Current Issue
Dear EAS Community, Alumni, and Friends,
As the year draws to a close, I'd like to reflect on the innovative work being done in the Division, particularly in areas related to artificial intelligence (AI). This technology is changing the landscape of science and engineering, and our researchers are at the forefront, not only developing innovative applications but also diving into the fundamental questions that will shape the future of AI.
From medical achievements and climate modeling to advancements in astronomy, AI in EAS fuels ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations that are central to Caltech's core. This collaborative spirit is exemplified in our two feature stories—one exploring the cutting-edge ways AI/ML is being used across the Division and the other detailing our efforts to empower students, faculty, and postdocs with the resources they need to unlock AI's full potential in their work.
Thank you for being part of the Caltech EAS community, and I hope you have a joyous holiday season and a happy new year.
With best regards,
Harry Atwater
Otis Booth Leadership Chair, Division of Engineering and Applied Science
As the world navigates the sea change of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), Caltech is not just riding the wave of change; it's creating the currents. Whether through casual coffee chats at the Red Door Café or in state-of-the-art labs, researchers from labs across campus are diving deep into AI and ML, harnessing advanced computational power to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges. Here, AI and ML are more than buzzwords; they are powerful instruments for innovation.
Last year, Caltech EAS set out to empower its graduate students and postdocs with basic artificial intelligence (AI) training. This effort resulted in the creation of a series of AI bootcamps taught through the Division of Engineering and Applied Science. To learn more about the bootcamps' impact and how they are shaping the future of AI education at Caltech, ENGenuity spoke with Reza Sadri, Director of the AI Bootcamp Program in Engineering and Applied Science.
Stefano Soatto's (MS ‘93, PhD '96) journey to boundary breaking work in Artificial Intelligence (AI) may seem nonlinear, but his commitment to curiosity has been a constant theme. Currently a Vice President of Applied Science and Distinguished Scientist at Amazon Web Services (AWS), and a Professor of Computer Science (on leave) at UCLA, Soatto's career spans both academia and industry. Prompted by solving challenging customer problems, Soatto's explorations touch fundamental questions of AI—understanding how AI models work, how they can be improved, how we can trust them, and how they might reshape the world for the better.
Professor Shuki Bruck's research focuses on two important areas. In information systems, his team creates innovative coding techniques to improve the stability and performance of flash memory systems. They also collaborate with industry and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design next-generation technologies, such as memory solutions for space missions. In biological computation, they look at how DNA changes and diversifies, claiming that replication processes, rather than random mutations, drive the process, and then study these mechanisms using information theory. A member of the Caltech faculty since 1994, Bruck was the founding director of Information Science and Technology (IST) at Caltech. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Caltech's most prestigious teaching honor.