Left to right: Babak Hassibi, Mark Simons, Brian Stoltz

White House honors faculty members

Three Caltech faculty members are among the most recent winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the White House announced on May 4.

The three are Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Babak Hassibi, who studies data transmission and wireless communications systems; Associate Professor of Geophysics Mark Simons, who specializes in understanding Earth’s behavior using radar and other satellite observations of the motions of the planet’s surface; and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Brian Stoltz, who focuses on the synthesis of structurally complex, biologically active molecules.

Hassibi was cited for his “fundamental contributions to the theory and design of data transmission and reception schemes that will have a major impact on new generations of high-performance wireless communications systems. He has nurtured creativity in his undergraduate and graduate students by involving them in research and inspiring them to apply new approaches to communications problems.”

A faculty member since 2001, Hassibi earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tehran in 1989, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford in 1993 and 1996, respectively. He is the holder or coholder of four patents for communications technology, and is a winner of the National Science Foundation Career Award, the American Automatic Control Council O. Hugo Schuck Best Paper Award, the David and Lucille Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, and the Okawa Foundation Grant for Telecommunications and Information Sciences.

Simons combines satellite data with continuum mechanical models of Earth to study ongoing regional crustal dynamics, including volcanic and tectonic deformation in Iceland, crustal deformation

Then out of the blue, Horvath received a call from Rosen Professor of Biology Scott Fraser—wanting to discuss ways that faculty could build bridges with staff. “Either my office was bugged or this was just really a good idea, arrived at by different sides of campus,” Horvath says.

Fraser liked the idea and offered to give the first talk. They decided to start small, in the Beckman Institute auditorium, and gave out tickets to ensure that people would show up. McHugh also set up tours of the Brain Imaging Center, which is affiliated with the Biological Imaging Center, headed by Fraser.

Held in January, the first event was “amazingly successful,” Horvath says, with “tons of very positive feedback.” The after-lecture refreshments went largely untouched because most people opted to take the tour. Contributing to the success, Horvath believes, was that the program focused specifically on staff, and that he and Fraser have good rapport, which set an upbeat tone.

“It was really exciting—it got us fired up,” he says. And the vision seemed to catch on. Soon he got a call from Andrew Lange, Goldberger Professor of Physics, who Horvath says is “very focused on wanting to recognize and appreciate staff.” Lange was about to go on sabbatical, but first wanted to present his work on mapping the cosmic microwave background in Antarctica. His talk, with short notice, had a slightly smaller turnout, but also received good feedback. Enthusiastic staff began suggesting future speakers, and a third lecture took place in April with McMillan Professor of Geophysics Jeroen Tromp, director of the Seismological Laboratory, along with a tour of the lab.

With such positive response, Horvath and McHugh hope to hold the program four times a year, focusing on topics with broad interest. Research areas that lend themselves to lab tours would add extra interest. For now, they will keep the program on a smaller scale, until it “develops its own momentum.” Tickets will be given to vice presidents and division administrators, who are encouraged to rotate distribution among their employees. McHugh says, “We emphasize that we want staff rather than VPs to attend—the people who otherwise may not get the chance to learn about the research.”

One thing that struck Horvath when he arrived at Caltech, he says, was the faculty’s willingness, given the chance, to share with the campus community and laypeople, and their ability to make their work accessible and interesting. “They’re approachable and open to everyone, wanting to have them jump on board,” he says—an attitude lacking at other universities where he’s worked. “This is one of the times our small size is a big advantage.”
•