Electrical engineer named provost - Electrical and Computer Engineering Alumni News
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Electrical and Computer Engineering Alumni News
Summer 2006
Electrical engineer named provost
Craig Chamberlain, U of I News Bureau
Linda P.B. Katehi, the former Dean study at the University of California at Los Angeles and earned
of Engineering at Purdue University, master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering there in
began her duties as provost and vice 1981 and 1984.
chancellor for academic affairs at Il- Katehi began her academic career in 1984 as a professor of
linois on April 1. Her faculty affilia- electrical engineering at the University of Michigan, where she
tion is with ECE. Chancellor Richard stayed for 18 years. Starting in 1994, she served in a succession
Herman said Katehi is a perfect choice of administrative roles in the College of Engineering, culminat-
for Illinois. “She is engaging, quick ing with the position of associate dean for academic affairs from
and has experience with strategic plan- September 1999 through 2001.
Linda P.B. Katehi
ning. She has accomplished much in Katehi said she was attracted to the position at Illinois because
her time at Purdue and has a great deal of support there, as of the University’s reputation and the opportunity to work with
well as from those in the national community. We are enor- a new president and chancellor who are plotting the campus’
mously excited that she will be joining us in a leadership role.” future course. “It is very exciting for me to become a member of
Katehi, a native of Greece, earned a degree in mechanical and this team, and I look forward to participating in a very exciting
electrical engineering from the National Technical University future,” she said.
of Athens in 1977. She came to the United States in 1979 to Katehi said she hopes to foster an environment that en-
Provost, continued on page 10
Adesida named College of Engineering dean
By Rick Kubetz, College of Engineering
ECE Professor Ilesanmi Adesida, the stewardship of the College of Engineering over the past year,
Donald Biggar Willett Professor of as well as a compelling vision for the future of the college.
Engineering, is the new dean of the “His intellectual vitality, energy and enthusiasm are impres-
College of Engineering at Illinois. No sive, and will be critical in pursuing emerging opportunities
stranger to leadership within the col- in the field of engineering and attracting external partners to
lege, Adesida has served as the director strengthen and sustain new directions. I have every confidence
of the Micro and Nanotechnology in Ade’s leadership ability and full trust in his vision for the
Laboratory and the Center for Na- future.”
noscale Science and Technology. He After earning his BS, MS, and PhD in electrical engineer-
Ilesanmi Adesida
was named interim dean in June 2005, ing from the University of California at Berkeley, Adesida
and becomes the 13th dean since the inception of the College was an IBM Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Research
of Engineering in 1870. and Resource Facility for Submicron Structures (NRRFSS).
“Ilesanmi (Ade) Adesida is an established leader on the Uni- In the mid-1980s, he was a visiting assistant professor of
versity of Illinois campus, with a record of success as a center electrical engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New
director and as interim dean,” said Richard Herman, the chan- York, and later headed the electrical engineering department
cellor of the Urbana campus. “He has demonstrated exemplary at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi, Nigeria.
Dean, continued on page 10ECE Alumni News
Department head’s message
Summer 2006 Volume XXXI Recently, the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters listed the
Table of Contents five most important papers published in that journal over its
43-year history. Not one, but two of those papers were writ-
2 Transistor laser development continues
ten by ECE faculty. In fact, Professor Nick Holonyak Jr. was
2 Two most important scientific papers
a co-author of both of those papers. Professor Milton Feng,
4 Overbye and Sanders Invested
postdoctoral research associate Gabriel Walter, and graduate
5 Decoding Mona Lisa
student Richard Chan were co-authors on one of them. (See
6 New IEEE Fellowes
related story on page 3.)
7 Continuum Fingerboard
8 Thermal behavior in nanotubes Richard E. Blahut
Both of these papers present astounding research achieve-
9 Launch of Trusted ILLIAC
ments. The individuals involved can rightly be proud of this distinction, and, as part
10 New NAE members
of the ECE family, we can all share, to some small degree, in this pride.
11 Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame
12 GRACE Project
As the head of this ECE Department, I feel immense pride in these accomplish-
13 New faculty: Kanti Jain
ments. But having said this, I must ask myself what I have done to be proud of. This
14 Hess and Frizzell retire
department continues to be one of the most productive sources of ideas, inventions,
16 John Dyson passes away
and innovations in the world. My primary role is to “get out of the way.” My job is
Faculty News
the recruiting and retention of absolutely the best faculty possible, finding discretionary
18 ECE history: BCL
money, and turning them loose. I believe that great men and women can’t be managed,
21 Control course originators
only nurtured.
22 HKN honored
23 Senior design: jam session
Our pride doesn’t end with research. This past fall, ECE graduated another crop
24 Senior design: model airplane
of outstanding engineers: 346 bachelor’s, 124 master’s, and 53 doctoral degrees were
25 ADSL
conferred. Congratulations to our students and faculty for their hard work this past
26 Current US News rankings
school year. As many of you know, earning a degree from ECE Illinois is no small
New staff: Brad Petersen
accomplishment. Our graduates take with them a unique blend of theory, practice,
27 Charles Bazerman lecture
and leadership.
28 New Alumni Board members
30 Ramit-Samii honored
It’s a challenge for our staff to keep up with all of the accomplishments of our fac-
31 Profile of David J. Berrier
ulty, let alone our students and alumni. It’s important to me that we tell those stories
32 Alumni class notes
and share good news with each other through this newsletter. So, to ensure that we’re
34 Robert Janowiak passes away
covering the many accomplishments that make us proud, please don’t hesitate to drop
35 ECE donors
us a note from time to time.
Regards,
Richard E. Blahut
(Editor’s note: See Alumni class notes on page 32 for the best ways to keep us abreast of your work.)Summer 2006
From the Alumni Association
board president Department of Electrical and
Last September I had the privilege of attending the installation Computer Engineering at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-
ceremony for B. Joseph White as the 16th president of the
Champaign
University of Illinois. In his inaugural address he character-
Richard E. Blahut,
ized the University as “high achieving, under-recognized and Department Head
under-resourced.” Beth Katsinas,
Dr. White noted that while the state of Illinois will continue Director of External Relations
Jonathan Hill,
to play a vital role in resourcing the mission of the University, Director of Development
private donors will play an increasingly important role in as- Sherel D. Horsley Emma Marshall,
suring that strategic objectives are met. He stressed the need for leadership among Alumni Relations Coordinator
Brad Petersen,
our students and alumni “because earning a degree is like investing in stock—except Editor
that you can never sell it. You have a deep self-interest in maintaining the U of I as a Jamie Hutchinson,
top-flight institution.” Writer
Tom Moone,
As alumni of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department we know first-
Writer
hand about top-flight learning. Our ECE Department, one of the largest in the world,
Alumni News is published twice a year by
is consistently ranked in the top four along with MIT, Stanford, and Berkeley. Yet, the Electrical and Computer Engineering
when it comes to fostering a sense of tradition and an understanding of philanthropic Department at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. Please e-mail any
giving, many feel that we are behind our peers. Your ECE Alumni Board has spent a
comments or suggestions to Brad Petersen
lot of time discussing this issue, and it is a difficult one to fully understand. We need at bradp@uiuc.edu.
a better environment for engendering a sense of tradition—we have outgrown Everitt Alumni Association Board
Lab. Everitt has no common spaces that support non-class-time activities—it is dif- Sherel D. Horsley,
ficult to build a sense of tradition in this environment. We desperately need a new President
Kenneth F. Smolik,
ECE building. We also need to establish stronger, lasting links to our alumni base of
Midwest Vice President
nearly 20,000. There are certainly no easy answers, but the board continues its discus- Todd M. Beanblossom,
sion on the issue. It will take a lot of time to change the way we think about this great Western Vice President
institution that has given us the opportunities we all have had. But it can be done. Kevin Warren,
Eastern Vice President
Let’s all do our part in responding to Dr. White’s alumni leadership challenge. Kurt Hollenbeck,
Treasurer
Shirley Drazba
Christopher N. George
Dirk Meyer
Theodore Spanos
Sherel D. Horsley Denis M. Turic
Michael Winberg
John Woythal
ECE graduates and their Ebrahim Andideh
parents were honored Erica Hausfeld
with a department- Douglas E. Criner,
Past President
sponsored brunch on
Emma L. Marshall,
May 14. Alumnus Chris
Ex-officio
George (BSEE ’97, MSEE James J. Coleman,
’99) (right) addressed Faculty Coordinator
the audience. He is William H. Sanders,
pictured with Barbara Alternate Faculty Coordinator
Blahut, Dick Blahut, Brett Nee,
Emma Marshall, and Graduate Student Representative
Seth Hutchinson. Bo Li,
Undergraduate Student Representative
1ECE Alumni News
Hidden structure revealed in characteristics of
transistor laser
By James E. Kloeppel, U of I News Bureau
The transistor laser, invented by ECE sci-
entists has been full of surprises. Research-
ers recently coaxed the device to reveal
fundamental properties of the transistor,
and of the transistor laser, moving it a step
closer to commercialization.
As reported in the April 3 issue of
the journal Applied Physics Letters, Nick
Holonyak Jr., Milton Feng, and colleagues
at Illinois explored the current-voltage
relationship in a transistor laser. During
stimulated emission, the laser light al-
Photos by Kwame Ross.
lowed the scientists to see into the device
and study its elusive electronic structure.
“We were able to look at the transistor’s
operating characteristics, look inside of ECE Professors Milton Feng and Nick Holonyak Jr.
the transistor, and see features and be-
haviors that we couldn’t see before,” said
Holonyak, a John Bardeen Endowed forms of campus recognition. recombination on quantum-well transi-
Chair in Electrical and Computer Engi- “We were also able to correlate optical tions can be compared to operation in
neering and Physics. “The current-voltage measurements with electrical measure- spontaneous recombination and used with
characteristics were clearly distorted under ments of quantum-well properties,” conventional transistor charge analysis to
stimulated recombination, compared to Holonyak said. determine some of the dynamic properties
ordinary 58-year-old-transistor spontane- The transistor laser combines the of the transistor laser.
ous recombination.” functionality of both a transistor and a “This transistor laser is letting us see
The transistor laser employs a quantum laser by converting electrical input signals the properties and mechanics of how fast
well and a resonator in the base to control into two output signals, one electrical and the electrons and holes generate photons,
electron-hole recombination and electrical one optical. Photons for the optical signal and we can turn laser photon generation
gain. By blocking the laser resonator with are generated when electrons and holes on and off,” said Feng, the Holonyak
white paste, the researchers converted the recombine in the base, an intrinsic feature Professor of Electrical and Computer
device into an ordinary transistor. Because of transistors. Engineering. “This allows us to alter the
the process is reversible, the researchers “When we weaken the strength of the processes and see how the speed and time
could compare collector characteristics photon generation process, we change factors are changing. This is the first time
when the device was functioning as a nor- the nature of the process connecting the we could directly determine the lifetime,
mal transistor and when it was functioning electron and the hole, and we change their the speed of stimulated recombination.
as a transistor laser, something that was behavior in an electrical sense,” Holonyak The transistor has now made certain
never before possible. said. “When we let the device operate as laser measurements easier or more con-
“We found significant structure in the a transistor laser, however, the photons venient.”
current-voltage characteristics of the tran- streaming out let us look inside and see This capability opens the door to de-
sistor laser that can be mapped in detail more of the mechanics that goes on. We veloping transistor lasers that operate at
and related to the quantum-well carrier see features of the transistor never revealed different speeds for a variety of commer-
recombination,” said Holonyak, who also before.” cial applications, Feng said. “Until now,
is a professor in the University’s Center The change in gain and laser wave- we had missed something important and
for Advanced Study, one of the highest length corresponding to stimulated
Continued on page 3
2Summer 2006
Transistor laser
(continued from page 2)
fundamental about the boundaries of further out than we had ever imagined, ciates Richard Chan and Gabriel Walter,
what the photon can do, of what the which now makes our prognosis for the and graduate student Adam James. The
electron and hole can do, and of what the transistor laser much more optimistic.” Defense Advanced Research Projects
semiconductor can do,” Holonyak said. Co-authors of the paper with Feng and Agency funded the work.
“We found those boundaries to be much Holonyak are postdoctoral research asso-
Illinois researchers produce two most important scientific papers
By James E. Kloeppel, U of I News Bureau
Two of the five most important papers cian, Sam (Severio) Bevacqua, was the worldwide recognition for his research
published in the 43-year history of the paper’s only co-author. on heterojunction bipolar transistors.
journal Applied Physics Letters were The second paper selected by the He has produced the world’s fastest
written by ECE faculty members. journal appeared in the September 26, bipolar transistor, a device that oper-
Nick Holonyak Jr., a John Bardeen 2005, issue and reported the first room- ates at a frequency of more than 700
Endowed Chair in Electrical and Com- temperature operation of a transistor gigahertz.
puter Engineering and Physics, was laser. “I consider this a very important The transistor laser combines the
an author of both papers, which span development and maybe–time will tell–a functionality of both a transistor and
the development of the light-emitting great development,” Holonyak said. a laser by converting electrical input
diode to the invention of the transistor In addition to Holonyak, the paper’s signals into two output signals, one
laser. co-authors were ECE Professor Milton electrical and one optical.
As the American Institute of Phys- Feng, and postdoctoral research associ- “By incorporating quantum wells
ics celebrates its 75th anniversary ate Gabriel Walter and graduate research into the active region, we have en-
this year, editors of the organization’s assistant Richard Chan (now at BAE Sys- hanced the electrical and optical
research journals were asked to se- tems). properties, making possible stimulated
lect the five most significant papers The Illinois researchers first reported emission and transistor laser opera-
published in each journal. In the case the demonstration of a light-emitting, tion,” Holonyak said. “What we have
of Applied Physics Letters, thousands heterojunction bipolar transistor in the here is a new form of transistor and a
of papers were considered–not only journal’s January 5, 2004, issue. They new form of laser.”
for scientific content, but also for the described the first laser operation of the The transistor laser also raises the
impact a paper had, or might have, on light-emitting transistor in the November possibility of replacing wiring between
industry or the general public. 15, 2004, issue, but at that time the tran- components at the chip- or board-level
The first of Holonyak’s chosen sistor laser had to be chilled with liquid with optical interconnects, offering
papers appeared in the journal’s De- nitrogen to minus 73 degrees Celsius. more flexibility and capability in true
cember 1, 1962, issue and reported By demonstrating room-temperature electronic-integrated circuits.
the first semiconductor laser in the operation, the researchers moved the “Fifty-eight years after [John] Bard-
visible spectrum and the first visible transistor laser much closer to practical een and [Walter] Brattain invented the
light-emitting diode, which formed applications. transistor, we have hit upon something
the basis for today’s high brightness “Room-temperature transistor lasers new that is surprisingly fundamental
light-emitting diodes. could facilitate faster signal processing, and rich in possibilities,” Holonyak
“This may be the most important large capacity seamless communications, said. “I am happy to have had a hand
piece of work I’ve ever done,” said and higher performance electrical and in this.”
Holonyak, who was employed at the optical integrated circuits,” said Feng, the
General Electric Co. in Syracuse, New Holonyak Professor of Electrical and Com-
York, at the time. Holonyak’s techni- puter Engineering. Feng has received
3ECE Alumni News
Two faculty members receive endowed professorships
By Tom Moone
real estate development and investment
firm. A subsidiary of this company, Fox
Ventures, has provided startup capital for
numerous technology firms in the area.
Fox also serves as manager of Fox/Atkins
Development, LLC, which has developed
and manages the University of Illinois
Research Park in Champaign. Through
the Fox Family Professorship, they wish
to help business ideas blossom and flour-
Photos by Thompson-McClellan.
ish.
Overbye is an expert in power system
computational algorithms, operations,
control, and visualization. His research is
concerned with improving power system
On March 1, Bill Sanders (left) was invested as a Donald Biggar Willett Professor in Electrical trustworthiness by better using informa-
and Computer Engineering. Tom Overbye (right) was invested as the first Fox Family Professor tion from the growing stream of data
of Electrical and Computer Engineering. generated by the operation of the power
grid. In 1996, Overbye, along with ECE
At a ceremony held in the auditorium of of the Information Trust Institute (ITI) at Professors George Gross and Pete Sauer,
the Beckman Institute on March 1, Wil- Illinois, Sanders has engaged in research and ECE alumnus Mark Laufenberg,
liam Sanders was invested as a Donald that has made Illinois one of the nation’s founded PowerWorld Corp., which
Biggar Willett Professor in Electrical most important centers for research in markets the PowerWorld Simulator, a
and Computer Engineering, and Thomas information trust. Sanders developed the software program Overbye developed that
Overbye was invested as the first Fox UtraSAN and Mobius tools, which assess simulates the operation of a multi-region
Family Professor in Electrical and Com- performability of systems represented as power system over a specified period of
puter Engineering. stochastic activity networks. These tools time, from several minutes to several
Speaking to the crowd at the ceremony, are used widely in academic institutions days.
Chancellor Richard Herman said that as well as in industry. The teaching and research work
these professorships and the investiture After receiving the medallion that Overbye has done at Illinois has been an
ceremonies “give us a chance to honor recognizes his receiving the Willett pro- enjoyable experience for him. “I’ve got a
[the recipients’] work and celebrate their fessorship, Sanders said, “This is just such lot of really wonderful colleagues,” he said.
contributions not only to our university, an honor.” He recognized his colleagues, He also described the thrill he got visiting
but to the world.” College of Engineering saying, “It’s really wonderful to work with a power plant that was using the Power-
Dean Ilesanmi Adesida concurred, noting all of you.” The growth of ITI is one aspect World Simulator in its operation. As he
that “when we have these occasions, I call of his career at Illinois of which Sanders said, “I like seeing engineering brought
it a validation of excellence.” was particularly proud. “We’ve brought out into the real world to help people.”
The Donald Biggar Willett Professor something that was only a vision a few
of Engineering is named for Donald Big- years ago to something that is having a
gar Willett (1897-1981), who attended real impact.”
Illinois from 1916 to 1922. The Fox Family Professor in Electrical
Sanders is a renowned expert in meth- and Computer Engineering was made
ods for assessing computer system and possible by a contribution from Peter
network dependability, security, perfor- and Kim Fox. Peter Fox is founder of
mance, and performability. The director Fox Development Corporation (FDC), a
4Summer 2006
Science decodes Mona Lisa’s smile
By Steve McGaughey, Beckman Institute
Science, through the power of face-track- this is just for fun. We really need to talk
ing technology, can now tell us in hard to psychologists or artists to find out how
numbers what many who have seen the do you model those more subtle aspects
Mona Lisa only sensed: the deeper emo- of facial expression.”
tions hinted at by her famous, enigmatic Even though there have been face-
smile. tracking techniques applied to the Mona
Professor Nicu Sebe of the University Lisa, Huang said none have tried to inter-
of Amsterdam says he can calibrate those pret the subject’s emotions in this way.
emotions using face-tracking software “A number of groups have been work-
developed in collaboration with Profes- The Mona Lisa’s expression was analyzed ing on similar things, but surprisingly
sor Tom Huang, the William L. Everitt using face recognition software developed no one has thought of applying it to the
Professor of Electrical and Computer by ECE Professor Tom Huang. Mona Lisa,” Huang said.
Engineering at Illinois. Sebe, Huang, and While decoding the Mona Lisa may be
Huang’s students have spent years writing percentage as possibly being a measure fun, the human facial computer recogni-
algorithms that quantify facial expressions of irony (many viewers have sensed an tion project Huang and Sebe collaborated
and the emotions they represent into a ironical smile), but he is not sure how to on has important potential applications,
face-tracking software program. Recently, interpret the fear angle. including business and educational uses.
for fun, Sebe decided to apply the program In a description of its most famous For example, Huang has been working on
to an image of the Mona Lisa, painted work of art, the Louvre says on its Web improving the computer interface experi-
by Leonardo da Vinci probably between site that the subtle, happy smile gracing ence for middle school students by using
1503 and 1506. The subject of the Mona the best-known portrait sitter in history a face-tracking program to give the com-
Lisa is thought to be Lisa Gherardini, wife is key to Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece: puter a better understanding of the user’s
of a cloth merchant from Florence, Italy. “Leonardo made this notion of happiness emotional state. The work on emotion
But her true identity and other aspects of the central motif of the portrait: it is this analysis by Huang and his students was
the painting’s history are as mysterious as notion which makes the work such an funded by the National Science Founda-
her smile. ideal.” tion and the Yamaha Motor Company.
Now, at least that part of the painting’s Huang, who is co-chair of the Hu-
mystery can be explained. Sebe said he man-Computer Intelligent Interaction
used the computer recognition software Research Initiative at the Beckman Insti-
program to compute Mona Lisa’s emo- tute for Advanced Science and Technol-
tional state. Sebe placed a virtual wire- ogy, said the software program assesses six
frame model first developed by Huang emotional categories: happiness, surprise,
and his students over the image’s face and anger, disgust, fear, and sadness. He said
computed displacements from a proto- Sebe’s findings “validate the algorithm in
typic, neutral Caucasian female face from terms of the dominant emotion” of hap-
the Cohn-Kanade database at Carnegie piness, but more work needs to be done
Mellon to obtain the results. The num- to assess some of the deeper emotions
bers showed a great degree of happiness suggested by Mona Lisa’s smile.
(82.67 percent), along with lesser feelings “If you’re interested in things like
of disgust (9.17), fear (5.81) and a tiny bit enigma or mystery, maybe these six cat-
of anger (2.19). Sebe interprets the disgust egories are not enough,” Huang said. “But
5ECE Alumni News
Eight faculty named IEEE Fellows
By Tom Moone
In November 2005, the Institute of Elec- based approach to high-speed magnetic trol theory, information
trical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) resonance imaging (MRI). He was the theory, and game theory
elected eight faculty members of the ECE first to propose the generalized imaging to solve problems. The
Department as Fellows. concept, which results in great improve- IEEE has recognized
The grade of Fellow is designated by ments in imaging speed and efficiency. him “for contributions
the IEEE to be one that “recognizes un- Michael Loui has to modeling and con-
usual distinction in the profession.” The long been an advocate Rayadurgam Srikant trol of communication
accomplishments that this distinction and innovator in eth- networks.”
honors are those that have provided im- ics education. Recog- Venugopal Veera-
portant contributions to the advancement nized “for leadership in valli (PhD ’92) was
of engineering, science, or technology and teaching of engineering recognized “for con-
have provided value to society as a whole. Michael Loui ethics,” Loui has cre- tributions to wireless
Election to IEEE Fellow grade is one of ated engineering ethics courses that have communication sys-
the highest honors that can be bestowed served as models for other institutions. tems and sensor net-
upon an individual by the Institute. It is His research has been able to document Venugopal Veeravalli works.” Veeravalli has
an honor to have even one individual at an how ethics instruction affects student’s long been a leading researcher in the
institution achieve this rank. It is highly perception of their professional identi- development of techniques to optimize
unusual to have so many recipients of ties. the quality and capacity of wireless tele-
this honor from one institution, and this Thomas Overbye communications systems, and to develop
speaks highly of the quality of the faculty was recognized “for a framework for the design, analysis and
at Illinois. contributions to power application of sensor networks.
Kanti Jain (MSEE system education and Martin Wong has
’70, PhD ’75) was rec- simulation.” Overbye is become a leader in de-
ognized “for contribu- Thomas Overbye an expert in power sys- vising and developing
tions to high resolution tem computational algorithms, operations, software that is used to
excimer laser lithog- control and visualizations. PowerWorld design complex VLSI
raphy.” Excimer laser Simulator is a software program Overbye circuits. For this work,
Kanti Jain lithography is an im- developed that simulates the operation of Martin Wong he has been recognized
portant component of semiconductor chip a multiregional power system. “for contributions to algorithmic aspects
manufacturing, and Jain’s pioneering work Naresh Shanbhag, of computer-aided design (CAD) of very
in this field resulted in his receiving two who was recognized large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits and
Outstanding Innovation Awards from “for development of a systems.”
IBM. communication-centric IEEE formed in 1963 with the merger
Recognized “for design paradigm for of the AIEE (American Institute of Elec-
contributions to bio- low power systems on trical Engineers, formed in 1884), and
medical applications of Naresh Shanbhag a chip,” has developed the IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers,
magnetic resonance im- a paradigm in which techniques used in formed in 1912). It is the world’s leading
aging,” Zhi-Pei Liang communications such as equalization and professional association for the advance-
has performed research coding are applied to systems-on-a-chip. ment of technology.
Zhi-Pei Liang that has resulted in ma- In his work on communications net-
jor contributions to the theory, techniques, works, Rayadurgam Srikant (MSEE ’88,
and biomedical applications of the model- PhD ’91) combines queuing theory, con-
6Summer 2006
Perfecting new musical instrument an ongoing process
By Ryan Bicking
ECE Professor Lippold Haken has spent going to practice for a long time just like
the last two decades designing, develop- any other instrument before they’re on
ing, and experimenting with a musical stage with it.”
instrument like no other—the Continuum Though the Continuum may not
Fingerboard. It has no keys, buttons or make it on stage with Jones or Lawless
strings. The playing surface is simply a right away, it has already made it to the
soft, red fabric that stretches the length of big screen. In last summer’s thriller War
the instrument, but it offers a wide range of the Worlds, the sound of the invading
of possibilities for musical expression. aliens was made using the Continuum
Although he began selling the instru- Fingerboard.
ment in 2000, Haken has continued to But ultimately, financial success is not
work on expanding those possibilities even Haken’s major concern. The Continuum
further. Until recently, the Continuum is a product of his passion for music and
played much like a piano, in the sense engineering, not a desire to get rich.
that each finger pressed down played its “I have realistic expectations,” Haken
own note. But Haken recently added a said. “I do this because I enjoy it. One of
feature that allows the instrument to also the reasons why I’ve been so successful is
be played like a saxophone, where multiple Mark Smart, a musician and ECE staff because I don’t have immediate goals of
fingers can be pressed down altogether to member, demonstrates the Continuum making money and the pressure of making
play one pitch. Fingerboard for visitors at the 2006 investors happy.”
Engineering Open House.
At first glance, it may appear to be an For more information on the Contin-
expensive keyboard, but the Continuum uum Fingerboard, visit www.hakenaudio.
provides much more control over what computer detects this movement and plays com.
note is played. Pressing down on the the corresponding note.
playing surface produces a note depend- Jordan Rudess, a Julliard-trained
ing not only on where the fingers are but keyboardist, has been touring with a
also on how hard the fingers are pressed Continuum Fingerboard while playing
down. The position of the fingers controls with the progressive metal band Dream
the timbre of the note while the pressure Theater. In the past six months, Haken
used provides dynamic control. Sliding has also sold Continuum Fingerboards
the fingers gives glissando while rocking to John Paul Jones, the bass guitarist and
provides vibrato. keyboardist of Led Zeppelin, and Terry
Underneath the red fabric are 256 rods Lawless, a keyboard specialist who has
mounted on piano-wire springs. The rods, toured with U2, David Bowie, Cher, and
with magnets on both ends, are placed Bruce Springsteen. Still, Haken does not
between two rows of sensors that measure expect to hear them playing the Con-
the positions of the magnets. When pres- tinuum Fingerboard anytime soon.
sure is applied on the playing surface, the “All these people are extremely talented
affected rods underneath move, and the but extremely busy and perfectionists,”
magnets attached to the rods move closer Haken said. “So you’re not going to see
to the sensors. Software in the internal them until they get really good, and they’re
7ECE Alumni News
New theory explains electronic and thermal
behavior of nanotubes
By Jim Kloeppel, U of I News Bureau
Researchers at the University of Illinois at tance heating, the electrical contacts at
Urbana-Champaign have made an impor- each end act as heat sinks, which in short
tant theoretical breakthrough in the under- nanotubes are relatively close to one an-
standing of energy dissipation and thermal other, leading to efficient heat removal.”
breakdown in metallic carbon nanotubes. This phenomenon also explains why
Their discovery will help move nanotube the highest temperature always occurs in
wires from laboratory to marketplace. the middle of the nanostructure, Leburton
The remarkable electrical and mechani- said, “which is the furthest point away from
cal properties of metallic carbon nanotubes the two ends, and where burning occurs in
make them promising candidates for in- longer nanotubes under electrical stress.”
terconnects in future nanoscale electronic In another important finding, Lebur-
devices. But, like tiny metal wires, nano- ton and his colleagues have revised the
tubes grow hotter as electrical current is common belief that charge carriers go bal-
increased. At some point, a nanotube will listic in short metallic nanotubes having
burn apart like an element in a blown fuse. high currents. Researchers had previously
“Heat dissipation is a fundamental thought that charge carriers traveled from
problem of electronic transport at the one terminal to the other like a rocket;
nanoscale,” said Jean-Pierre Lebur- ECE Professor Jean-Pierre Leburton that is, without experiencing collisions.
ton, the Gregory Stillman Professor of “We have shown that the high current
Electrical and Computer Engineering For example, in both theory and ex- level in short metallic nanotubes is not
and co-author of a paper published in periment, the shorter the nanotube, the due to ballistic transport but to reduced
the December 21 issue of the journal larger the current that can be carried heating effects,” Leburton said. “Owing to
Physical Review Letters. “To fully uti- before thermal breakdown occurs. Also, their large concentration, the charge car-
lize nanotubes as interconnects, we the longer the nanotube, the faster the riers collide efficiently among themselves,
must characterize them and understand rise in temperature as the threshold which prevent them from going ballistic.
their behavior and operating limits.” current for thermal heating is reduced. Even in short nanostructures, the current
Up to now, no coherent interpretation In nanotubes, heat generated by level is determined by a balance between
had been proposed that reconciled heat electrical resistance creates atomic vi- the attractive force of the external elec-
dissipation and electronic transport and brations in the nanostructure, which tric field and the frictional force caused
described thermal effects in metallic car- causes more collisions with the charge by the nanotube thermal vibrations.
bon nanotubes under electronic stress, said carriers. The additional collisions gen- The collisions among charge carriers
Leburton, who is also a researcher at the erate more heat and more vibrations, help the energy transfer to the nano-
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science followed by even more collisions in a tubes which results in heat dissipation.”
and Technology, at the Micro and Nano- vicious cycle that ends when the nano- Co-authors of the paper are Leburton,
technology Laboratory and at the Freder- tube burns apart, breaking the circuit. ECE Professor Andreas Cangellaris, and
ick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. “Short nanotubes can carry more physics graduate student Marcelo Kuroda.
“Our theoretical results not only reproduce current before burning apart because The work was funded by the National
experimental data for electronic transport, they dissipate heat better than longer Science Foundation and the Beckman
they also explain the odd behavior of nanotubes,” Leburton said. “Although Institute.
thermal breakdown in these nanotubes.” the entire nanotube experiences resis-
8Summer 2006
Trusted ILLIAC will transform
large-scale computing
By Rick Kubetz, College of Engineering
grammable hardware/software cluster According to CSL Director and ITI
designed and built by researchers at the Chief Scientist Ravi Iyer, who is a profes-
Information Trust Institute (ITI) and sor of electrical and computer engineer-
Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL). ing, the need for greater security and
It promises to make large-scale computing reliability in computing has intensified as
trustworthy, providing an application- the industry begins to shift to what some
specific level of reliability and security in a have called “utility computing.” Utility
Photo by Rick Kubetz.
transparent manner while delivering high computing means different companies
performance. share the same powerful cluster of proces-
“Now Illinois is launching a project sors to get their work done, increasing the
that again pushes computing forward,” need for higher levels of reliability and
ECE Professor Bill Sanders addresses the
audience at a news conference launching
said Wen-mei Hwu, the AMD Jerry security.
the Trusted ILLIAC Cluster on May 10. Sanders Chair of Electrical and Computer The ITI began work on the Trusted
Engineering who leads the Embedded and ILLIAC cluster in Fall 2005, with the goal
The original ILLIAC computer, built Enterprise Systems Theme at ITI. “With of setting up a small cluster of roughly 32
by the University of Illinois at Urbana- corporate support from Hewlett-Packard, processors by the end of the first year. By
Champaign in 1952, was the first com- Advanced Micro Devices, and Xilinx, as the end of the second year, researchers aim
puter in the world created and owned well as a National Science Foundation to establish a prototype large-scale system
entirely by an educational institution. It grant, Illinois explores a new frontier with a 500-processor cluster.
weighed five tons and contained 2,800 Trusted ILLIAC.” “At the end of the third year, we’ll
vacuum tubes. Back in the days of ILLIAC IV, which have a full-fledged system that allows us
On May 10, the University officially was the largest and fastest computer in the to begin innovating,” Iyer said. “Industry
launched the Trusted ILLIAC Cluster world in 1965, the challenge of large-scale and other research collaborators will also
at a special event hosted by Chancellor computing was performance: creating be able to use the system as a testbed to
Richard Herman at the University Club computers that are faster and ever more develop a whole new set of ideas.”
of Chicago. The launch announcement powerful. But in today’s world, building
was followed by an executive roundtable large, fast systems is no longer the biggest
discussion by national leaders in high- challenge.
technology industries on the challenges “Today, the greatest challenge is build-
and opportunities in next-generation The Information Trust Institute has
ing large, fast systems that are secure and
hired Molly Tracy as its first associ-
large-scale computing infrastructures. reliable—in a word, ‘trustworthy,’” ex- ate director. As associate direc-
“For many years, the University of Il- plained ITI Director Bill Sanders, a Don- tor, Tracy will be responsible for
linois at Urbana-Champaign has played ald Biggar Willett Professor in Electrical overseeing the day-to-day opera-
a leading role in the development of and Computer Engineering. Established tions at ITI, managing stakeholder
large-scale, high-performance computing relationships and the acquisition
in 2004, ITI brings together more than 60
of resources for research and edu-
systems, and Trusted ILLIAC represents faculty and senior researchers and more cation programs. Tracy previously
the latest generation of such machines,” than 200 graduate students to advance served 11 years as assistant to the
Herman said. state-of-the-art building systems, making department head in the ECE De-
When completed, Trusted ILLIAC them resilient to both accidental failures partment.
will incorporate a 500-processor pro- and malicious attacks.
9ECE Alumni News
Provost Adesida, Katehi named to NAE
continued from page 1
By Brad Petersen
courages interdisciplinary research, innovation in the educa-
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) earlier this
tion of students, and diversity in a broad sense (intellectual,
year announced that Provost and Vice Chancellor for Aca-
racial, cultural, gender, etc). “I’ve always felt that diversity is
demic Affairs Linda P.B. Katehi and College of Engineering
an attribute of quality, and the lack of it in a number of disci- Dean Ilesanmi Adesida have been elected to membership.
plines, at the end of the day, really harms the ability of those Both administrators have appointments in the Department of
disciplines to achieve the quality they aspire to,” she said. Electrical and Computer Engineering. ECE Alumni Admiral
As provost, Katehi is the chief academic and budget officer for Archie R. Clemins, Daniel W. Dobberpuhl, and Dusan Zrnic
the campus. In dealing with constrained budgets and competing were also honored. NAE Membership is considered one of
demands, she stressed the need to stay focused, to set priorities “that the highest engineering distinctions attainable.
Katehi was cited for her contributions to 3-D integrated
we follow clearly and consistently,” and then to invest in the future.
circuits and on-wafer packaging and to engineering educa-
Katehi’s honors include a Presidential Young Investigator tion.
Award from the National Science Foundation and a Hum- Adesida, a Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineer-
boldt Research Award. In 1995, she was named a fellow in ing, was cited for his contributions to the nanometer-scale
the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) processing of semiconductor structures and applications in
and in 2002 received the Distinguished Educator Award high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.
from the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. Illinois native Admiral Archie R. Clemins earned both his
Katehi also has received five best paper awards, including the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from
Illinois. Clemins served as commander of the United States
Marconi Premium Prize in 2001 from the IEEE. She holds or
Pacific Fleet from 1996 to 1999 and commander of the Seventh
has applied for 19 U.S. patents and has graduated 37 doctoral Fleet from 1994 to 1996. Clemins is credited with bringing
students. In 2004, she received the Leading Light Award for Naval operations into the electronic age. He is a recipient of
Women in High Tech from the state of Indiana. the ECE Distinguished Alumni Award, Distinguished Service
Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Achievement Medal,
1998 Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Associa-
Dean tion Sarnoff Award, Navy Commendation Medal with one gold
continued from page 1 star, and Legion of Merit award with six gold stars.
Daniel W. Dobberpuhl, another Illinois native, earned his
Adesida joined the Illinois faculty in 1987, and currently holds bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Illinois in 1967.
appointments as a professor of electrical and computer engineer- He is the CEO and cofounder of P.A. Semi, Inc., a semiconduc-
ing, and materials science and engineering. He is a researcher tor company based in Santa Clara, California. Dobberpuhl is
at the Coordinated Science Laboratory and the Beckman an IEEE Senior Member and a Digital Equipment Corporation
Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. His research Senior fellow. He is also recipient of the ECE Distinguished
interests include nanofabrication and nanotechnology, and Alumni Award and the 2003 IEEE Solid State Circuits Technical
high-speed semiconductor optoelectronic devices and circuits. Field Award for Pioneering Design of High-speed and Low-
power Microprocessors.
As a teacher and mentor, Adesida has graduated 24 PhDs
Dusan Zrnic earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engi-
and 20 master’s degree candidates, supervised 15 postdoctoral neering at the University of Belgrade in his native Yugoslavia
fellows, and supervised numerous undergraduate research proj- prior to coming to Illinois, where he completed his master’s
ects. His research has been supported by both public and private degree in 1966 and his PhD in 1969, both in electrical engi-
entities. In addition to holding three patents, he has 250 refereed neering. Zrnic is the leader of the Radar and Remote Sensing
journal articles, 180 contributed, invited, and plenary conference Research group at the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
presentations, plus numerous invited lectures and seminars. He played an instrumental role in the design of the national
Doppler Weather Radio system. Zrnic is an IEEE Fellow and
Adesida is a Fellow of the American Association for the
his awards include the Presidential Rank Award, IEEE Donald
Advancement of Science, the American Vacuum Society, the
G. Fink Prize Award, IEEE Harry Diamond Award, and WMO
Optical Society of America, and the Institute of Electrical and Vaisala Award.
Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He is currently serving as presi-
dent of the IEEE Electron Device Society.
10Summer 2006
Holonyak Jr., ECE alumni inducted into Consumer
Electronics Hall of Fame
By Rick Kubetz, College of Engineering
Innovations and innovators are nothing ing to develop PLATO—subsequently
new to the University of Illinois at Urba- devised an electronic display in which
na-Champaign. That fact was reinforced each pixel on the screen glowed like a little
recently when the Consumer Electronics neon sign. The plasma panel was both a
Association (CEA) announced its new display and a storage device.
class of inductees into the Consumer The plasma monitor accepted digital
Electronics (CE) Hall of Fame. Four of information directly from the computer
those honored—one-third of the 2006 and stored it on the panel, solving the
class—hailed from ECE Illinois. scalability problem that plagued the use
New inductee Nick Holonyak Jr., the of cathode ray tubes in computer display
John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Elec- monitors. This invention has enabled the
trical and Computer Engineering and development of large-screen flat-panel
Physics, invented the first light-emitting televisions for modern TV and DVD
diode in 1962 while at General Electric. technologies, which earned the inventors
He is internationally recognized for major the Scientific and Technological Emmy
contributions to elemental and compound from the National Academy of Television
semiconductors, including semiconduc- Arts and Sciences in 2002.
tor lasers and incoherent light emitters. The 2006 class will be inducted at the
In collaboration with ECE Professor annual CE Hall of Fame awards dinner
Nick Holonyak Jr.
Milton Feng, Holonyak co-invented the during CEA’s Industry Forum in October
transistor laser that combines the func- single cash prize for invention. in San Francisco. The 12 inductees will
tionality of both a transistor and a laser Three College of Engineering alum- join the 97 inventors, industry executives,
by converting electrical input signals into ni—Donald Bitzer (BSEE ’55, MSEE engineers, retailers, and journalists already
two output signals—one electrical and one ’56, PhD ’60), Robert H. Willson (PhD inducted since the CE Hall of Fame was
optical. Holonyak is the first to make elec- ’66), and the late H. Gene Slottow (PhD created in 2000.
tron devices using III-V semiconductor ’64)—were inducted into the CE Hall of
alloys and to demonstrate quantum-well Fame for inventing the plasma display in
heterostructure lasers, now used in com- 1960, the precursor to today’s high-defini-
pact disc players and fiber-optic cables. tion plasma televisions. The monitor was
He also was the first to demonstrate stable a result of work the faculty at the Coor-
native oxides on aluminum-bearing III-V dinated Science Laboratory (CSL) had
compounds, now the basis for vertical- been doing in developing the first com-
cavity surface-emitting lasers. puter-assisted instructional program in
With more than 500 journal papers and the world: PLATO (Programmed Logic
34 patents to his credit, Holonyak is one for Automatic Teaching Operations.)
of only 13 Americans to have won both As one of the most distinguished fac-
the National Medal of Science (1990) ulty members in the ECE Department,
and the National Medal of Technology, Bitzer realized early in PLATO’s devel-
presented by President Bush in 2002. He opment that a display with memory was
is a member of the National Academy of needed to make the system successful. He
Engineering and the National Academy and his colleagues—Slottow, then a senior
of Sciences, and in 2004, he won the research engineer, and Willson, who was
Lemelson–MIT Prize–the world’s largest working as an assistant in the CSL help-
11ECE Alumni News
Research leads to reduced power usage in laptop
computers
By Brad Petersen
Researchers at the University of Illinois Researchers say this is just the be-
at Urbana-Champaign have found a way ginning for the GRACE Project. “As
to reduce battery consumption in laptop third–generation wireless phones continue
computers while maintaining perfor- to have more and more multimedia capa-
mance quality. The basic premise behind bilities, the usefulness of this research will
the Global Resource Adaptation through grow,” predicted Jones. “Wireless phones
CoopEration (GRACE) Project is to have even smaller batteries than laptops
make computer systems better coordinate and with a smaller battery, the impact can
interactions between hardware, network, be even greater.”
and software allowing them to rapidly The GRACE Project has been under-
optimize resource usage. way since 2002 and involves an interdisci-
“Suppose you’re sitting at Starbucks plinary team of scientists from ECE and
having a video conference with somebody Computer Science. Primary investigators
using your laptop. Our system adjusts the are Adve, Jones, Robin Kravets, and Klara
speed of your processor, the amount of Nahrstedt. Student researchers are Albert
data compression, and other usage factors Harris, Dan Sachs, Vibhore Vardhan,
to maintain quality while using the least Chris Hughes, Won Jeon, and Wanghong
amount of energy possible,” said ECE The GRACE Project’s interdisciplinary research Yuan. Primary funding for this research
Professor Doug Jones, one of the project’s team includes ECE Professor Doug Jones was provided by the National Science
(seated) and Computer Science graduate
researchers. Foundation with additional funding from
students Vibhore Vardhan and Won Jeon.
The GRACE system looks at all of the Texas Instruments.
configuration choices for each component less interference, your computer will adapt
of the system and determines which will and run at optimal power,” explained
use the least energy at the best quality. Jones.
The user provides input to help the system So far researchers have demonstrated
determine which functions are priorities, a typical energy savings of 24 percent
which impacts resource allocation. across a wide range of scenarios, which
This research is unique because “this means that a three-hour battery in a lap-
is not just a hardware project, not just an top computer with the GRACE system
operating systems project, but it encom- would run roughly 45 minutes longer
passes hardware, applications, operating than a non-GRACE laptop. Ultimately,
systems, and networks,” explained Sarita the impact of the system is determined by
Adve, a computer science professor and the applications the user is running.
the lead researcher on the project. The GRACE system has the most
A laptop computer running the impact for users who are running multi-
GRACE system is designed to adjust media applications. “For example, if you’re
gracefully to change. “The system adapts on an airplane and are video conferenc-
as the environment changes. So if you ing on your laptop, the GRACE system
move your laptop or somebody else starts will optimize your battery usage,” noted
using their laptop as well and creates wire- Adve.
12Summer 2006
Kanti Jain returns to ECE
By Brad Petersen
Professor Kanti In 1992, Jain added entrepreneur and I’ve been here I’ve already found numerous
Jain has come business owner to his resume when he students interested in research on these
full-circle. The founded Anvik Corporation, a company topics,” noted Jain.
newest member for which he still serves as president. As a result of his 30 years of contribu-
of ECE’s fac- Based in Hawthorne, New York, Anvik tions to the advancement of optical imag-
ulty was once a produces advanced optical systems and ing and microelectronics manufacturing
student in this equipment for diverse microelectronics, technologies, Jain is an internationally
same depar t- optoelectronics, microsystems, and bio- renowned scientist and technologist. He
ment, complet- technology applications. Systems current- is widely recognized for his pioneering
ing his PhD in ly offered include large-area lithography, development of excimer laser lithography,
ECE Professor Kanti Jain electrical engi- photoablation, and materials-processing for which he received two Outstanding
neering with thesis research in the physics systems for high-throughput production Innovation Awards from IBM. Excimer
department in 1975. of flat-panel displays, multilayer circuits, laser lithography is now used worldwide
A passionate believer in the high qual- optoelectronic systems, printed circuit in semiconductor chip manufacturing
ity of Illinois’ ECE Department, Jain did boards, microsystems, flexible circuits, and is a $4 billion industry. Jain holds
not take a traditional path to becoming a and biomolecular arrays. Anvik is in the 53 patents (46 issued, seven pending) in
professor. “I’ve spent most of my time in process of opening a second facility in the microlithography systems and optics, and
the corporate world, serving in a variety of University of Illinois Research Park. wrote the book Excimer Laser Lithography,
management and technical positions,” said At Illinois, the central theme of Jain’s published by The International Society for
Jain. “I’m excited because I have many research is advancing the state of the Optical Engineering (SPIE) in 1990. He
experiences from my career in technology art in microelectronic, optoelectronic, is a fellow of IEEE, the Optical Society of
development and transitioning to industry microsystem, and biophotonic devices by America, and SPIE. He is also a former
that I would like to share with students as developing and exploiting novel micro- member of the Board of Directors and
well as faculty and administration.” and nanofabrication technologies. These Executive Committee of SPIE.
Jain’s path back to the University of fabrication technologies enable patterning
Illinois has gone through some of the and microstructuring of a variety of or-
world’s top technology companies. After ganic and inorganic materials—including
two years as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, new polymers, semiconductors, metals,
he was a member of the technical staff dielectrics, and biological materials—and
at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories from the production of structures, devices and
1977 to 1979 in Palo Alto, California. systems previously not deemed possible.
From 1979 to 1988, he worked at IBM, “We are developing the necessary com-
where he was a manager at the Almaden bination of novel structures, materials, and
Research Center in San Jose, California; a processes in order to allow cost-effective
senior manager and senior scientist at the fabrication of such devices that will make
T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown their implementation in a variety of scien-
Heights, New York; and served with the tific, commercial, and military applications
Corporate Technical Committee at IBM’s practical,” Jain explained.
Corporate Headquarters in Armonk, New From his discussions with faculty in
York. From 1989 to 1991, he was director several departments, Jain believes there is
of technology development in advanced a broad, multidisciplinary interest in these
packaging systems at Raychem Corpora- areas, and hopes to promote several new
tion in San Jose. collaborative programs. “In the short time
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