nonlinear hydrodynamic instabilities that arise when the interface separating two gases of different density is accelerated by a shock (Large-eddy Simulation and Mulitscale Modelling of a Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability with Reshock," Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 557, 29-61, 2006).
Ning Wang, Professor
Professor Wang is widely recognized as a leader in the application of mechanical engineering principals and techniques to studies of fundamental biological problems. He was the first to show direct evidence that transmembrane adhesion molecule integrins mediate mechanical force transmission across the cell surface to the cytoskeleton, opening the field of cell mechanics to the study of combining biochemistry and biomechanics at cellular and subcellular levels. He also established that in living cells, the cytoskeleton tension, or prestress, plays a dominant role in dictating the cell shear stiffness, and thus cell shape stability, and provided evidence that a localized force applied through integrins causes direct cytoplasmic deformation and nuclear deformation in remote sites from the loading site, representing a dramatic departure from existing model predictions. Science, 260: 5111, 1124-1127, 1993.
Recently, Professor Wang developed intracellular stress tomography technology and used it to address fundamental questions about stress propagation and distribution in living cells. He also developed 3-dimensional magnetic twisting cytometry technology and used it to quantify mechanical anisotropy in living cells. Am. J. Physiol. Cell, 285:5, C1082-C1090, 2003. He is currently a member of the editorial board for Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics, and is a member of the American Physiological Society and the American Society for Cell Biology.
Professor Wang received his PhD in physiology from Harvard University in 1990. He was an associate professor of physiology and cell biology in the School of Public Health at Harvard University until he joined the Illinois faculty in March 2006.
Professor Wang is widely recognized as a leader in the application of mechanical engineering principals and techniques to studies of fundamental biological problems. He was the first to show direct evidence that transmembrane adhesion molecule integrins mediate mechanical force transmission across the cell surface to the cytoskeleton, opening the field of cell mechanics to the study of combining biochemistry and biomechanics at cellular and subcellular levels. He also established that in living cells, the cytoskeleton tension, or prestress, plays a dominant role in dictating the cell shear stiffness, and thus cell shape stability, and provided evidence that a localized force applied through integrins causes direct cytoplasmic deformation and nuclear deformation in remote sites from the loading site, representing a dramatic departure from existing model predictions. Science, 260: 5111, 1124-1127, 1993.
Recently, Professor Wang developed intracellular stress tomography technology and used it to address fundamental questions about stress propagation and distribution in living cells. He also developed 3-dimensional magnetic twisting cytometry technology and used it to quantify mechanical anisotropy in living cells. Am. J. Physiol. Cell, 285:5, C1082-C1090, 2003. He is currently a member of the editorial board for Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics, and is a member of the American Physiological Society and the American Society for Cell Biology.
Professor Wang received his PhD in physiology from Harvard University in 1990. He was an associate professor of physiology and cell biology in the School of Public Health at Harvard University until he joined the Illinois faculty in March 2006.
Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Ling Jian Meng, Assistant Professor
Professor Meng, who joined the NPRE faculty in March 2006, is currently developing a single photon emission microscope (SPEM) system that will offer a new tool for disease investigation and security inspection. The SPEM system is used for in vivo imaging of molecules labeled with radioisotopes. This system provides a spatial resolution that is at least 20 times better than current state-of-art-commercial systems. It fills a unique niche for molecular biology research--in vivo functional imaging at a scale approaching the dimension of a single molecule.
“Our research is focused on developing instrumentation for radiation detection and measurement used for both medical and security applications,” Meng said. “The current development of the single photon emission microscope (SPEM) system has the potential of providing a spatial resolution of a few tens of micros for imaging small live animals. Our preliminary study has demonstrated an unmatched imaging capability. This development, if successful, would provide a radiological imaging device that allows the visualization of microscopic biological phenomena at molecular and cellular level.”
Funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, a division of the National Institute of Health, Meng’s work will benefit many research areas: It can be used to monitor the growth and depict the internal structure of a tumor tissue from a very early stage, or it can be used to trace the neuro activity of small animals in response to external stimulations and drug treatments.
Another emphasis of Meng’s group is the development of semiconductor sensors for homeland security and nuclear nonproliferation applications. The group is developing detectors that provide a very high spatial resolution and detection efficiency for X and gamma ray radiations. The technology could help security personnel detect whether very small volumes of dangerous materials are being smuggled or transported illegally.
Meng came to Illinois from the University of Michigan where he had been a postdoctoral fellow and then a research scientist. He earned a BS in modern physics in 1995 from the University of Science and Technology of China, and a PhD in 2001 in detector physics from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.
Selected publications:
• L. J. Meng, N. H. Clinthorne, W. L. Rogers, “A Modified Uniform Cramer-Rao Bound for Multiple Aperture Design,” Medical Imaging, IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging, Vol. 23, 2004.
• L. J. Meng and Z. He, “Estimate interaction timing in large volume HgI2 detector using cathode pulse waveforms,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods A, Vol. 545, 2005.
• L. J. Meng and Z. He, “Exploring the Limiting Timing Resolution for Large Volume CZT Detectors with Waveform Analysis,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods A, Vol. 550, 2005.
• L. J. Meng, “Design and Feasibility Study of a Single Photon Emission Microscope System for Small Animal I-125 Imaging,” to appear on IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 2006.
• L. J. Meng, Z. He, B. Alexander and J. Sandoval, “Spectroscopic Performance of 1 cm thick HgI2 Detectors,” to appear on IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 2006.
• L. J. Meng, “An Intensified EMCCD Camera for Low Energy Gamma Ray Imaging Applications,” accepted to appear on IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 2006.
Professor Meng, who joined the NPRE faculty in March 2006, is currently developing a single photon emission microscope (SPEM) system that will offer a new tool for disease investigation and security inspection. The SPEM system is used for in vivo imaging of molecules labeled with radioisotopes. This system provides a spatial resolution that is at least 20 times better than current state-of-art-commercial systems. It fills a unique niche for molecular biology research--in vivo functional imaging at a scale approaching the dimension of a single molecule.
“Our research is focused on developing instrumentation for radiation detection and measurement used for both medical and security applications,” Meng said. “The current development of the single photon emission microscope (SPEM) system has the potential of providing a spatial resolution of a few tens of micros for imaging small live animals. Our preliminary study has demonstrated an unmatched imaging capability. This development, if successful, would provide a radiological imaging device that allows the visualization of microscopic biological phenomena at molecular and cellular level.”
Funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, a division of the National Institute of Health, Meng’s work will benefit many research areas: It can be used to monitor the growth and depict the internal structure of a tumor tissue from a very early stage, or it can be used to trace the neuro activity of small animals in response to external stimulations and drug treatments.
Another emphasis of Meng’s group is the development of semiconductor sensors for homeland security and nuclear nonproliferation applications. The group is developing detectors that provide a very high spatial resolution and detection efficiency for X and gamma ray radiations. The technology could help security personnel detect whether very small volumes of dangerous materials are being smuggled or transported illegally.
Meng came to Illinois from the University of Michigan where he had been a postdoctoral fellow and then a research scientist. He earned a BS in modern physics in 1995 from the University of Science and Technology of China, and a PhD in 2001 in detector physics from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.
Selected publications:
• L. J. Meng, N. H. Clinthorne, W. L. Rogers, “A Modified Uniform Cramer-Rao Bound for Multiple Aperture Design,” Medical Imaging, IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging, Vol. 23, 2004.
• L. J. Meng and Z. He, “Estimate interaction timing in large volume HgI2 detector using cathode pulse waveforms,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods A, Vol. 545, 2005.
• L. J. Meng and Z. He, “Exploring the Limiting Timing Resolution for Large Volume CZT Detectors with Waveform Analysis,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods A, Vol. 550, 2005.
• L. J. Meng, “Design and Feasibility Study of a Single Photon Emission Microscope System for Small Animal I-125 Imaging,” to appear on IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 2006.
• L. J. Meng, Z. He, B. Alexander and J. Sandoval, “Spectroscopic Performance of 1 cm thick HgI2 Detectors,” to appear on IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 2006.
• L. J. Meng, “An Intensified EMCCD Camera for Low Energy Gamma Ray Imaging Applications,” accepted to appear on IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 2006.
Physics
Yann Chemla, Assistant Professor
Yann Chemla received his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001. During his thesis in applied superconductivity, he developed an interest in biology and made the leap to biophysics as a postdoctoral fellow, joining Prof. Carlos Bustamante’s laboratory at Berkeley. There, he learned the techniques of single-molecule manipulation, and used an optical trap to study viral DNA packaging (Chemla et al., Cell, 2005). In 2005, he received the prestigious Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI) from the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund. He is joined the Illinois faculty in January 2007.
The cell is a factory of complex molecular structures that carry out specialized mechanical tasks and that behave remarkably like machines. Molecular motors, as they are called, are involved in such diverse processes as replicating the genome or transporting cargo across the cell, typically moving in discrete steps along a track--actin, microtubules, or DNA itself--converting chemical energy into mechanical work. A broad area of interest in my laboratory will be understanding the mechanism by which these molecular machines operate, and specifically, the process of mechano-chemical conversion.
Biophysical techniques that can detect such processes at the level of a single molecule are extremely powerful since they are not subject to the averaging artifacts of traditional bulk biochemical methods. Optical traps, or “optical tweezers,” which utilize the force generated by focused laser light to manipulate microscopic objects, have been used extensively to measure the movements and forces exerted by individual molecular motors. High-resolution optical trapping techniques have the potential to reveal, for the first time, the stepwise motions of a host of molecular motors that translocate along or interact with nucleic acids and proteins. Access to this length scale should lead to a more detailed and refined understanding of many fundamental processes.
Selected publications:
• Moffitt, J. R., Chemla, Y.R., Izhaky, D., Bustamante, C. (2006) “Differential detection ofd ual traps improves the spatial resolution of optical tweezers” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, 103, 9006-9011.
• Chemla, Y.R., Karunakaran, A., Michaelis, J., Grimes, S., Jardine, P.J., Anderson, D.L., Bustamante, C. (2005) “Mechanism of force generation of a viral DNA packaging motor” Cell, 122, 683-692.
Yann Chemla received his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001. During his thesis in applied superconductivity, he developed an interest in biology and made the leap to biophysics as a postdoctoral fellow, joining Prof. Carlos Bustamante’s laboratory at Berkeley. There, he learned the techniques of single-molecule manipulation, and used an optical trap to study viral DNA packaging (Chemla et al., Cell, 2005). In 2005, he received the prestigious Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI) from the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund. He is joined the Illinois faculty in January 2007.
The cell is a factory of complex molecular structures that carry out specialized mechanical tasks and that behave remarkably like machines. Molecular motors, as they are called, are involved in such diverse processes as replicating the genome or transporting cargo across the cell, typically moving in discrete steps along a track--actin, microtubules, or DNA itself--converting chemical energy into mechanical work. A broad area of interest in my laboratory will be understanding the mechanism by which these molecular machines operate, and specifically, the process of mechano-chemical conversion.
Biophysical techniques that can detect such processes at the level of a single molecule are extremely powerful since they are not subject to the averaging artifacts of traditional bulk biochemical methods. Optical traps, or “optical tweezers,” which utilize the force generated by focused laser light to manipulate microscopic objects, have been used extensively to measure the movements and forces exerted by individual molecular motors. High-resolution optical trapping techniques have the potential to reveal, for the first time, the stepwise motions of a host of molecular motors that translocate along or interact with nucleic acids and proteins. Access to this length scale should lead to a more detailed and refined understanding of many fundamental processes.
Selected publications:
• Moffitt, J. R., Chemla, Y.R., Izhaky, D., Bustamante, C. (2006) “Differential detection ofd ual traps improves the spatial resolution of optical tweezers” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, 103, 9006-9011.
• Chemla, Y.R., Karunakaran, A., Michaelis, J., Grimes, S., Jardine, P.J., Anderson, D.L., Bustamante, C. (2005) “Mechanism of force generation of a viral DNA packaging motor” Cell, 122, 683-692.
Ido Golding, Assistant Professor
Ido Golding received his PhD in physics from Tel Aviv University (Israel) in 2002. Although trained as a condensed matter theorist, he has spent the last five years learning the experimental arsenal of modern molecular biology. From 2002 to 2006, Professor Golding has been a Lewis Thomas Research Fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. He joined the physics faculty at Illinois in January 2007.
"Interest in many of the classical model systems studied in biology has been reignited by a recent influx of new insights, largely thanks to the application of quantitative approaches, in both experiments and theory. This 'quantitative revolution' encompasses a hierarchy of levels: From the single molecule (for example, using optical tweezers to study the interactions of biomolecules in vitro), through the single cell (studying cell-to-cell variability in gene expression by fluorescence microscopy), up to the level of whole populations (where DNA microarrays are used to quantify genome-wide expression patterns).
“I have chosen to study the E. coli bacterium and its virus, the bacteriophage lambda. These two organisms serve as basic paradigms for many physiological processes, including gene expression, epigenetic stability and switching, viral-host interactions, DNA replication, genetic recombination and more. I have developed and applied new quantitative tools for probing cellular interactions within these systems by combining genetic manipulation and high sensitivity fluorescence imaging. This strategy allows us to follow dynamic processes in individual cells, in real time, with a single-event resolution. In my lab, such quantitative experimental work will be accompanied by mathematical modeling, with a constant feedback between the two endeavors.”
According to Golding, the work employs a set of skills broader than those generally mastered within a single discipline, including the techniques of microbiology and molecular genetics, real-time imaging of live cells to make dynamic measurements, and data analysis using the engineer’s toolbox of signal and image processing, all accompanied by the theoretical tools of dynamical systems theory, stochastic processes, non-equilibrium phenomena and more. As such, this practice of modern in vivo biology, combined with the high intellectual effort of a quantitative approach, will contribute significantly to a young scientist’s training experience, better preparing them for the future world of “Systems Biology.”
Selected Publications
• I. Golding, J. Paulsson, S. M. Zawilski and E. C. Cox, “Real-time kinetics of gene activity in individual bacteria,” Cell 123 (6) 1025-1036 (2005).
• I. Golding and E. C. Cox, “Physical nature of bacterial cytoplasm,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 098102 (2006).
Ido Golding received his PhD in physics from Tel Aviv University (Israel) in 2002. Although trained as a condensed matter theorist, he has spent the last five years learning the experimental arsenal of modern molecular biology. From 2002 to 2006, Professor Golding has been a Lewis Thomas Research Fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. He joined the physics faculty at Illinois in January 2007.
"Interest in many of the classical model systems studied in biology has been reignited by a recent influx of new insights, largely thanks to the application of quantitative approaches, in both experiments and theory. This 'quantitative revolution' encompasses a hierarchy of levels: From the single molecule (for example, using optical tweezers to study the interactions of biomolecules in vitro), through the single cell (studying cell-to-cell variability in gene expression by fluorescence microscopy), up to the level of whole populations (where DNA microarrays are used to quantify genome-wide expression patterns).
“I have chosen to study the E. coli bacterium and its virus, the bacteriophage lambda. These two organisms serve as basic paradigms for many physiological processes, including gene expression, epigenetic stability and switching, viral-host interactions, DNA replication, genetic recombination and more. I have developed and applied new quantitative tools for probing cellular interactions within these systems by combining genetic manipulation and high sensitivity fluorescence imaging. This strategy allows us to follow dynamic processes in individual cells, in real time, with a single-event resolution. In my lab, such quantitative experimental work will be accompanied by mathematical modeling, with a constant feedback between the two endeavors.”
According to Golding, the work employs a set of skills broader than those generally mastered within a single discipline, including the techniques of microbiology and molecular genetics, real-time imaging of live cells to make dynamic measurements, and data analysis using the engineer’s toolbox of signal and image processing, all accompanied by the theoretical tools of dynamical systems theory, stochastic processes, non-equilibrium phenomena and more. As such, this practice of modern in vivo biology, combined with the high intellectual effort of a quantitative approach, will contribute significantly to a young scientist’s training experience, better preparing them for the future world of “Systems Biology.”
Selected Publications
• I. Golding, J. Paulsson, S. M. Zawilski and E. C. Cox, “Real-time kinetics of gene activity in individual bacteria,” Cell 123 (6) 1025-1036 (2005).
• I. Golding and E. C. Cox, “Physical nature of bacterial cytoplasm,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 098102 (2006).
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