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VOL. 24. NO.4 OCTOBER 21, 2003

campus briefs

ROBOT MONITORS

Funded by a $7.5-million NSF grant, researchers at UCLA and partner universities have developed a new class of aerial, suspended robotic sensors able to monitor their own performance as they move themselves along a network of cables. The technology, known as networked info- mechanical systems (NIMS), can be used to monitor a mountain stream ecosystem from the ground to the treetops for global change indicators, or observe coastal wetlands and urban rivers for biological pathogens. The same technologies could one day be used to secure and monitor public spaces such as ports and bridges. As a new research area in the UCLA NSF Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, the project engages a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers from UC Riverside, UC Merced and USC. It is led by Electrical Engineering Professor Bill Kaiser of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

NEW FELLOWS

Each year, the School of Public Policy and Social Research brings accomplished policy leaders to campus to share ideas and enrich students’ educational experiences through guest lectures, policy briefings and informal meetings. This year’s class includes a former California State Assembly member; the state director of the AARP; the state secretary of the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency; and a former NBA All-Star who has founded a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to serving the needs of an inner-city community. Senior fellows for 2003-04 are: Thomas Backer, president, Human Interaction Research Institute; Philip M. Burgess, president, the Annapolis Institute for Leadership and Technology; John Fairbank, partner, Fairbank, Maslin, Mullin and Associates; Robert García, senior attorney, Center for Law in the Public Interest; Lon Hatamiya, secretary, the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency; former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson, founder, St. Hope Corporation; Abraham Lowenthal, founding president, Pacific Council on International Policy; Barbara Nunberg, sector manager, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank; Rod Pacheco, chief deputy district attorney, Riverside County; Thomas Porter, state director, AARP; Donald E. Terpstra, senior foreign service officer, U.S. Department of State, and UCLA diplomat-in-residence; and Susan J. Way-Smith, president and chief executive officer, Urban Education Partnership.

SETTING IT STRAIGHT

Jens Lindemann was misidentified in the Sept. 23, 2003, issue of UCLA Today as a visiting professor. He is a professor of music.