On Campus With Rashid
Professor Rashid Bashir, a Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and a professor of bioengineering, is a fellow of IEEE and the Biomedical Engineering Society. He received the 2018 Pritzker Distinguished Lecture Award from BMES and was a key member of the founding team at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the world’s first engineering-based medical school.
In the past year, The Grainger College of Engineering has commemorated the 75th anniversary of the transistor and the passing of Nick Holonyak Jr., inventor of the world's first practical visible-light LED. These milestones have reminded us that Grainger Engineers have always led the way in solving the world’s biggest problems.
In this issue of Limitless, you will meet Grainger Engineers who are still pushing scientific boundaries to solve problems first.
Professor Phil Ansell (aerospace engineering) is leading a dream team of aerospace engineers, atmospheric scientists, materials scientists, mechanical engineers and electrical and computer engineers, among others, who have launched the Center for Sustainable Aviation. The new center aims to reduce the impact of aviation on the environment without sacrificing performance, through innovations in hydrogen, electrification, modeling and design optimization.
In addition, Professors Shaloo Rakheja (electrical and computer engineering) and Josep Torrellas (computer science) are both leading new centers that will transform the way that microelectronics are designed, built, and integrated into systems.
Professor Rakeja is leading the Center for Advanced Semiconductor Chips with Accelerated Performance (ASAP), a new NSF Industry–University Cooperative Research Center, which aims to improve microprocessors’ energy efficiency by 100x. Professor Torrellas is heading up the $31.5 million Center for Evolvable Computing, funded through the Joint University Microelectronics Program 2.0 (JUMP 2.0), to advance distributed computing technology.
Grainger Engineering alum Paul Couston is also working to transform the way that fires are fought. His start-up company, Ascent, is updating firefighting technology to provide commanders with insights into their teams’ vitals and readiness as well as the layout of the building, the location of each team member, and environmental data, such as heat mapping or the toxicity of the air.
In addition, you will meet three computer science alumni who have made profound impacts on the world. We were proud to recently welcome them into the Grainger Engineering Hall of Fame.
These faculty and alumni are just a few examples of how we solve problems first.
Rashid Bashir
Dean, The Grainger College of Engineering