2002-2003 A Message from the DeanThe Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has educated thousands of students and contributed much to this nation’s pursuit of knowledge and technology since it was established in 1945 as the UCLA College of Engineering. As an education and research institute, we base our efforts on the premise that excellence in learning, scholarship, and discovery can only be achieved through focus and a determination to be recognized among the very best. The school is pursuing a versatile program of teaching and research that addresses both our national security requirements and U.S. worldwide competitive commercial needs. Our reputation is based on active support of teaching and research in new frontiers of applied science and technology, as well as our preeminence in computer networking, micromachines, renewing national infrastructures, protecting our environment and natural resources, wireless communications and computing, optoelectronics, nanoelectronics, smart structures and new materials, signal processing, parallel computing, configurable computing, distributed microsystem networks, sensor technologies, automated flight, semiconductor manufacturing, biotechnology, and biomedical engineering. In recent years we have embarked on bold new projects. UCLA and UCSB have joined to build the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), which facilitates a multidisciplinary approach to develop the information, biomedical, and manufacturing technologies that will dominate science and the economy in the twenty-first century. Faculty members from four departments -- Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering -- are part of an exciting new research initiative that uses the latest advances in miniaturization, robotics, and Internet technology. The Center for Embedded Networked Sensing brings together numerous disciplines, from engineering to earth sciences to education, in a 10-year research endeavor to develop densely distributed sensors and actuators that can be used to observe, and even alter, natural and man-made environments from complex ecosystems to buildings in earthquake-prone areas. Other exciting ventures include a project based on a Multimedia Intelligent Network of Unattended Mobile Agents (Minuteman). This portable airborne network system will provide local communications for the military’s increasing array of unmanned air and ground vehicles. In addition, UCLA engineers have recently completed a test program in concert with NASA researchers that explored the feasibility of achieving greater fuel efficiency by flying aircraft in formation. Continuing work on navigation and control software and even autonomous flight systems will help make military and commercial air travel safter and more cost efficient. We encourage our undergraduate students to participate in ongoing research endeavors such as these while completing their degree obligations. Our objective at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is to recruit outstanding students and distinguished faculty, have excellent research and teaching facilities, and offer quality educational programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our students have gone on to become the chief innovators and leaders in California and throughout the nation and the world. We are seeking exceptional and dedicated students who want to join us in contributing to the community, to science, and to industry. I invite you to consider becoming a UCLA engineer. Vijay K. Dhir |