@jbuzhar.bsky.social
Postdoc, UW Madison; PhD Clemson University; Interested in modelling and control of complex dynamical systems.
The intricate folds of your lungs, gut, and brain are each the result of pattern formation. Tune in to my conversation with L. Mahadevan on "The Joy of Why" from @prx.org and @quantamagazine.bsky.social: www.quantamagazine.org/does-form-re...
12.06.2025 15:54 — 👍 41 🔁 12 💬 1 📌 1![May 17, 2025
SUBJECT: Supporting science and opposing the unfair targeting of universities under the guise of fighting antisemitism
Dear Senators Baldwin and Johnson,
I have previously written to you about my deep concern about the potential loss of American leadership in science, engineering, and medicine stepping from several policies pursued by the White House, including large-scale cuts to our agencies that support fundamental scientific and medical research: the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NASA, and the Department of Energy (DOE).
If enacted, the massive cuts to these science agencies will push premier American and global talent out of the United States, and the next set of scientific and medical discoveries will happen elsewhere or will not happen at all. We will miss out on technological progress, our health and national security will be harmed, and our economy will grow far slower than it would if we maintain our leadership in science.
But I also want to write about the extreme harm being caused to American science by individual targeting of individual American universities.
I am a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I run a research group the develops optics/photonics technologies, working at the interface of semiconductor science, quantum science, materials science, and imaging and sensing. My research has been supported by federal government agencies, including the NSF, DOE, DARPA, the Air Force, and the Navy. The alumni of my research group are doing cutting-edge engineering at top American companies like Honeywell, Google, Apple, and Meta, and R&D at government labs and American universities.
[due to alt text limit, continued in next screenshot]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:abkp4sglznvkptyncrltve6t/bafkreid72t6pacyr6dagmqb2pmfvkx56hwops3fozx4k27spqrdbp27zym@jpeg)
May 17, 2025 SUBJECT: Supporting science and opposing the unfair targeting of universities under the guise of fighting antisemitism Dear Senators Baldwin and Johnson, I have previously written to you about my deep concern about the potential loss of American leadership in science, engineering, and medicine stepping from several policies pursued by the White House, including large-scale cuts to our agencies that support fundamental scientific and medical research: the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NASA, and the Department of Energy (DOE). If enacted, the massive cuts to these science agencies will push premier American and global talent out of the United States, and the next set of scientific and medical discoveries will happen elsewhere or will not happen at all. We will miss out on technological progress, our health and national security will be harmed, and our economy will grow far slower than it would if we maintain our leadership in science. But I also want to write about the extreme harm being caused to American science by individual targeting of individual American universities. I am a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I run a research group the develops optics/photonics technologies, working at the interface of semiconductor science, quantum science, materials science, and imaging and sensing. My research has been supported by federal government agencies, including the NSF, DOE, DARPA, the Air Force, and the Navy. The alumni of my research group are doing cutting-edge engineering at top American companies like Honeywell, Google, Apple, and Meta, and R&D at government labs and American universities. [due to alt text limit, continued in next screenshot]
![[continued from previous alt text]
Prior to coming to UW-Madison, I received excellent undergraduate training at Cornell University and graduate training at Harvard University. In recent days, the federal government canceled billions of dollars of grants and contracts for science and medical research that were previously awarded to Harvard, Cornell, and a number of other universities. As far as I can tell, this was done under the guise of fighting antisemitism at these universities.
As a Jewish American whose family moved to the United States in significant part to escape antisemitism in the former Soviet Union, I find our government’s justification for funding cuts to these universities to be preposterous and counterproductive. While I am sure that one can find some amount of antisemitism at every university and in any large organization, major research universities like Harvard, Cornell, and UW-Madison have been some of the biggest drivers of the success and prosperity of Jewish Americans. I am confident that a large majority of Jewish Americans oppose these massive, untargeted cuts to research funding to these universities.
I would like to encourage you to use the power you have as a member of the Senate to support the American science enterprise and to oppose the defunding of major American universities under the guise of fighting antisemitism.
Sincerely,
Mikhail Kats
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but *writing in my personal capacity* and not on behalf of my employer](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:abkp4sglznvkptyncrltve6t/bafkreiajfhhvyzs7y3sm6ylmgzjguuwqhg3zmrqb546ltdg7djrdf2ocv4@jpeg)
[continued from previous alt text] Prior to coming to UW-Madison, I received excellent undergraduate training at Cornell University and graduate training at Harvard University. In recent days, the federal government canceled billions of dollars of grants and contracts for science and medical research that were previously awarded to Harvard, Cornell, and a number of other universities. As far as I can tell, this was done under the guise of fighting antisemitism at these universities. As a Jewish American whose family moved to the United States in significant part to escape antisemitism in the former Soviet Union, I find our government’s justification for funding cuts to these universities to be preposterous and counterproductive. While I am sure that one can find some amount of antisemitism at every university and in any large organization, major research universities like Harvard, Cornell, and UW-Madison have been some of the biggest drivers of the success and prosperity of Jewish Americans. I am confident that a large majority of Jewish Americans oppose these massive, untargeted cuts to research funding to these universities. I would like to encourage you to use the power you have as a member of the Senate to support the American science enterprise and to oppose the defunding of major American universities under the guise of fighting antisemitism. Sincerely, Mikhail Kats Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but *writing in my personal capacity* and not on behalf of my employer
"Supporting science and opposing the unfair targeting of universities under the guise of fighting antisemitism"
My letter (slightly amended), sent today to to my Wisconsin senators and representative. If you feel the same way, I encourage you to contact your representatives
9 Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...
18.05.2025 04:22 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Powerful look at what may soon be lost with the proposed end of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, whose roots extend back to the earliest days of atmospheric modeling 70 years ago. And GFDL is just one of multiple NOAA labs/coop institutes on the chopping block.
24.04.2025 17:51 — 👍 29 🔁 12 💬 4 📌 0
Researchers have developed a new way to tackle a central problem in the study of complex systems: How to model the interactions between individuals when you can observe only collective behavior?
31.03.2025 18:36 — 👍 18 🔁 4 💬 2 📌 1
Introducing CyberDiver!
This new untethered robotic device is capable of actively controlling impact forces and splash dynamics during water entry.
arxiv.org/abs/2503.20702
Design source files:
github.com/harrislab-br...
Work led by #harrislab PhD student John.
1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world.
I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.
In the physical world, almost all information is transmitted through traveling waves -- why should it be any different in your neural network?
Super excited to share recent work with the brilliant @mozesjacobs.bsky.social: "Traveling Waves Integrate Spatial Information Through Time"
1/14
05.03.2025 13:02 — 👍 1119 🔁 265 💬 39 📌 14
“Destruction for the ill-conceived notion of cutting costs didn’t put an American on the moon, and it didn’t wipe smallpox from the face of the Earth.” —Dr. Sudip Parikh
Over the past month, the Trump administration has enacted dramatic budget cuts and mass layoffs across federal health and science agencies.
In today’s episode, we discuss the cuts and how the scientific community can respond.
Listen here 🎧: https://buff.ly/4bf3rfn
Enormously harmful to the future of science. My heart breaks for these students who were excited to learn and experience research firsthand.
24.02.2025 17:39 — 👍 145 🔁 23 💬 2 📌 0I’ve been seething and grieving since yesterday’s Friday Night Massacre of NIH overheads, a seeming bit of bureaucratic trivial that will in fact destroy the US university system if unchecked. But I want to get away from budgets and rate breakdowns and F&A percentages for a moment.
Humor me?
Support your local public radio stations. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/b...
30.01.2025 19:09 — 👍 203 🔁 48 💬 9 📌 8
PBS is now live on Prime — ad-free — and you don't need a subscription to watch.
This marks the first time this programming will be available *free* on a major streaming service.
Channels include PBS Drama, Documentaries, Kids + live feeds for 150 local stations
www.pbs.org/articles/str... #TVSky
