School Notes: School of Engineering & Applied Science
January/February 2020

A gathering of makers

Yale hosted the fourth International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces (ISAM) at Yale University. The three-day event was attended by 350 maker educators, equipment manufacturers, and other enthusiasts from 156 universities in 14 countries. They talked shop, toured makerspaces on campus, and heard from leaders in the field. The annual event is the result of a partnership between Yale and six other universities. Vincent Wilczynski, deputy dean of Yale Engineering, said ISAM 2019 sparked important discussions among those in attendance. “A strong message of the symposium was that by providing access to all, you provide opportunities to all,” said Wilczynski, who also serves as director of Yale’s makerspace, the Center for Engineering Innovation and Design.

Securing the cloud

For his proposal to increase security in cloud computing, Jakub Szefer, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, has received a four-year grant for $457,160 from the National Science Foundation. Szefer’s project focuses on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)—chips that can be modified for different functions after manufacturing. He will study the risks of malicious FPGA use, including data snooping, data leaking, or deliberate attempts to degrade or damage the FPGA infrastructure. Then, to mitigate these vulnerabilities, the project aims to develop a monitoring system that can continuously check the FPGAs, detect attacks, and limit 
malicious behavior.

Seeking water solutions

The National Alliance for Water Innovation, which includes Yale SEAS chemical engineering professors Menachem Elimelech and Jaehong Kim, was selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to lead its Energy-Water Desalination Hub, to address water security issues in the United States. The five-year, $100-million award is the largest amount that the DOE has ever spent on water efforts. The Energy-Water Desalination Hub will focus on early-stage research and development for energy-efficient and cost-competitive desalination technologies. These technologies will treat non-traditional water sources, such as seawater and wastewater, for multiple applications.