Materials Engineer
To Head EET Division

Majumdar

Noted materials scientist and mechanical engineer Arunava (Arun) Majumdar, a specialist in energy conservation and transport in nanostructures, has been named Director of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division by Berkeley Lab Director Steve Chu, effective immediately. A joint appointee with Mechanical Engineering on campus and the Materials Sciences Division at the Lab, Majumdar — who succeeds Mark Levine, who resigned in February, and interim director William Fisk — is director of the Berkeley Nanoscience and Nanoengineering Institute. He holds the Almy and Agnes Maynard Chair Professorship in the College of Engineering. Read his biography here, and a recent story about his efforts to convert temperature differences into electricity here.

Geothermal Award
For Earth Scientist

Pruess

Karsten Pruess, with Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division, recently received the 2007 Henry J. Ramey Jr. Reservoir Engineering Award in recognition of his achievements in the field of geothermal reservoir engineering. The award was presented by the Geothermal Resources Council. Pruess has significantly contributed to the understanding of fluid flow and heat transfer in fractured geothermal reservoirs and developed the TOUGH suite of nonisothermal multiphase flow simulators for applications in geothermal reservoir engineering.

Night at the Museum
With Heroes of Tech
By Dean Takahashi

Patterson

I spent a night at the museum. No fossils. Just artifacts of the computer age and those who made them. The Computer History Museum’s annual Fellows dinner honored four computing pioneers. Among those recognized was Berkeley Lab computing scientist and UC Berkeley professor David Patterson, who co-wrote the seminal books on computer architecture that, starting in 1990, educated a whole generation of computer scientists on modern architecture. Full story.

China Plans Largest
Ever Genetic  Bank
By Poppy Toland

Chen

With China's National Day holidays out of the way, students in Taizhou, Jiangsu, are returning to their voluntary duties of collecting genetic data from the city's willing citizens. Volunteers and sample donors will contribute to what project organizers claim could become the world's largest genetic databank. Genetic testing provides "personalized" medicine or the ability to "predict a response to a drug, either positive or negative, depending on genetic background," explains Fanqing Chen, Berkeley Lab life scientist and adviser to the project. Full story.

Runaround is Today;
Bus Route Changed

The Lab’s annual fun run, the SHARES Runaround, commences today at noon at the Fire Station. To accommodate the race and its 1.86-mile course along the Lab’s roads, the shuttle bus service will adjust its routes between 11:40 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. The Blue Route will travel to Bldg. 65, Hearst Ave., and BART (south side) and the Orange Route will travel to Bldgs. 83/84 and Bancroft Ave. (north side). The Green Route will stop operating at 11:45 a.m., then reopen when the roads are clear of all runners.

Lab, Campus Calendars
Connected on Sunday

The Lab’s calendar server will be out of service between 8 and 10 a.m. on Sunday while it is connected with UC Berkeley’s calendar system. For more information, go here.

Retirement Investing
Workshop Monday

A workshop on “Determining Your Investment Strategy” takes place Monday at 11:30 a.m. in the Building 50 Auditorium. The talk will be led by Joseph Hager of Fidelity Investments Tax-Exempt Services (FITSCo). Hager will also be available to answer questions in the cafeteria lobby from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.