alumni

Stanford Engineering Puzzle

October 2005

Stanford Engineering Puzzle new!

The puzzle below is inspired by the research of electrical engineering Assistant Professor Jelena Vuckovic. She precisely machines photonic crystals to control specific frequencies of light. An extreme close-up of one such crystal forms the background of the puzzle. The dark spots are holes etched into the crystal. Based on the spacing of these holes, the crystal will emit light of a specific frequency from the gaps between the holes. Vuckovic's research has important applications in information technology.

Directions for Puzzle

In the puzzle, your task is to complete the pulsing spots of light being emitted from some of these gaps. Upon successful completion, a "secret word" will be revealed. See below for the first 10 alumni who successfully completed the puzzle and e-mailed the "secret word" to staff member David Orenstein. If your name is not on the list, don't despair. The puzzle is meant to be fun.

You must have Shockwave Flash installed to run this puzzle.

The winners circle (in order of response)

  • Doug Clark (BS 1963 EE, MS 1969 MS&E, PhD 1970 MS&E)
  • Robert Howard (MS 1986 ME, BS 1984 ME)
  • Jane Hsu (PHD 1991 CS)
  • Rick Giusti (MS 1981 CE)
  • Takahiko Kimura (MS 1991 Civ. Eng.)
  • Joseph Lauer (PhD 2000 EE, MS 1995 EE)
  • Michael Errotabere (MS 1976)
  • Keyvan Kazemi (MS 1992 Struct. Eng.)
  • Douglas A. Gray (MS 1962 EE)
  • Raul Laborin (BS 1990 CE)

Try your hand at our other puzzles in the puzzle archive.