2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Sudhir Kumar Jain, PhD (MS' 80, PhD '83), vice chancellor of Banaras Hindu University in India, is recognized for his lifesaving impact as India's preeminent earthquake engineer, for his research, advocacy, and establishment of training programs for engineers and of seismic building codes, and for his leadership in higher education. Jain has been an activist for earthquake safety who has undertaken numerous outreach activities.

Caltech Behind The Book Series Presents: Distinguished Alumna Sandra Tsing Loh, MA (BS '83).

Sandra Tsing Loh, MA (BS ’83) speaks to Dr. Korber on breaking new ground in bioinformatics, viral evolution, vaccine design, and SARS-CoV-2 genomic monitoring in this DAA webinar.

In this talk, Dr. Jeremy Bailenson will discuss the psychology of virtual and augmented reality, explaining how they transform the ways companies and schools teach, train and operate; build culture; and change communication among people. He will also talk about why VR and AR provide new environments that offer countless opportunities for experimentation and innovation.

For our next webinar, Dave Thompson will discuss, “My 50-Year Adventure: From Teenage Rocketeer to Space Entrepreneur to Caltech Board Chair.”

In this talk Dr. Cecilia Aragon will describe her journey from extremely fearful daughter of immigrants to daredevil airshow pilot — and then to using supercomputers to solve some of the greatest mysteries of the universe. She’ll present examples from a 30-year career in aviation, astrophysics, and data science; and talk about how using math to face her fears enabled her to become the first Latina pilot on the US Unlimited Aerobatic Team. She scaffolded that courage to build a career in data science, developing the new field of human-centered data science, and becoming the first Latina to achieve the rank of Full Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington in its 100-year history.

Magnify a digital picture enough times and you will discover the pixels that make up the image. Could the universe itself be pixelated, or "quantized"?

How do we cut U.S. global warming gas emissions in half by 2032?

Electronics continue to shrink in size to grow in capability, speed, and efficiency. The devices that power society now rely on components engineered at the nanoscale. At such small scales, quantum effects begin to take over, exerting a powerful influence on how materials work. Industry professionals turn to physicists for answers about these seemingly confounding but critically important effects. In this event, experimental physicist Nai-Chang Yeh will share insights on what quantum materials are and why we can expect them in all our future technologies.

In a fireside chat, Anirvan Ghosh will discuss with Caltech senior Andy Tong the science behind the aging headlines and how aging research could impact our lives.

Early detection of disease is crucial for early intervention. Nowhere is this more evident than in the detection of infectious disease.

Caltech physicist Spiros Michalakis and Hollywood screenwriter Ed Solomon will chat with Caltech science writer (and science fiction devotee) Whitney Clavin about how they collaborate to make science shine in film and television scripts, and the many similarities between the creative and scientific processes. Learn how core quantum concepts like entanglement can inform out-there cinematic concepts from time travel to the multiverse.

People age 50 and older account for over 50% of consumer spending in the US and 83% of household wealth. These numbers are expected to grow significantly due to a combination of increased longevity and the aging of the baby boomer generation. This is the largest and one of the fastest growing business opportunities both in the US and worldwide. Many business managers and entrepreneurs, however, do not consider the over-50 demographic in their plans, and those that do often do not understand how best to design products and services for this group. It is a huge missed-opportunity.

After a year on the planet, what can Perseverance teach us about Mars' watery past and our potential future?

Prior to the evolution of the nervous system or neurons, in the precambrian times, soft-bodied animals crawling the planet possibly relied on chemo-mechanical modes of information processing. This talk will explore principles and limits of mechanical computing, building on our work on physical computation implemented in drops/bubbles and other soft materials. Through our work, we have discovered how complex behavior is encoded in unicellular protists and flat “simple” animals without neurons.

The Perkin Medal is considered the highest honor in American industrial chemistry. It has been awarded annually over the past 115 years to a recipient chosen by the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Society of Chemical Industry, and the Science History Institute. In this talk, Dr. Jane Frommer will describe some of the lessons learned at chosen points along the path, often surprising until the underlying chemistry is revealed.

Join 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Dr. Charles Elachi (MS ’69, PhD ’71) in conversation with president Thomas F. Rosenbaum. Caltech professor emeritus of electrical engineering and planetary science, Charles Elachi (MS '69, PhD '71), is recognized "for his distinguished leadership in space exploration and planetary science as the longtime director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he was instrumental to realizing missions across the solar system including our own planet Earth, and for his many contributions helping to map out NASA's long-term scientific future."

Join 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Dr. Laurie Leshin (MS '89, PhD '95) in conversation with fellow DAA recipient Sandra Tsing Loh (BS ’83). President Thomas F. Rosenbaum will give opening remarks. President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Laurie Leshin (MS '89, PhD '95), is lauded "for her barrier-breaking leadership at universities such as Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which has been recognized for both teaching and research excellence and essential strides in diversity, equity, and inclusion under her guidance as the first woman to serve as president; and for her accomplishments as a distinguished geochemist and space scientist."

Quantum effects are usually thought to be too delicate to manifest in the macroscopic world. However, recent physics breakthroughs have revealed that, in carefully engineered materials, such as metals, insulators, or magnets, quantum effects not only show up but also fundamentally change the way these materials behave. In this lecture, Professor Xie Chen will cover superconductivity, topological order, and a range of phenomena in quantum matters that may hold unprecedented power for quantum computers and even for our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Plastics are ubiquitous materials in every sector of modern society due to their versatility, light-weight, diverse and tunable properties, and often low cost. In this talk, Yan Xia will present several unusual types of plastics developed in my lab at Stanford, including degradable polymers that could replace the environmentally-persistent plastics, molecular-sieving membranes for energy efficient chemical separations, and mechanically responsive polymers that sense, respond, and transform under stress.

The events of 9/11 spurred Caltech Professor Julia A. Kornfield’s research team to begin researching polymers that, when added to fuels like gasoline, minimize the risk of explosion when ignited. These polymers, known as megasupramolecules, change the way liquid fuels flow and could help reduce fatalities and injuries from plane crashes, auto accidents, and IED attacks on the battlefield.

Electrical engineer Steven Low and computer scientist Adam Wierman speak with science writer Emily Velasco about ways to reimagine an electric grid that incorporates renewable, intermittent energy sources, such as solar and wind, while meeting today’s power demands. Presented by the Caltech Science Exchange.

This October 18 marks the kickoff of the 4-day Wharton Club of the National Capital Region (WCNCR) Climate Change Conference, and with the help of its hosts, including the Wharton Risk Center, Wharton Clubs across the nation, and ColumbiaDC, we invite all Caltech alumni to attend virtually and free of cost. Some of the best minds in the world—including our own Caltech alumnus Dr. Brian Von Herzen, Director of the Climate Foundation—will be discussing climate change adaptation, mitigation, restoration, and climate change investment opportunities.

Join Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum and 2021 Distinguished Alumna Barbara Burger (PhD ’87), who will be in conversation via Zoom with Sandra Tsing Loh (BS ’83).

Kent Kresa was on the GM Board for 10 years when he was tapped by the Obama Administration in January 2009 to become Chairman of that Board and lead the company thru bankruptcy proceedings sponsored by the Government. In this talk, he will describe the reasons it happened, who played major roles in the activity and outcome, and some of the lessons learned. The process took only 40 days even though it was the fourth largest emergence from bankruptcy ever accomplished in America.

The vast design space and long lifetime of batteries have limited the speed of innovations at the materials, cell, and systems level. In this talk, Will Chueh will share his efforts at Stanford to dramatically accelerate the pace of research and development for lithium-ion batteries by hybridizing physics-based and data-driven approaches.

Join Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum and 2020 Distinguished Alumnus Dan O’Dowd (BS ’76) for a lively exploration of why most security software is ineffective and options for making things better.

Hailed by Forbes as the "next physics rock star," Caltech planetary science professor Konstantin Batygin (MS '10, PhD '12) is also a prolific musician who, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, actively performed with his band, The Seventh Season.

Hear about cutting-edge investigations from alumni and researchers across campus and JPL during this once-a-year opportunity to connect with Caltech scientists and engineers who are transforming science and society.

Chang Prize recipient Niv Karthikeyan (BS '20) hosts a panel Caltech staff, faculty, and alumni to offer reflections on their personal histories of organizing, agitating, and advocating on campus in the name of social justice.

Join Caltech and MIT alumni chess champions who will compete for school pride before a live Zoom audience to determine the best player from both institutes!

Grab some popcorn and join recent alumni from Caltech and Harvard for a virtual social and movie night!

Join Caltech alumnus Edray Goins, PhD (BS ’94) and former Caltech postdoctoral scholar Jim Gates, PhD for a discussion addressing challenges facing traditionally underrepresented populations in math and physics.

Join our conversation with Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Charles T. Munger

Join recent Caltech and Harvard Alumni in SoCal for a virtual holiday mixer and scavenger hunt!

Join Caltech Professor Morgan Kousser and MIT alumni for a special film discussion

Thank you to all alumni who attended Caltech's 2020 Reunion Weekend online!

The tradition of Seminar Day continues! Join your global network of alumni for a live, virtual experience featuring Caltech's cutting-edge research and the many alumni and faculty behind the breakthroughs.