News  |  May 5, 2025

Distinguished Professor Rahmat-Samii was Invited to Speak at EuCAP 2025 Conference

Distinguished Professor Yahya Rahmat-Samii delivered an invited speech titled “An Application of CG-NUFFT to UAV-Based Amplitude-Only Near-Field Antenna Testing” at the 2025 European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), held in Stockholm, Sweden, from March 31 to April 5, 2025.

EuCAP, a premier international gathering with over 1,500 attendees, showcases the latest advances across all areas of antenna systems and measurement techniques. A pioneer in antenna measurement technologies—including microwave holography, near-field diagnostics, and phaseless measurements—Professor Rahmat-Samii shared insights from his latest research and offered a historical perspective tracing the evolution of antenna measurement techniques from Marconi’s era to the present day.

His paper, co-authored with former MS student Vince Lee, explored the innovative application of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for antenna testing. UAV-based techniques are emerging as transformative methods for measuring the near-field radiation characteristics of large outdoor antennas, significantly reducing the need for extensive ground-based test setups. Among these techniques, amplitude-only measurements are especially promising, as they are less sensitive to the positioning inaccuracies that UAVs naturally encounter.

In this work, the conjugate gradient non-uniform fast Fourier transform (CG-NUFFT) algorithm was employed to reconstruct phase information from two non-uniform planar amplitude-only measurements. The concept was rigorously validated through simulations involving representative test antennas with various tapering profiles and steering angles. UAV non-uniform positioning was realistically modeled by introducing deviations from ideal uniform waypoints. The simulation results confirmed that the CG-NUFFT algorithm can successfully and accurately reconstruct far-field patterns, laying the foundation for a new era of practical, efficient, and scalable antenna testing using UAVs. The accompanying image highlights the remarkable journey of antenna measurement techniques—from the earliest days of Marconi to today’s UAV-enabled innovations—highlighting how far the antenna measurement field has progressed and where it is headed.

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Awards

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ECE PhD Candidate Shreeram Athreya Won Second Place at UCLA Grad Slam 2025

Shreeram Athreya, a PhD candidate in the ECE Department, won second place in the 2025 UCLA Grad Slam competition, held on March 12. Representing ECE at the university-wide finals, Shreeram was awarded $4,000 for his research pitch titled “Rethinking Thyroid Cancer: No More Guesswork.” His interdisciplinary research, advised by Professor Vwani Roychowdhury (ECE) and Professor. William Speier (Bioengineering), bridges machine learning and medical imaging to tackle a pressing clinical challenge in thyroid cancer diagnostics.

His talk addressed a critical diagnostic gap in thyroid cancer care. Nearly one-third of fine-needle aspiration biopsies for thyroid nodules yield indeterminate results—leading to a clinical dilemma where many patients undergo precautionary thyroid surgery that ultimately proves unnecessary. Current molecular testing, while effective at ruling out malignancy, lacks sufficient specificity to confirm it. To tackle this, Shreeram proposed a multimodal AI framework that integrates two complementary diagnostic signals: high-resolution ultrasound images and gene expression data from molecular testing. His model extracts features from both modalities and learns predictive patterns using supervised deep learning techniques. This approach mimics how clinicians synthesize structural and molecular cues, but augments it with high-dimensional computational precision.

In a retrospective evaluation across more than 300 patient cases, the model outperformed current clinical standards in accurately identifying malignant nodules, offering a pathway to reduce diagnostic uncertainty and prevent overtreatment. With the potential to avoid over 6,000 unnecessary thyroid surgeries annually, this work demonstrates how AI can bridge critical gaps in precision diagnostics. Shreeram’s achievement not only highlights the impact of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI and healthcare, but also showcases the innovation emerging from our department.

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Professor Jason Cong Receives UIUC Grainger College of Engineering Alumni Award for Distinguished Service

Professor Jason Cong received the UIUC Grainger College of Engineering Alumni Award for Distinguished Service “for impactful research and entrepreneurial work on electronic design automation, quantum and customized computing, FPGA, and highly scalable algorithms.”  The other six awardees include a university president, a US Air Force Major General, and highly successful industry leaders and entrepreneurs with significant contributions to clean energy, networking, security, and semiconductor technologies.

Please see the news release. 

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Professor Mona Jarrahi Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship

Professor Mona Jarrahi was selected as 1 of the 5 UCLA faculty members to receive a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced this week. She was chosen from a pool of more than 3,500 applicants. The prestigious awards, now in their 100th year, recognize scholars in 53 disciplines across the creative arts, social sciences, natural sciences and humanities who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in their fields and show great promise for future endeavors.

Professor Jarrahi, who holds the Northrop Grumman Chair in Electrical Engineering, focuses on the development and application of novel electromagnetic techniques. As director of the Terahertz Electronics Laboratory at UCLA, she studies ultrafast electronic and optoelectronic devices with a focus on expanding the capabilities of terahertz sensing, imaging and communication systems for applications in a variety of areas, ranging from atmospheric research and biological analysis to medical imaging. Professor Jarrahi is also a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Please see the news release. 

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Events/Seminars

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Upcoming PhD Defenses

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Scholarship Opportunities

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Bonenfant International Travel Scholarship

Do you know a promising engineering or physical sciences student planning to study abroad next semester? The Bonenfant International Travel Scholarship offers a US$9,000 award to support global experiences that align with academic and professional goals.

This scholarship supports U.S.-based students enrolled at accredited universities who will participate in semester-abroad programs. Established in 2012 in memory of Paul A. Bonenfant, the scholarship honors his belief that international experiences enrich both personal and professional development through cross-cultural engagement and collaboration.

We invite you to encourage qualified students to apply.

Eligibility Criteria Applicants must:

• Be enrolled in an engineering and/or physical sciences program
• Have a minimum 3.0 GPA (or equivalent)
• Be a U.S. resident
• Have applied or been accepted to a study abroad program of at least 6 weeks
• Demonstrate interest in optics-related research and applications
• Be willing to document their experience via blogs and/or social media

Application Materials

• Responses to short-answer questions about optics and the study abroad experience
• A CV/resume (max 4 pages)
• Budget showing how the scholarship will be used
• GPA certificate
• Two letters of recommendation

This is an incredible opportunity for students to deepen their education, broaden their worldview, and build a global network.

Know a student who fits the criteria? Please share this opportunity with them and encourage them to apply.

Please see the website. 

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Student Organizations

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Quantum Computing Student Association EntangleTalk May 9th

The Quantum Computing Student Association will be hosting the next EntangleTalk at UCLA! The talk will be held on Friday (5/9) at 4pm at the DataX Space in Murphy Hall 3312 by Dr. William Munizzi. Dr. Munizzi  is a postdoctoral researcher at the Narang Lab and an affiliate researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research lies at the intersection of quantum information, high energy physics and quantum gravity while being actively involved in control theory and physics-influenced machine learning. He.will be speaking on his recent work in the connection between entanglement and magic states in holography. 

As always, there will be free pizza and everyone is welcome to join!

Please RSVP to attend. 

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Quantum Computing Student Association Quantum Device Workshop May 19-22

Along with the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering of UCLA (CQSE), the Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation (CIQC) and the USC Quantum Initiative (USCQI), QCSA is organizing and hosting a workshop at UCLA on the design and simulation of superconducting quantum devices. 

This workshop will be held at the Shannon and Tesla Rooms in ECE Building 4, 5th floor from Monday May 19th to Thursday May 22nd from 9am to 5pm. 

QCSA has a stellar lineup of distinguished speakers and sponsors including Google, Nvidia, Rigetti, Keysight, Zurich Instruments and Quantum Machines. We have researchers and professors from around the world joining who pioneered the field such as Michel Devoret (UCSB), Jens Koch (Northwestern), Eli Levenson Falk (USC), Andreas Wallraff (ETH Zurich), Hakan Tureci (Princeton), Zlatko Minev (Google) and many more.

Students and Scholars can participate in person or via zoom and register via the website: https://qdw-ucla.squarespace.com/ 

Food will be provided (breakfast and lunch) as well as other activities such as networking sessions, panel event and more. This workshop will offer its participants lectures and workshops by leading experts in the field as well as unique hands-on experience with professional licensed software and high-performance Nvidia GPU nodes.

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The Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Association Poster Day 2025

Apply for Poster Day 2025, hosted by the Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Association (UIRA), on May 27th! It’s the UCLA-wide opportunity for undergraduates to present their research in a public forum. Submit your application, which only requires an abstract, by May 9th.

Please see the application. 

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Job Opportunities

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Internship Opportunity: Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies is looking to hire 4 PhD EE/ECE or MS EE/ECE interns in each of the 4 locations below. These internships are an opportunity for site teams interns to create a core technology project solution, then present those solutions as a competing contest against the other site intern teams at the end of their 3 month internships. The winning team will receive a cash prize. Keysight is in the process of actively reviewing and screening applicants for all positions. All interns will start on June 2 for the 3 month project work with the potential to be extended 6-9 additional months. For the selected interns, Keysight offers local site housing in addition to standard hourly pay.

The following locations have open positions: 

Colorado Springs, Colorado: PhD Students, Masters Students

Santa Rosa, California: PhD Students, Masters Students

Boeblingen, Germany: PhD Students, Masters Students

Interested students should apply online and email their resume to Mari O’Neill for US jobs: maria.oneill@keysight.com 

Email Marcella Clusellas for the Germany jobs: marcella.clusellas@keysight.com 

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Job Opportunity: Harvey Mudd College Visiting Assistant Professors of Electrical Engineering 2025-26 (MS/Ph.D.) 

Harvey Mudd College invites applications for Visiting Assistant Professors for our general engineering program for the 2025-26 academic year, with a possibility to renew for the 2026-27 year by mutual agreement. The Department of Engineering seeks candidates with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering or a related field who excel in teaching in a broadly-based undergraduate curriculum. Exceptional candidates with an M.S. and/or late in their Ph.D. program will be considered. Industrial or other practical experience in the field is valued. 

The Department of Engineering seeks candidates who can teach one or more of the following courses: 

ENGR084 HM – Electronic and Magnetic Circuits and Devices 

Introduction to the fundamental principles underlying electronic devices and applications of these devices in circuits. Topics include electrical properties of materials; physical electronics (with emphasis on semiconductors and semiconductor devices); passive linear electrical and magnetic circuits; active linear circuits (including elementary transistor amplifiers and the impact of non-ideal characteristics of operational amplifiers on circuit behavior); operating point linearization and load-line analysis; electromagnetic devices such as transformers. 

ENGR085 HM – Digital Electronics and Computer Engineering 

Design and implementation of digital systems. Topics include levels of abstraction, Boolean algebra, combinational logic, sequential logic, finite state machines, hardware description languages, computer arithmetic, C and assembly programming, embedded systems, and microarchitecture. Lab practices include simulation, prototyping, and   debugging.   

ENGR151 HM – Analog Circuit Design

Design and analysis of electronic circuits based on semiconductor devices (e.g. pn diode, MOSFET, BJT), particularly linear amplifiers including operational amplifiers and associated building blocks. Includes a laboratory focused on experimental realization and measurement of electronic devices and circuits.           

ENGR079 HM – Introduction to Engineering Systems 

An introduction to the concepts of modern engineering, emphasizing modeling, analysis, synthesis, and design. Applications to chemical, mechanical, and electrical systems.           

Visiting Assistant Professors will also advise sponsored projects in the Engineering Clinic program. Advising student teams through the Engineering Clinic program requires site visit travel and regular meetings with students, student leaders, project sponsors, and the Engineering Clinic staff. 

The salary is $85,000 for 9 months of teaching responsibilities. 

Applicants should submit: a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, and the names of at least three references. Candidates should provide evidence of excellence in teaching and the ability to increase students’ hands-on engineering skills. For full consideration, applications should be received by May 19, 2025, but applications will be accepted until the position is filled. 

Any questions may be sent to: eng-visitor-2025-l@g.hmc.edu 

Please see the posting.  

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Job Opportunity: Postdoctoral Scholar at UCLA Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology

Position description:

Are you passionate about advancing the frontier of healthcare technology? Dr. Bijan Najafi’s renowned research team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher position. This role offers the opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge studies in remote patient monitoring, frailty, dementia, and wearable technologies designed to empower older adults to live independently and age in place.

We are seeking a highly motivated individual with a Ph.D. in Biomechanics, Kinesiology, or a related field. The ideal candidate will have expertise or familiarity in:

• Wearable technologies for human motion analysis

• Motion tracking systems

• Gait and balance assessments

• Muscle activity monitoring and motor disability evaluation

Start Date: As soon as possible

Qualifications:

Basic qualifications: PhD

Preferred qualifications: Ph.D. in Biomechanics, Kinesiology, or a related field.

Application Requirements:

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae – Your most recently updated C.V.

• Cover Letter – Limited to two pages, summarizing your career goals and prior   research relevant to human movement analysis.

• Statement of Research (Optional)

• Reference check authorization release form – Complete and upload the reference check authorization release form

• Sample Publication – A sample of a relevant prior publication.

Reference requirements

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

Please see the full posting. 

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Internship Opportunity: Design Verification Engineer Intern at Apple

Apple is seeking a Design Verification Engineer intern in their first year of an MS degree and will graduate either in Dec 2025 or May 2026. 

Position description:

Through this experience, you will learn all aspects of a large scale SOC design, complex verification test benches, different types of SOC architectures, multiple high speed protocols, industry-standard low power architecture, best in class DV methodology, verification on accelerated platforms, knowledge on Cellular protocol, FW- HW interactions, complexities of multi-chip SOC debug architecture, etc. 

Please send your resume to j_lou@apple.com if interested.

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Internship Opportunity: Ayar Labs

Ayar Labs is in search of a number of summer interns. The internships span several areas, including circuit design, photonics, computer vision/AI, data science, and hardware engineering. 

For more details and to apply, students can visit: Ayar Labs Internship Opportunities.

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Job Opportunity: Cellular SOC Design Verification Engineer – Entry Level at Apple

Description
Do you have a passion for invention and self-challenge? This position gives you an opportunity to be a part of one of the most cutting-edge and key projects that Apple’s Silicon Engineering Group has embarked upon to-date. As a Design Verification Engineer on our team, you’ll be at the center of the verification effort within our silicon design group, responsible for crafting and productizing state-of-the-art Cellular SoCs!

You will have the opportunity to contribute to the verification effort of a set of complex SOCs delivering the Cellular solution. You will integrate multiple sophisticated IP level DV environments, craft highly reusable best-in-class UVM-based test benches, implement effective coverage-driven and directed test suites, and deploy new tools and methodologies to deliver chips that are right-first-time. By collaborating with other product development groups across Apple, you can push the industry boundaries of what cellular systems can do and improve the product experience for our customers across the world!

Through this experience, you will learn all aspects of large-scale SOC design, complex verification test benches, different types of SOC architectures, multiple high-speed protocols, industry-standard low power architecture, best-in-class DV methodology, verification on accelerated platforms, knowledge of Cellular protocol, FW-HW interactions, and the complexities of multi-chip SOC debug architecture.

Minimum Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering (EE) or Computer Science (CS) is required
• Object-Oriented Programming
• Coursework in Digital Design

Preferred Qualifications

• MS in Electrical Engineering (EE) or Computer Science (CS)
• Must graduate by June 2025
• Coursework in Computer Architecture, Networking Protocol
• Should be a great teammate with excellent communication and problem-solving skills and the desire to seek diverse challenges
• Programming experience in SystemVerilog, Python, and C++

Pay & Benefits
At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $121,900 and $183,600, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

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Research Opportunity: Geothermal Technology Development (UCLA)

The research group of Professor Sergio Carbajo at UCLA is seeking a highly motivated

graduate engineering student to contribute to an exciting geothermal technology research project for 1-2 months during Winter Quarter. This is an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on research experience and earn university research credit.

Project Overview:

This project, under the direction of Professor Carbajo, focuses on developing innovative technologies to enhance geothermal energy extraction and super deep drilling. The selected student will play a key role in the design and modeling of novel technology.

Responsibilities:

• Utilize CAD software to design and refine components for direct energy drilling and geothermal rigging systems.
• Contribute to the modeling and analysis of hydrodynamic and electromagnetic phenomena within the system.
• Collaborate with the research team to interpret simulation results and contribute to project discussions.
• Document research findings and contribute to technical reports or presentations.

Qualifications:

• Currently enrolled graduate student in Electrical Engineering (EE) or Mechanical Engineering at UCLA.
• Experience with CAD design software (e.g., SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Fusion 360).
• Interest or experience in hydrodynamics and electromagnetism.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Expertise with Field-Effect Transistors (FETs) or Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs).

Benefits:

• Earn university research credit.
• Gain valuable research experience in a cutting-edge field.
• Opportunity to contribute to a real-world energy solution for climate change.
• Work alongside experienced researchers and faculty at UCLA, including Professor Sergio Carbajo.

Time Commitment:

1-2 months during Winter Quarter, with flexible scheduling to accommodate academic

commitments.

To Apply:

Interested students should submit their resume/CV and a brief statement of interest (one paragraph) outlining their relevant skills and experience to johnfstrike@gmail.com. Please include “Geothermal Research Application” in the subject line. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

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Electronics/PCB Development Undergraduate Internship Opportunity

Employment Period: Year-round

Location: On-campus

Approximate hours per week: 5+ hours

Duration: 6-24 months

Salary / Pay rate / Stipend: $20/hour

Relevant Website: https://www.edroplets.org/

Job description

Digital microfluidics is a technology that enables programmable control over individual droplets using electrical signals on a chip, which has been transforming wet labs towards the era of lab-on-a-chip. You will develop electronic control circuits for operating digital microfluidics chips. This is a highly engineering-oriented project, which requires independent schematic design, PCB layout design, PCB manufacturing, and assembly outsourcing for various circuits and electronic systems. You will also work with the mechanical design and software development team guided by graduate students to create multiple products. These products will be used by numerous digital microfluidics researchers and startups around the world through an open-source platform (edroplets.org).

For domestic students (US Citizen or Permanent Resident), the payment may be a stipend from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. 

For international students, the payment will be through a regular research fund.

For those who prefer research credits over stipends, SRP 99 or MAE 199 is also possible.

What you will get:

(1) You will experience creating a real-world electronic product for a transformative technology, which will be used by lots of real users!

(2) You will get hands-on experience and training in schematic/PCB/electronics design and development

(3) You will learn the basic knowledge and industry status of digital microfluidics, and participate in translating ground-breaking research into real-world products

(4) You may become a co-author of resulting journal and conference publications

Quality & skill desired:

(1) A strong and genuine interest in electronics is essential. If you are a DIYer who loves working with electronics and wants to build something impactful, this is a perfect project for you.

(2) Enjoy working in a team with different expertise is essential. The ability to articulate your work to non-technical team members is essential.

(3) Experience with Altium Designer, KiCAD or other PCB design software is a plus. Experience with LabView is a plus. Experience in making a PCB from design to manufacturing is a huge plus.

(4) No experience or knowledge of digital microfluidics is required

Interested? Please send your resume to Professor CJ Kim (cjkim@ucla.edu) and Leo Wang (wangqining265@gmail.com). If there’s a good match, you will be invited to an interview.

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Newsletter Submissions

To be included in future newsletters, please send the latest news, awards, publications and any upcoming PhD oral defenses to the Chair’s assistant, Winda Mak, at wmak@seas.ucla.edu. Please include “newsletter submission” in the subject line. The ECE newsletters will be sent bimonthly on the first and third Mondays of the month. Please ensure all submissions are received by the Wednesday before distribution to be included in the newsletter.