A Sampling of Clips for July 27, 2011

* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office

Colleges Join Plan for Faster Computer Networks
New York Times, July 27 -- A coalition of 29 American universities is throwing its weight behind a plan to build ultra-high-speed computer networks — with Internet service several hundred times faster than what is now commercially available — in the communities surrounding the participating colleges. The project, which is named Gig.U and will be announced on Wednesday, is meant to draw high-tech startups in fields like health care, energy and telecommunications to the areas near the universities, many of which are in the Midwest or outside of major cities. These zones would ideally function as hubs for building a new generation of faster computer networks, which could make the United States more competitive internationally. (Quotes Michael Kleeman, a computer network designer and telecommunications policy strategist at UC San Diego.) More

Genes Play Key Role in Making People Susceptible to Eating Disorders
Indian Express.com, July 27 -- People may be genetically predetermined to possess personality traits and temperaments that make them susceptible to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, according to a new research. The findings may provide new insights into development of effective interventions for the most treatment-resistant patients with these disorders. (Quotes Dr. Walter H. Kaye, director of UC San Diego’s Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Program.) More

Critics Challenge Contagious Traits Study
Boston Globe, July 27 -- It is a seductively simple idea: human traits, ranging from smoking to loneliness to obesity, are contagious, spreading through social networks like the flu. When a Harvard professor and a California political scientist made this case in a series of articles published in top academic journals since 2007, their work became front page news and the subject of a popular book, and it quickly disseminated into popular culture. More

UCSD Student Thrives After Incident in Congo
San Diego Union Tribune, July 26 -- Espoir Kyubwa is two years into a UC San Diego program that will grant him a doctorate in bioengineering and a medical degree. He has recently won a prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship that will pay him $46,500 a year for up to five years as he pursues the education he plans to use to help people in his native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kyubwa was returning from [a visit to Congo serving as a translator for English speaking doctors, Congolese victims and medical personnel], traveling in a truck carrying cargo and passengers, when armed men shot out the vehicle’s tires and wounded the driver.  “When they started shooting people during the interrogation, I literally thought I was going to die,” said Kyubwa. “Specifically, it caused me to reflect more about myself and where I’m from, Congo. It is not stable. It still needs improvement. That event made it clearer to me that there are great needs and that maybe I’ll have the opportunity to help out and contribute.” (Quotes Terrance Mayes, director of student life and diversity at the Jacobs School of Engineering.) More

A Scientist's Life: 10 Things UCSD's Serge Belongie Has Done
San Diego Union Tribune, July 26 – (Profile) Meet Serge Belongie, a professor of computer science and engineering at UC San Diego. He’s helped find ways to keep an electronic eye on sensitive coral reefs, worked on video-based fire detection systems, explored facial recognition programs, and helped developed assistive vision technology for the blind. Belongie’s also a rock n’ roller. He plays bass and sings in the band SO3, which is associated with UC SanDiego’s Jacobs School of Engineering. More

Innovation: Students Build a Better Light Bulb
North County Times, July 26 -- If you don't care for mercury with your lighting, a project by graduate students from UC San Diego and San Diego State University might interest you. The students have devised a light source using semiconductor nanowires. Unlike compact fluorescent lights, this light source is mercury-free. UC SanDiego's von Liebig Center has given a fellowship to the students to commercialize their technology through the San Diego Regional Technology Acceleration Program. Among the advantages of using nanowires is that they can be made to emit light of different colors, providing versatility of illumination. More

Intelligent Contact Lens
FOX40 News at Six (NY), July 26 -- Glaucoma has led to blindness in millions, but now a new intelligent contact lens may change all that. The triggerfish is a contact lens with a microchip that monitors eye pressure continuously. It is undergoing clinical trials at UC San Diego. If all goes well, it could be available by the end of the year. More

UCSD Outreach Program Blends Fashion, Engineering
La Jolla Light, July 26 -- About two dozen girls competed in the Opening Day hat contest at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, wearing fancy hats they built in the engineering workshops at UC San Diego. The girls made race-inspired hats driven by gears and electronics for the competition as part of a six-week, hands-on engineering program held at the UC San Diego division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). More

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